The obsession for chess: A Soviet atavism in the Putin era

The game for the world chess title has a special stake for Moscow. Like the USSR before it, Putin's Russia is obsessed with success at all costs in the chess arena - both on the board itself and within the International Chess Federation.

POV: The Legacy of World War I, BU Today

Propaganda pawns. The mirage of chess in the Soviet era

The Longer Telegram: Toward a new American China strategy

Foreign Policy Martens Centre

Why are Russians traditionally so good at chess? - Quora

Why are Russians traditionally so good at chess? - Quora

Putin moves his chess pieces while we try not to die of hunger

Pawns and Power

Here's why chess was so EXTREMELY popular in the USSR (PHOTOS