Garri Kasparov at Tallinn conference: Russians must be convinced the empire is dead

Chess legend and political activist Garri Kasparov spoke at the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, applying strategic thinking from chess to geopolitics. He discussed Russia's imperial ambitions and the need to convince Russians that their empire is finished. King's College London war studies student Sandra Laur conducted the interview.

Former world chess champion [Garri Kasparov](/politicians/garri-kasparov) brought his signature strategic thinking to the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, arguing that Russians must be persuaded that their imperial era is over. The interview was conducted by Sandra Laur, a war studies student at King's College London.

Kasparov, widely regarded as the greatest chess player in history, has long applied the same multi-move analytical approach to politics that made him dominant on the board. At the Tallinn conference, he argued that understanding Russia requires seeing the system as a whole — distinguishing genuine strategy from the noise of day-to-day events.

## Chess logic meets geopolitics

The former world champion has been one of the most vocal critics of Vladimir Putin's regime, and he used the Lennart Meri Conference platform to press his case that the West must remain firm. In his view, Russian society needs to be confronted with the reality that the imperial project has failed — not merely militarily, but ideologically.

Kasparov emphasized that the key challenge is not just defeating Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, but reshaping the political consciousness of ordinary Russians who have been fed decades of imperial mythology. Without that reckoning, he suggested, the cycle of aggression is unlikely to end.

## Strategic clarity from the grandmaster

The Lennart Meri Conference, held annually in Tallinn, is one of the premier security policy forums in the Baltic region, regularly drawing senior politicians, military officials, and analysts from across Europe and beyond. Kasparov's appearance underscored the event's tradition of bringing unconventional voices into the conversation about European security.