Russian chess grandmaster Anatoly Kárpov (Zlatoust, 71 years old) is hospitalized after suffering a serious head injury on Saturday 29 October. The origin of the wound is uncertain; from his family circle, his associates and his political formation, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia, have crossed different versions of the event. Everyone agrees that the two-time world champion’s health could be at risk.
The chess player’s daughter told the press that her father suffered a domestic injury and was transferred to the Neuroreanimation Department of the Sklifosovski Clinical Institute, where he is currently staying.
However, the president of the All-Russian Entrepreneurial Movement, Andréi Kovalev, was the first to sound the alarm, assuring on his social networks that the chess player was beaten at the exit of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house deputy. According to his statement, two versions were considered: an accidental trip or the aggression of a stranger, both easily verifiable by the enormous number of surveillance cameras in the area.
“He is in the hospital in serious condition. God grant that everything goes well, Karpov was placed in an induced coma. He’s such a good person that I hope this scoundrel (the alleged attacker) is found,” he said on Telegram. He later told the press that he was planning to organize a record 10,000 chessboard tournament with Karpov, for which he found out about the attack from an assistant.
A few minutes later, the United Russia press service told RTVI that Kárpov had been the victim of an attack, while other media outlets with emergency 112 sources, such as Mash and Sota, assured him that he was “unconscious and showing signs of intoxication.” the Duma, where he would have suffered an accidental blow. After he was transferred by ambulance, doctors diagnosed “a head injury and fracture of the left femur” upon arrival at the clinic.
This information was completely denied by the chess player’s assistant to the Zvezdá media. “There was no attack. Everything is normal with Anatoly Evguénievich, he does not suffer a blow, ”he assured the other versions.
Finally, after the afternoon, United Russia changed its version, assuring that Karpov suffered a domestic accident. “Duma Deputy Anatoly Karpov was taken to one of the capital’s clinics for an injury, where he is now receiving all the necessary medical care. The damage is internal,” the training communications service specified through a message.
Karpov was declared world champion as a Soviet between 1975 and 1985 when he was defeated by the now staunch Putin opponent Garry Kasparov; and as a Russian between 1993 and 1999. He was also a six-time World Chess Olympiad winner between 1972 and 1988 as a member of the Soviet team; and three-time champion of the USSR.
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