Kasparov ends effort to run for president

MOSCOW – Garry Kasparov, the chess grandmaster and relentless critic of President Vladimir Putin, has ended his long-shot presidential bid, citing official harassment that prevented him from holding a legally required nomination meeting.

“There is no choice in Russia,” Kasparov said, speaking to reporters Thursday in a town about 60 miles south of Moscow where he attended the funeral of a supporter who died after allegedly being beaten by police at an opposition rally. “March 2 will just be the calendar date when the victor of the Kremlin power struggle is declared.”

Kasparov said his supporters were unable to rent a large hall in Moscow to hold a convention to nominate him – either because landlords were afraid of being associated with him or because they were directly threatened by the authorities.

Opposition groups in Russia routinely complain about the difficulty of renting meeting space. They say that when they do secure a hall, members often arrive to find it has been closed by authorities.

Under Russian law, a candidate must be nominated by the vote of at least 500 people at a public meeting. The deadline passed Thursday for holding such a convention and forwarding its decision to the election authorities.