Ex-world chess champion-turned Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov gets Croatian passport

ZAGREB, Croatia – Former chess world champion-turned Russian opposition activist Garry Kasparov has become a citizen of Croatia.

The government said on Monday that Kasparov, who owns a house on Croatia's Adriatic coast, was granted a Croatian passport last week.

Croatian media have reported that Kasparov plans to run a chess academy in a coastal town and help introduce chess to Croatian schools.

Kasparov, 50, who first became World Chess Champion at the age of 22, has been a prominent opposition figure in Russia and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Croatian officials have praised Kasparov for his support for the country's struggle for independence from Yugoslavia during the bloody breakup of the former federation in the 1990s.