Q: You've been known as the Solzhenitsyn or the Sakharov of chess. Does that make you proud?

K: I was not a dissident. When I fled I was not thinking about politics but of my sporting career. Chess has only contributed a very small amount to the development of humanity - much less than literature. For this reason you can't compare me with Solzhenitsyn or Sakharov. When they left the Soviet Union they were forgotten there. The ballet dancer, musician or writer who went to the West was dead in the eyes of the Soviet media and population.

Q: What was different for you?

K: In the Soviet Union chess was well known - the national sport. Once the Soviet chess federation had failed in its attempt to exclude me from the world championship (a service for which I have president of the world federation Dr Euwe to thank) the press couldn't cope with having to report my candidates' matches with Petrosian, Polugayevsky and Spassky. I was never named, and referred to only as 'the challenger', but of course people knew who I was and what the news `Polugayevsky played poorly against the challenger' meant. Millions of viewers followed my title match against Karpov in 1974 on Channel 1, and they remembered me. That was one way in which I differed from Solzhenitsyn - he could write a good book and get it smuggled into the Soviet Union where a few might read it. My case had a much greater impact because it reached many more people. I proved that an intellectual could have a normal life in the West and in the years that followed countless intellectuals tried to leave.

Q: So you were a political figure despite everything?

K: It was a difficult decision. In a totalitarian country you have to be psychologically and mentally mature to risk such a step. I remember giving a simultaneous display with Geller in Germany in 1965. Our host spoke good Russian and a little English and soon became aware that Geller only understood Russian. Suddenly he suggested in English that I stay in Germany.

Q: Was that the moment...

K: That was the first time I considered fleeing, and I would come to regret having waited so long. I now realise that I lost 11 years: 1965-1976.

Q: Do you think you would have been a better chess player?

K: Yes. I would have saved a lot of energy. When I finally left in '76 I left the Soviet Union for good. Physically and mentally. There was no more thinking about the past. When you ask me about it today it's in the past. The problems of old age plague me - not the problems of emigrants. When I return to St Petersburg I hardly ever meet those of my generation, as people in Russia die much younger. You mustn't forget that by leaving I considerably increased my life expectancy!

Q: Do you still think about the countless scandals which overshadowed your world title match with Karpov in the Philippines, a match you so narrowly lost?

K: No, you see, I've experienced a lot and suffered a lot. Later it became known that they [the Soviets] had plans to do away with me! This was clear and later Tal backed it up - who was there himself. It was a hardfought match in Baguio but the match three years later in Merano was more interesting. After the title match in the Philippines I wrote a book to show that the Russians had played politics rather than chess. After Merano I wrote nothing. That was a big mistake.

Q: Why should you have written a book?

K: The match was unbelievable. I lost 6-2 with 10 draws. Despite this I consider my result a great sucess. I had to fight tooth and nail for each draw so fantastic was Karpov's superiority, even though we were practically equal in the world rankings. It was an overwhelming defeat, on and off the board.

Q: You said it would have been dangerous for you to have won the world championship...

K: That was in 1978, but I didn't lose deliberately. It was fate. Perhaps dear God wanted me to play chess for another 20 or 30 years!

Q: What did you learn from your KGB files when they were released a couple of years ago in Moscow?

<I lost 6-2 with 10 draws. Despite this I consider my result a great sucess. I had to fight tooth and nail for each draw so fantastic was Karpov's superiority, even though we were practically equal in the world rankings. It was an overwhelming defeat, on and off the board.>