Russian opposition leader and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has abandoned his bid to run for president.

Garry Kasparov, considered by West as one of the most celebrated foes of President Vladimir Putin, was released from Moscow jail Thursday after serving his five-day sentence for leading a protest march.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has been arrested along with other opposition leaders after leading protests against current Russian president Vladimir Putin. Kasparov, a prominent critic of Putin, founded the United Civil Front and named the Other Russia umbrella of opposition parties after retiring from chess.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov has been nominated as an opposition candidate in next year's Russian presidential elections. The opposition group, called The Other Russia, has named Mr Kasparov as its presidential candidate.

Russian opposition politician Garry Kasparov says emerging divisions in the Other Russia movement are natural as it moves from staging street protests to preparing for the upcoming election season.

Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov has described U.S. President George W. Bush's speech during the international Democracy and Security Conference as "cautious" on Russia.

Garry Kasparov, Russian opposition leader, said Monday that he will not give up his protest marches against Kremlin, in spite of many of them were violently dispersed by police or subjected to pressure and Kasparov was even blocked from taking part in march last week.

Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov has compared the government of President Vladimir Putin to the dictatorships in Belarus and Zimbabwe. Kasparov said that while Russia might be closer to the European Union than to Africa, politically it resembles the dictatorship of Zimbabwe more than the democracies of Germany or France.

Investigators from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) questioned opposition leader Garry Kasparov for four hours today. The questioning came less than a week after Kasparov was detained and released during antigovernment protests in Moscow on April 14.