Garry Kasparov vows he will return to Mother Russia.
The 50-year-old labelled the best chess player of all time, fled Moscow in February after his life was "threatened".
The pro-democracy leader has been a fervent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kasparov is in South Africa for the 2013 Commonwealth South African Open Chess Championship, in Port Elizabeth.
President Jacob Zuma, who learned the game while imprisoned on Robben Island, was at the event yesterday.
He is a proponent of children learning the game.
The championships ended in a stalemate for Zuma yesterday when he drew his 20-minute match against Keagan Rowe, from East London.
Rowe, a five-year-old pupil of Stirling Primary School, was the youngest competitor at the event.
Zuma justified the draw by saying: "I wanted to balance the game so I sacrificed some pieces."
He presented the championship trophy and gold medal to a young competitor from India, Abhijit Gupta, 23 .
More than 900 participants from 29 countries competed for R300000 in prize money.
Second and third place were taken by Ukraine's Sergii Fedorchuk and by Sergei Tiviakov, of The Netherlands.
Zuma commented on the game's value during the struggle against apartheid.
"On Robben Island, chess propelled our minds beyond the confines of the prison walls and allowed us to reflect and to position our thoughts strategically to fight the regime."
As patron of Moves for Chess Life, he has lauded the game as "contributing to the development of strategic thinking, as well as to concentration, analytical skills development and problem-solving".
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