Defending champion GM Aleksei Grebnev leads the tough Russian delegation in the Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships scheduled Oct. 11-20 at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City.
This was confirmed by Cavite Vice Governor Athena Tolentino, first vice president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines who is hosting the event along with Tagaytay Mayor and Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) decided to allow Russian players to join tournaments under the neutral FIDE flag, following the resolution by the International Olympic Committee at the 11th Olympic Summit last Dec. 9 2022 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Asia is the biggest and strongest continent in FIDE with 55 member national chess federations.
Grebnev won the Asian Junior Chess Championship last year in Jamshedpur, India, a feat that earned him a Grandmaster norm and eventually his GM title. He is top seed in the tournament with a FIDE rating of 2530.
Other Russian players are IM Artem Uskov (2428),and Woman International Master Anna Shukman (2163).
Other players joining are from Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam and host Philippines.
