Estonian women's chess player goes to play under Russian flag
A three-time Estonian women's chess champion from Narva will from now on be representing Russia when competing, Delfi's Russian-language portal reported.
Anastassia Sinitsina, 21, has, Estonian chess federation board chair Villu Otsmann said, "As far as we know, decided to go live and study in Russia. Only she can say for what reason she made this decision."
"In my opinion it is sad when a young talented chess player, whose development Estonia has invested in, opted to leave and go live, study, and play chess in Russia. In Estonia, women's chess is perhaps in the best state in its history," he went on.
Sinitsina's national FIDE ranking has also gone down, to 28th in Russia compared with the third place she would now be ranked at in Estonia.
Neither Delfi nor Otsmann were aware whether Sinitsina has taken Russian citizenship as well – were she to do so she would be required to relinquish her Estonian citizenship.
"The federation regrets that such a situation has arisen," Otsmann added.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever
