"They don't let me go anywhere": Russian chess player complains about the pointlessness of Russia's transition to Asia

Russian athletes have gained nothing from the transfer of the local chess federation from Europe to Asia. Grandmasters cannot compete in team tournaments, and the only competition affected by the demarche of the aggressor country's representatives was the continental championship.

This was stated in an interview with Championship.com by chess player Olga Badelko, who had previously changed her Belarusian sports citizenship to Russian. She noted that athletes from the Russian Federation have faced restrictions in European tournaments and continue to face them in Asian tournaments.

"There are no team tournaments in principle, Russia is not allowed anywhere. And I don't know what it's like to play in the Asian individual championship yet. In general, only one tournament is changing due to the transition - the European Individual Championships to the Asian Championships. So it doesn't make much difference if you've switched or not. I don't know if it will be bad or good. Absolutely nothing has changed, we couldn't play there and we can't play here. I guess time will tell," Badelko said.

Earlier, Ukraine's 2014 chess champion Yurii Kuzubov shook hands with Russian grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev, playing into the hands of Kremlin propaganda.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on July 29, the Ukrainian Chess Federation (USF) published recommendations for Ukrainians participating in international competitions.

After the incident with fencer Olga Harlan, the Ukrainian Chess Federation considers it appropriate to refrain from shaking hands with representatives of Russia and Belarus, regardless of which flag they play under.

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