Apart from Kirill Alexeenko (to Austria) and Nikita Vitiugov (to England), the FIDE transfer list shows several other prominent Russian grandmasters who have left their federation after Russia invaded Ukraine. Evgeny Alekseev now plays for Israel and Sanan Sjugirov is the new number one in Hungary.
The Austrian Chess Federation has a new top grandmaster representing their country. Kirill Alekseenko (photo) has joined the Austrian federation and with his 2674 rating is the new number one in the European country. The Spanish Chess Federation also reports a prominent addition, as Sara Khadem has completed her transfer. | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
As part of the chess festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland, two tournaments with an interesting format were played: six players took part in a round robin and competed in classical, rapid and blitz chess. Jorden van Foreest (pictured) won the open tournament, Meri Arabidze was first in the women's tournament. | Photos: Official site
After a week of intense and exciting blitz matches, the Armageddon Women's Week in Berlin came to an end on Sunday. In the final, Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Humpy Koneru. The organisers, World Chess, measured the players' heart rates during the games: The highest was 173 beats per minute. | Photos: World Chess
The last of the four Women’s Grand Prix tournaments in the 2022-23 series begins on Tuesday, with Aleksandra Goryachkina the rating favourite. Zhu Jiner is leading the overall GP standings. However, the Chinese WGM has already participated in three tournaments, and thus will not be playing in Nicosia.