Russian international chess grandmaster Sanan Sjugirov will represent Hungary in future tournaments, the Russian state news agency reported on Thursday.
The 30-year-old athlete ranks 31st in the world ranking with 2,705 live points, and he is the highest-ranked chess player who changed sports citizenship, TASZSZ noted.
He was in a better position only once: in May of this year, he took 28th place with 2712 points. As an age group competitor, he won world and European championship titles.
On the website of the international federation (FIDE), Sjugirov is listed as Russian in the current world rankings, but in the portrait showing the players, the entry Hungary already appears next to his name.
Sergei Smagin, vice-president of the Russian Chess Federation, told TASSZ that Shugirov is a strong chess player, but there are several players of this level in Russia.
"In Hungary, I think he will have a guaranteed place in the national team"
- He told.
MTI
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