After moving its affiliation from Europe to Asia earlier this year, Russia scored its biggest moment on the continental chessboard on Friday. That was thanks solely to Aleksey Grebnev.
After claiming the Tata Steel Asian junior title in the afternoon, Grebnev, playing under the FIDE flag, added another championship before the day ended by claiming the blitz title to bring some cheer to Russian chess.
For the host, it was the girls who brought joy. After G. Teswaini claimed the championship in the classical event, Bommini Mounika Akshaya won the blitz title.
