Russian grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk to join Swiss women’s national chess team

The Russian chess grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk will join the Swiss women’s national chess team as of January 1, 2024.

Kosteniuk, the 2008 women’s chess world champion, ranks ninth among the world’s female chess players. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has played under the flag of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), in protest of the war.

Kosteniuk became a Swiss national through marriage, at 18. Later, she got divorced but remained a dual citizen, of both Russia and Switzerland. She will not be playing for Switzerland this year, since this would entail a $10,000 commission charge from the Swiss Chess Federation to its Russian counterpart. Starting in 2024, there will be no such commission charge.