Romanian Chess Master Defects at London Tournament
Top Romanian chess grandmaster Mihai Suba said today that he is defecting to the West with his teen-age son because life in Romania has become too difficult.
Suba, in London for the Lloyds Bank Masters tournament, said he has applied for British political asylum for himself and his 14-year-old son, Christian.
“I have had many problems in the last year about my participation in tournaments, to get visas, to get the possibility for my wife and son to join me--this is perhaps the last chance I have,” he said.
Suba, ranked 78th in the world, said that he had called his wife, Sanda, whom he left behind in Romania with their younger son Victor, 9, and that they have applied for passports to join him in Britain.
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