When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going

Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin wanted to personally meet the Russian national chess teams at their training camp in Sochi, Russia on September 21, 2018 so as to wish them good luck at the forthcoming 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia. Pictured from left, first row, are: Olga Alexandrovna Girya, Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik, Andrey Vasilievich Filatov, and Alexander Vladimirovich Riazantsev; second row: Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov, Alexander Anatolyevich Motylev, Sergei Vladimirovich Rublevsky, Natalia Andreevna Pogonina, and Vladimir Alekseevich Potkin. Photo: Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk’s archive/Russian Chess Federation.