A top Soviet chess player, Elena Akhmilovskaja, has defected during a tournament here after marrying the American team captain, official sources said on Saturday.
Akhmilovskaja and U.S. team captain John Donaldson were married in this northern Greek city on Friday and flew to Frankfurt, West Germany, Saturday morning, the sources said.The sources stressed that Akhmilovskaja defected because of her love for Donaldson and not for ideological reasons.
The sources said Akhmilovskaja and Donaldson, both 31, would stay in Frankfurt just long enough for the Soviet woman to obtain a visa for the United States. They will then fly to New York.
Donaldson and Akhmilovskaja were in Salonika for the world chess Olympiad in which more than 100 countries compete. The 17-day Olympiad, held every two years, is due to hold its final round of play on Tuesday.
Akhmilovskaja was the number two player on the Soviet women's team. She has a seven-year-old daughter in the Soviet Union.