Members of the ACF General Assembly in Abu Dhabi approved the move, with 29 delegates voting in favour, one polling against and six others abstaining.

The decision comes after the International Chess Federation (FIDE) gave the green light for the CFR to switch its affiliation from the European Chess Union to the ACF.

With the change set to come into force on May 1, CFR President Andrey Filatov said his players would still feature under a FIDE flag at the European Individual Chess Championship, scheduled to be held from Thursday (March 2) to March 14 in Serbian town Vrnjačka Banja.

"Legally, we enter the ACF from May 1 and we won’t delay," Filatov told Russia’s official state news agency TASS.

"About the performance at the European Championships?

"I hope we will show a decent result there."

CFR's affiliation with ACF goes as far back as April 30 in 2022 when the organisation sent a letter to the ECU, stating its intent to change body, after FIDE banned Russia from team events shortly after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Matytsin described the CFR’s transition from the ECU to the ACF as a "positive and significant decision".

"The priority task is to enable Russian chess players to participate in international competitions and show their skills in games with strong and worthy opponents," Matytsin told TASS.

"The Asian school of chess is actively developing and moving forward, representatives of India and China demonstrate great success.

"And Russian masters have something to offer both in the competitive aspect and in the further development and popularization of chess."

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, also welcomed the move in a report by TASS.

"Asian colleagues and friends appreciate Russia's contribution to the development of chess," said Dvorkovich.

"For Russian chess players, this is an opportunity to play tournaments more freely, to participate in continental championships in such a difficult time that we are going through now.

"This is a mutual decision, mutual agreement - we have one chess family.

"We hope that eventually the whole family will be in a good situation."

The FIDE Council also agree last week to impose measures aimed at supporting Russian players who wish to join another European National Federation, following recommendations from a Constitutional Commission report.

These include a waiver of transfer fees to FIDE and compensation fees for the CFR for any player previously registered to represent Russia, a move open until August 31.

The International Olympic Committee has welcomed a suggestion that Russian and Belarusian athletes could return to international sport under a neutral banner by competing at Olympic Council of Asia events.

Most Russian sports have opted against transferring their affiliation from Europe to Asia, including the Russian Football Union, which instead sought establishing a Working Group with UEFA to restore relations.