One of my parents are russian. Plus,the flag intimidates oppoenents.
True, lol.
I wouldn't want to play a Russian.
Ya, because they are number one in the world for chess so far.
Magnus, Vishy and Bobby would (or would have in Bobby's case) argue against that for individuals and China is just one of the countries that would argue against that for teams, but the mere fact that they would being arguing against it is an indication of how close to being valid it is. Of course if it was the USSR instead of just Russia it would be more obvious.
The second best in my school I think is 1000 rated.