IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 2377) heads into the last round of the European Women’s Chess Championship 2024 with a full point lead!
Today’s top-board encounter between IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva and IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2394) finished in a draw after only 12 moves of play. A draw was enough for Azerbaijani to keep a full point lead and to keep her way towards the title.
Scoring unbeaten 8/9 points, Fataliyeva is ahead of five players who tie for second place with 7/9 points (each): IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2394), IM Nataliya Buksa (UKR, 2394), GM Nino Batsiashvili (GEO, 2445), IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2436), and IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE, 2424).
Playing on the second board, IM Nataliya Buksa (UKR, 2394) drew with white pieces against IM Dinara Wagner (GER, 2453). Wagner had a slightly better position out of the opening, but didn’t manage to convert it into something significant. The position transposed into deadly drawn rooks endgame and the players shook hands for a peaceful result.
IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2436) was victorious against the top-seeded player in the tournament IM Yuliia Osmak (UKR, 2459). Mammadzada used her opponent’s mistake 15…Na5? to gain a clear advantage in the early middlegame, and Osmak then made the second big mistake with 20…Qe7? Gunay Mammadzada took the decisive advantage and won the game in the next 10 moves.
GM Nino Batsiashvili (GEO, 2445) prevailed against IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2393) in a drawish endgame. Batsiashvili had a slightly worse position out of the opening, but Maltsevskaya missed her chance to improve the clear advantage. Eventually, they entered a drawish endgame with three pawns each and Knight versus Bishop, when Aleksandra Maltsevskaya made a crucial mistake with 55.Nf5?? Nino Batsiashvili saw the winning motive and forced her opponent on resignation after a couple of moves.
IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE, 2424) took down WIM Alicja Sliwicka (POL, 2315) with whites. Tsolakidou had a slightly better position out of the opening but black neutralized it and the evaluation bar was mostly around the equality. Just after the time control when it seemed we’ll have a balanced play until the end, Alicja Sliwicka made a fatal mistake with 43…Qe3?? and Stavroula found an undefendable mating attack.
The 10th round starts at 12:00 CEST, and the top board pairings are:
- GM Nino Batsiashvili vs IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva
- IM Nataliya Buksa vs IM Gunay Mammadzada
- IM Irina Bulmaga vs IM Stavroula Tsolakidou
- IM Dinara Wagner vs. IM Olga Zimina
- IM Salome Melia vs IM Lela Jvakhishvili
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
Live video broadcast with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and Dragana Nikolovska can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.
The European Women’s Chess Championship 2024 is co-organised with the Region of South Aegean.
The event is co-organized with South Aegean Region.
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