EWCC 2024: Ulviyya Fataliyeva captures title
Ulviyya Fataliyeva (Azerbaijan) is the new European Women’s Champion. The native of Ganja dominated the competition, a 10-round Swiss tournament, finishing a full point ahead of the runners-up and picking up 22 rating points. The European Women’s Championship 2024, with a prize fund of 60,000 Euros, took place in Rhodes, Greece, from April 18 to 30. It brought together 182 players from 35 European federations. The 24th seed Ulviyya took the lead in Round 5 after defeating WCM Bozhena Piddubna of Ukraine and never looked back. Going into the final tenth round, a full point ahead of closest rivals, she drew her game Nino Batsiashvili and clinched the title with an excellent score of 8.5/10. As many as eight players netted 7.5/10 and tied for second place. IMs Nataliya Buksa (Ukraine) and Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia) secured silver and bronze medals, respectively, thanks to a superior Buchholz tiebreak. The top ten finishers (including FM Nadya Toncheva, who earned 65 rating points along the way) qualified for the next Women’s World Cup. Final standings: 1 IM Fataliyeva, Ulviyya AZE 2377 8½ 2 IM Buksa, Nataliya UKR 2394 7½ 3 IM Javakhishvili, Lela GEO 2447 7½ 4 GM Batsiashvili, Nino GEO 2445 7½ 5 IM Bulmaga, Irina ROU 2394 7½ 6 IM Mammadzada, Gunay AZE 2436 7½ 7 FM Toncheva, Nadya BUL 2258 7½ 8 IM Tsolakidou, Stavroula GRE 2424 7½ 9 IM Mkrtchian, Lilit ARM 2366 7½ 10 WIM Sliwicka, Alicja POL 2315 7 Complete standings The ECU Commission for Women’s Chess introduced Excellence on Board Awards for five different categories: Commissions Choice, People’s Choice, Junior U20, player rated U2200 rating, and 2201+ rated player. The awards went to: People’s choice 1st place: Kubicka Anna (game from round 8 Kubicka Anna – Narva Mai) People’s choice 2nd place: Mihaela Sandu (game from round 9 Atalik Ekaterina – Sandu Mihaela) Committees Choice: Sliwicka Alicja (game from round 7 Maltsevskaya Aleksandra – Sliwicka Alicja) Junior U20: Nadya Toncheva Player rated 2201+: Gunay Mammadzada Player rated U2200: Sabina Ibrahimova The Closing ceremony took place after the last round in the playing venue, with the attendance of the ECU Vice Presidents Alojzije Jankovic and Eva Repkova, the Vice Governor of South Aegean region Akis Delaportas, the Vice-rector of finance of Aegean University, Ioannis Seimenis, the Chairperson of the Greek Chess Federation Commission for Women’s Chess Maria-Anna Stefanidi, and other distinguished guests. You can watch a vidoe recap of the closing ceremony here. Photos: European Chess Union Official website: ewcc2024.eu/