IM Teodora Injac of Serbia emerged as the winner of the 25th European Women’s Championship. The native of Belgrade claimed the title with an impressive score 9.5/11, finishing 1.5 points ahead of the field.
The competition was held in Rhodes, Greece, from March 31 to April 10. This Mediterranean island hosted the event for the second consecutive year. The championship—an 11-round Swiss tournament with classical time control—brought together nearly 140 players from 34 European federations, including 7 GMs, 22 WGMs, 25 IMs, and 20 WIMs. The total prize fund amounted to €60,000, with €10,000 awarded to the champion.
Second-seeded Injac (pictured below) had a shaky start, losing her first-round game to Anastasia Kirtadze of Georgia. However, the Serbian star roared back, reeling off nine (!) straight wins to secure the title with a round to spare.
IMs Irina Bulmaga (ROU), Mai Narva (EST), and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya each scored 8/11, tying for second place. Bulmaga and Narva claimed silver and bronze, respectively, thanks to superior Buchholz tiebreaks. As many as ten players, including top seed Nino Batsiashvili of Georgia, shared fifth place with 7.5/11.
WFM Anastasia Kirtadze led the tournament up to the halfway mark and was one of the event’s biggest revelations. Despite stumbling in the final rounds, she finished with a respectable 6.5/11 and gained 154 rating points.
Final standings:
The European Women’s Chess Championship 2025 was a qualification event for the FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup. 11 players qualified for the biggest women’s tournament of the year that will take place from 5-29 July in Batumi, Georgia.
ECU Commission for Women’s Chess presented the WOM ECU Performance Excellence Awards. IM Eline Robers (NED, 2367) won the Junior U20 Award (Celebrating rising starts) as the highest-ranked player U20, WFM Anastasia Kirtadze (GEO, 2180) won the Junior U16 Award and the Performance Award for a player rated U2200. Andzhelika Nenova (BUL) won the Performance Award for a player rated U2000. The Awards were presented by the Chairperson of the ECU Commission for Women’s Chess Antoaneta Stefanova.
The closing ceremony took place in the playing venue with the attendance of the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Secretary General Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, ECU Vice President Mr. Alojzije Jankovic, ECU Treasurer Ion-Serban Dobronauteanu, Chairperson of the ECU Commission for Women’s Chess Antoaneta Stefanova, and other distinguished guests.
Photos: European Chess Union and Mark Livshitz
Official website: ewcc2025.com/