Following nine-game winning streak, Teodora Injac wins European Women's Championship

Bulmaga and Narva reach the podium

Teodora Injac of Serbia has won the 25^th European Women^'s Chess Championship, held from 31 March to 10 April in Rhodes, Greece. Injac, who entered the event as the second seed, finished with a commanding 9½/11, securing the title with a round to spare and ending 1½ points ahead of her closest rivals.

The championship, hosted for a second consecutive year on the Mediterranean island, was played as an 11-round Swiss tournament with classical time control. Injac's triumph was particularly notable for her remarkable recovery after a difficult start. She suffered a loss in the first round to 16-year-old Anastasia Kirtadze of Georgia, having missed a mate-in-two during the game.

Injac found the good-looking 35...Qxa2+, when after 36.Kxa2 she has a mate-in-two on the board: i.e. 36...b1Q+ 37.Qxb1 Ra4#. With only seconds on the clock, however, the eventual tournament winner played 36...Ra4+ instead, and after 37.Kb1 Ra1+ 38.Kc2 b1Q+ 39.Qxb1 Raxb1, in fact it is White who is winning!

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After 40.Rxg7+, Kirtadze went on to convert her newfound advantage into a 53-move win. But Injac responded with a winning streak that included nine consecutive victories.

Teodora Injac | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Injac's run included crucial wins over direct competitors for the title. Between rounds 7 and 10, she defeated Mai Narva (Estonia), Irina Bulmaga (Romania) and Lilit Mkrtchian (Armenia), all of whom finished in the top eleven and qualified for the next Women's World Cup.

One of the tournament's standout moments came in round 8, when Injac uncorked the spectacular tactical blow 26...Bxg3 against Georgia's Bella Khotenashvili.

The move, described by Karsten Müller as coming "out of the clear blue sky", secured a critical win on the top board (see full analysis below).

Three players tied for second place on 8/11: Irina Bulmaga, Mai Narva and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya. Thanks to superior Buchholz tiebreak scores, Bulmaga claimed the silver medal, with Narva taking bronze. Ten players, including top seed Nino Batsiashvili of Georgia, shared fifth place with scores of 7½/11.

King's Indian Attack - Simple. Flexible. Dynamic.

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Among the tournament's standout stories was Anastasia Kirtadze. The young Georgian player, seeded 70^th, led the tournament after six rounds, having scored 5½/6 against a tough field. Although she struggled in the latter stages, finishing on 6½/11, her performance earned her a gain of 154 rating points.

Irina Bulmaga v. Teodora Injac about to start in round 10 | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Mai Narva | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Khotenashvili 0 - 1 Injac

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Final standings

Master Class Vol.16 - Judit Polgar

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Links

• Official website
• Full techincal information on Chess-Results
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