Mammadzada and Gevorgyan a half point back
Monika Socko, aged 44, is a well-known grandmaster who won the Polish Women’s Championship no fewer than eight times (she won the national title for the last time in 2017). The experienced GM has not yet won a European Individual Championship, though. The closest she came to taking home the continental title was the third place she obtained at the 2010 edition in Rijeka, Croatia. Pia Cramling and Viktorija Cmylite grabbed gold and silver back then — both players are skipping this year’s European tournament.
Going into the one rest day at this year’s European, Socko is the sole leader in Prague, as she scored five wins and a draw so far in the Czech capital. An 11-round event, the continental championship is more a marathon than a sprint, though, which means Socko will need to maintain the level she has shown up to this point for five more rounds — the seventh round is set to take place on Saturday, with the last day of play scheduled for next Wednesday.
Two ambitious players from traditional chess countries stand a half point behind the Polish star: Gunay Mammadzada from Azerbaijan and Maria Gevorgyan from Armenia. An 8-player pack on 4½/6 points is very much in the race for first place as well. This group includes two former European champions — i.e. Nana Dzagnidze and Anna Ushenina. Dzagnidze, the top seed, will face Mammadzada in Saturday’s seventh round.

In our last report, after round 4, no fewer than eight players were sharing the lead on 3½/4 points. Since then, Socko managed to collect consecutive wins. First, she defeated her compatriot Jolanta Zawadzka, before taking down sixth seed Elina Danielian with the black pieces, a victory that might go a long way in the fight for the top spot of the podium. Danielian is, in fact, the defending champion in Prague, as she won the 2021 edition in Romania with a remarkable 9/11 score.
Socko beat Serbian WIM Tijana Blagojevic with white in round 3. The game came to an end when Black’s rook had no place to go in a queenless middlegame position.
Socko vs. Blagojevic - Round 3
After 42.Nd7, the rook can only prevent being captured by transferring to d6. But then 43.Nf5+ is a deadly fork. Blagojevic resigned.
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.b4 Be7 11.b5 Na5 11...Bxf3? 12.Qxf3 Ncb4 13.cxb4+- 12.Rxe5 Nxc4 12...Nf6= 13.Rxh5 Nf6 14.Rh4 Nd6 15.Rd4N 15.Rb4 Nd5 16.Rb3 Bf6 17.d4 Re8 18.Na3 Nb6 19.Qf1 Nf5 20.Bf4 a6 21.Bh2 15...Nd7 16.a4 a6 17.bxa6 Rxa6 18.Ba3 18.Rb4 18...c5! 19.Rd5 Qc7 19...Ne8= 20.d4 Ne4 21.dxc5 Ndxc5 22.Bb4 Rg6 23.Ra2 Qf4 24.Na3 Rd6 25.Rd4 g5? 25...Rc8± 26.Nc4+- Re6 27.Re2 g4 28.hxg4 Qxg4 28...Qb8 29.Rd5 Re8 29.Nce5 Qf5 30.Qc2 Qh5 31.Rexe4 Nxe4 32.Qxe4 Bxb4 33.Qg4+ Qxg4 34.Rxg4+ Kh8 35.cxb4 35.Rxb4 Re7 36.Ng4 Ra8+- 35...f6 36.Nd7 Rd8 37.Nc5 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rb6 39.Re4 Rb1 40.b5 Ra1 41.Nd4 Kg7 42.Nd7 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
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Socko,M | 2416 | Blagojevic,T | 2330 | 1–0 | 2022 | | European Women Chess-ch 2022 | 3.8 |
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Standings after round 6
1 |
7 |
|
GM |
Socko Monika |
w |
|
2423 |
5,5 |
0 |
18,5 |
20,5 |
10 |
17,2 |
2 |
5 |
|
IM |
Mammadzada Gunay |
w |
|
2466 |
5 |
0 |
19,5 |
22 |
10 |
9,1 |
3 |
63 |
|
WGM |
Gevorgyan Maria |
w |
|
2216 |
5 |
0 |
17,5 |
19 |
20 |
48,8 |
4 |
1 |
|
GM |
Dzagnidze Nana |
w |
|
2531 |
4,5 |
0 |
22 |
25 |
10 |
1,6 |
5 |
8 |
|
GM |
Ushenina Anna |
w |
|
2423 |
4,5 |
0 |
20 |
23 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
20 |
|
IM |
Mammadova Gulnar |
w |
|
2380 |
4,5 |
0 |
20 |
22,5 |
10 |
6,6 |
7 |
9 |
|
WGM |
Fataliyeva Ulviyya |
w |
|
2413 |
4,5 |
0 |
19,5 |
22 |
10 |
6,6 |
8 |
25 |
|
IM |
Maltsevskaya Aleksandra |
w |
|
2360 |
4,5 |
0 |
19,5 |
21,5 |
10 |
9,2 |
9 |
24 |
|
IM |
Mkrtchian Lilit |
w |
|
2362 |
4,5 |
0 |
17,5 |
20 |
10 |
5,7 |
10 |
21 |
|
IM |
Sargsyan Anna M. |
w |
|
2378 |
4,5 |
0 |
16,5 |
18,5 |
10 |
2,2 |
11 |
40 |
|
WGM |
Babiy Olga |
w |
|
2296 |
4,5 |
0 |
14,5 |
16,5 |
20 |
6,2 |
12 |
10 |
|
WGM |
Zawadzka Jolanta |
w |
|
2412 |
4 |
0 |
22,5 |
26 |
10 |
1,6 |
13 |
6 |
|
GM |
Danielian Elina |
w |
|
2441 |
4 |
0 |
21 |
23 |
10 |
3,7 |
14 |
30 |
|
IM |
Gaponenko Inna |
w |
|
2339 |
4 |
0 |
19,5 |
21,5 |
10 |
2 |
15 |
4 |
|
GM |
Batsiashvili Nino |
w |
|
2466 |
4 |
0 |
19 |
21,5 |
10 |
-5,2 |
...123 players
All available games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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