Elina Danielian wins the European Women’s Championship

by Klaus Besenthal
8/21/2021 – The European Women’s Championship came to an end on Friday, with Armenia’s Elina Danielian winning the title as the only player who collected 9/11 points in Iasi, Romania. In the final round, Danielian clinched clear first place by beating Estonian WIM Mai Narva on top board. Draws were seen on boards 2 to 6. Iulija Osmak (Ukraine), who had been at the top of the standings table for several rounds, had to settle for second place. | Photos: Official site / Eropean Chess Union
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A seized opportunity

Armenian GM Elina Danielian can look back on a long, successful career: almost 30 years ago she became the world champion in the U14 and U16 categories; she would go on to get the GM title, and for a while had a 2500+ rating. So it is no surprise that Danielian became the 2021 European Champion. 

Notwithstanding, it was a seized opportunity for the Armenian, as many top European players did not take part in this tournament. Once the tournament is over, that is not so relevant though: what really counts for her is having won the title!

Mai Narva had a terribly hard time in her last-round game against Danielian. The Estonian missed a last, hard-to-find chance to equalize:

 
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1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 Ne4 4.Bf4 Nd7 5.e3 Ndf6 6.Bd3 h6 7.h3 Bf5 8.Bh2 e6 9.c4 Be7 10.Qc2 0-0 11.0-0 c5 12.Rd1 d5 13.Na3 Rc8 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Qb3 Qe7 16.Rac1 Bxa3 17.Qxa3 Qxa3 18.bxa3 Rfd8 19.Nd4 dxc4 20.Bxc4
This position was still quite acceptable for Black, albeit it called for an energetic response. With f2-f3 and e3-e4, White threatens to leave the f5-bishop out of play for a long time. 20...Kh7? Even the best in the world like to play such moves, but this was not the right the right time to go for prophylaxis. Good was 20...Rc5! and after 21.f3 Black has Rdc8! and, for example: 22.fxe4 Bxe4 23.Nxe6 Rxc4 24.Rxc4 Rxc4 25.Rd8+ Kh7 26.Nf8+ Kh8= 21.f3 Nd6 22.Bb3 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Bg6
24.g4 The best here was 24.Rd1! and after Nf5 25.Nxf5 Rxd1+ 26.Bxd1 Bxf5 27.e4 Bg6 28.Ba4 to defend against the dominant white bishop pair would have been extremely difficult. 24...Kg8? Narva misses the opportunity to play 24...Rc8! to oppose the white rook. 25.Kf2 a6 26.a4 Nde8 27.Ke2 h5 28.g5 Nd7 29.e4 e5
30.Nc2 An alternative was the brave 30.Nf5! Bxf5 31.exf5 Kf8 32.g6 30...Kf8?! Black has taken a liking to these king moves. 30...Rc8! was better. 31.Rd1 f6 32.gxf6 gxf6 33.Bg1 Ke7 34.Ne3 Rc8 Now this move comes too late and only worsens the situation. 35.Nd5+ Kf8 36.Be3 Nc5 37.Nb6 White wins material. Nxb3 38.Nxc8 Na5 39.Bc5+ Kf7 40.Rd7+ 40.Rd7+ Kg8 41.Ne7+ Kh7 42.Nc6+ etc. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Danielian,E2407Narva,M22761–02021European Women-ch 202111.1

Estonian WIM Mai Narva could not stop Elina Danielian

Left to right: Iulija Osmak (2nd), Elina Danielian (1st) and Oliwia Kiolbasa (3rd)

The top German scorer — Josefine Heinemann finished in 46th place on 6/11

Final standings (7+ points)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Danielian Elina 9,0 2404
2 Osmak Iulija 8,5 2388
3 Kiolbasa Oliwia 8,0 2372
4 Buksa Nataliya 8,0 2334
5 Sargsyan Anna M. 7,5 2370
6 Mammadova Gulnar 7,5 2360
7 Khotenashvili Bela 7,5 2358
8 Narva Mai 7,5 2346
9 Arabidze Meri 7,5 2329
10 Garifullina Leya 7,5 2327
11 Badelka Olga 7,5 2324
12 Daulyte-Cornette Deimante 7,5 2321
13 Milliet Sophie 7,5 2304
14 Batsiashvili Nino 7,0 2368
15 Mammadzada Gunay 7,0 2364
16 Injac Teodora 7,0 2346
17 Javakhishvili Lela 7,0 2339
18 Zherebtsova Alexandra 7,0 2322

...117 players

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  • 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.
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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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