European Women’s Ch.: Fataliyeva, Garcia and Piddubna share the lead

by André Schulz
4/24/2024 – The top duels in the fifth round of the Women's European Championship ended in draws. This allowed 15-year-old Ukrainian WCM Bozhena Piddubna (pictured) to catch the leaders with a win. Piddubna is now sharing the lead with Ulviyya Fataliyeva (Azerbaijan) and Marta Garcia (Spain). Piddubna will play black against Fataliyeva in Thursday’s sixth round. | Photos: European Chess Union

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

15-year-old Piddubna joins the lead

The top pairings in the fifth round of the European Women’s Championship in Rhodes brought no big surprises. All the games on the first five boards ended drawn, including the top match between the two leading players, Marta Garcia Martin and Ulviyya Fataliyeva, who had won all their games up to that point.

Marta Garcia Martin

Marta Garcia Martin

This gave Bozhena Piddubna the opportunity to catch the leading duo after her victory over Sabina Vega. The Ukrainian is only fifteen years old and will now face Ulviyya Fataliyeva in round six. Marta Garcia will play Lela Javakishvili from Georgia.

Of the nine German participants, Dinara Wagner and Lara Schulze have had the best start to the tournament. After the fourth round, the two national-team players were in 24th and 25th place, with 3 points each, already a whole point behind the leaders.

In round five, both had opponents from Poland. Dinara Wagner drew against Alicja Sliwicka, while Lara Schulze lost her game against Aleksandra Maltsevskaya. With 3½ points, Dinara Wagener is now 23rd and, as the fourth seeded player, is performing below expectations.

Meanwhile, after a good start with two draws and a win against much higher-rated opponents, 9-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan from England suffered two defeats in the last two rounds.

In her game against Jovanka Houska, however, the young player put up a fight before being mated on move 131.

European Women's Chess Championship

Bodhana Sivanandan and Jovanka Houska in a deserted playing hall

Jovana Eric (Serbia) 0 - 1 Yuliia Osmak (Ukraine)

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Yuliia Osmak, Jovana Eric

Top seed Yuliia Osmak beat Jovana Eric in the first round, but has been defeated twice since then — she now stands 1½ points behinds the leaders, with 3 points to her name

Standings after round 5

Rk. SNo Name Rtg Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3   TB4   TB5 
1 Fataliyeva, Ulviyya 4,5 0
2 Garcia Martin, Marta 4,5 0
3 Piddubna, Bozhena 4,5 0
4 Javakhishvili, Lela 4 0
5 Wikar, Martyna 4 0
6 Daulyte-Cornette, Deimante 4 0
7 Narva, Mai 4 0
8 Kulon, Klaudia 4 0
9 Sliwicka, Alicja 4 0
10 Bulmaga, Irina 4 0
11 Ushenina, Anna 4 0
Beydullayeva, Govhar 4 0
13 Babiy, Olga 4 0
14 Krasteva, Beloslava 4 0
15 Brunello, Marina 4 0
16 Hejazipour, Mitra 4 0
17 Milliet, Sophie 4 0
18 Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra 4 0
19 Hryzlova, Sofiia 4 0
20 Zimina, Olga 4 0
21 Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 3,5 0
22 Mammadzada, Gunay 3,5 0
23 Wagner, Dinara 3,5 0
24 Efroimski, Marsel 3,5 0
Terbe, Julianna 3,5 0

...182 players

All available games

Links


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.