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

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
4/12/2025 – Teodora Injac of Serbia won the 25th European Women's Chess Championship in Rhodes with an impressive 9½/11, finishing 1½ points clear of the field. Despite losing her first-round game to 16-year-old Anastasia Kirtadze - having missed a mate-in-two - Injac rebounded with nine straight wins, including victories over key contenders. Irina Bulmaga, Mai Narva and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya tied for second place with 8 points each. | Photos: European Chess Union / Mark Livshitz
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Bulmaga and Narva reach the podium

Teodora Injac of Serbia has won the 25th 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.

Kirtadze v. Injac

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!

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

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.

Khotenashvili v. Injac

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.

Among the tournament's standout stories was Anastasia Kirtadze. The young Georgian player, seeded 70th, 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, Teodora Injac

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

Mai Narva

Mai Narva | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Aleksandra Maltsevskaya

Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Khotenashvili 0 - 1 Injac

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Khotenashvili, Bella24180–1Injac, Teodora2454
European Womens-ch 2025
Rhodes08.04.2025[Mueller,Karsten]
1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 g6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 c5 5.c4 d4 6.b4 Bg7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Re8 9.bxc5 Ne4 10.d3 Nxc5 11.Nbd2 e5 12.Ba3 Nba6 13.Nb3 Bf8 14.h4 Bd7 15.Ng5 Bc6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.Nxc5 Nxc5 18.Bxc5 Bxc5 19.Qa4 Be7 20.Ne4 f5 21.Nd2 Qc7 22.Rfb1 e4 23.c5 Bf6 24.Nc4 Be5 25.Kg2 exd3 26.exd3
Out of the clear blue sky. With few defenders near the king an attack can be very dangerous: 26...Bxg3‼ A fantastic shot. 27.fxg3? Now Black's attacking forces are too strong. 27.Rb2 is called for, e.g. Bf4 27...Bxh4? 28.Nd6+- 28.Rab1 Qd7 29.Nd6 Bxd6 30.cxd6 Qxd6 31.Qc4+ and White has enough compensation. 27...Re2+ 28.Kh3 28.Kf3 is refuted by Rae8 29.Qb3 Qf7 30.Nd6 R8e3+ 31.Kf4 g5+ 32.Kxg5 h6+ 33.Kxh6 Re6+-+ and 28.Kf1 by Qxg3 29.Kxe2 Re8+ 30.Kd2 Qf2+ 31.Kc1 Qe1+ 32.Qd1 Qc3+ 33.Qc2 Re1# 28...g5‼
The next attacker joins the fun. 29.Ne5 29.hxg5 Qf7 30.Qd1 Qh5# 29...g4+ 30.Nxg4 fxg4+ 31.Kxg4 h5+ 32.Kxh5 Qf7+ 33.Kg4 Qe6+ 33...Qe6+ 34.Kg5 Re5+ 35.Kf4 Rf8# 0–1

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Injac, Teodora 9,5 0
2 Bulmaga, Irina 8 0
3 Narva, Mai 8 0
4 Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra 8 0
5 Tsolakidou, Stavroula 7,5 0
6 Javakhishvili, Lela 7,5 0
7 Batsiashvili, Nino 7,5 0
8 Ushenina, Anna 7,5 0
9 Daulyte-Cornette, Deimante 7,5 0
10 Mammadova, Gulnar 7,5 0
11 Mkrtchian, Lilit 7,5 0
12 Milliet, Sophie 7,5 0
13 Kiolbasa, Oliwia 7,5 0
14 Kulon, Klaudia 7,5 0
15 Urh, Zala 7 0
16 Khotenashvili, Bella 7 0
17 Arabidze, Meri 7 0
18 Danielian, Elina 7 0
19 Krasteva, Beloslava 7 0
20 Savina, Anastasia 7 0
21 Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina 7 0
22 Zawadzka, Jolanta 7 0
23 Zhukova, Natalia 7 0
24 Fataliyeva, Ulviyya 7 0
25 Yao, Lan 7 0
26 Kirtadze, Anastasia 6,5 0
27 Roebers, Eline 6,5 0
28 Beydullayeva, Govhar 6,5 0
29 Toncheva, Nadya 6,5 0
30 Socko, Monika 6,5 0

...136 players

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Topics: European Women's Championship 2025, Irina Bulmaga, Mai Narva, Teodora Injac
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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