Ukrainian youngster keeps on winning

Anastasiia Hnatyshyn moved into sole first place at the European Womens Championship in Batumi after extending her perfect start to 5/5. The 15-year-old Ukrainian WFM, who began the tournament as the 76^th seed in the 165-player field, defeated England's Elmira Mirzoeva in round five to record another win against a higher-rated opponent.

Hnatyshyn's victory over Mirzoeva was her fourth consecutive upset in the tournament. Mirzoeva, a Russian-born WGM now representing England, reached a peak rating of 2379 in 2015, when she was among the top 100 women players in the world. Against Hnatyshyn, she obtained a promising position from a Sicilian Defence, as the Ukrainian mishandled the opening. However, the game changed direction as both players approached time trouble.

A critical moment came on move 18, when Mirzoeva chose the wrong plan from a favourable position. Hnatyshyn took full advantage.

Here White should play the prophylactic 18.Qf2 or 18.c3, limiting her opponent's counterplay. Instead, the direct 18.f5?! allowed Black to restore the balance.

Further mistakes by Mirzoeva allowed Hnatyshyn to take over. After 24...Qxd6, it is Black who has the stronger threats against the weakened white monarch.

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White's position collapsed rather quickly, as resignation came on move 31.

The Ukrainian teenager's result naturally draws comparisons with that of her compatriot Roman Dehtiarov, who won the European Championship in April at the age of 17 despite starting as the 126^th seed in a 521-player field! Hnatyshyn still has much of the tournament ahead of her, but her early performance has followed a similarly unexpected pattern.

Anastasiia Hnatyshyn playing black against Elmira Mirzoeva | Photo: European Chess Union

Two players are half a point behind the leader on 4½/5: Poland's Oliwia Kiolbasa, the 11^th seed, and Türkiye's Gulenay Aydin, the 78^th seed. Aydin, a 20-year-old WIM, is ranked even lower than Hnatyshyn in the starting list, two places behind the Ukrainian. She joined the chasing group after defeating 10^th seed Nurgyul Salimova with the white pieces.

In that game, Salimova miscalculated on move 20. Aydin first defended her king's position successfully and then converted her advantage to add another notable result to a round in which several lower-rated players continued to affect the upper part of the standings.

Aydin's 20.Ne6 attacks both the queen on c7 and the rook on d8. After spending 13 minutes, Salimova faltered by opting for 20...Qa5?? instead of 20...Qb6, threatening checkmate on b2 - in the latter case, White would be all but forced to enter the following line: 21.b3 Qa6 22.Kb1 Nxe3 23.Nxd8 Nxd1 24.Nxc6+ Qxc6 25.Qxc6 bxc6 26.Rxd1, and the simplified queenless position is close to equal.

Instead, in the game, White got to play 21.Nxd8 at once, and Black's attack runs out of steam after 21...Qxa2 22.Nxc6+ bxc6 23.Rd2

There is no killer blow for Black. There followed 23...Qa1+ 24.Kc2 Qa4+ 25.b3 Qa2+ 26.Kd1 Qxb3+ 27.Ke1 and the monarch escapes to the kingside.

Fritz 21

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Once the dust settled, White emerged with an extra piece and went on to score the full point.

Gulenay Aydin | Photo: European Chess Union

A further 11 players stand on 4/5, half a point behind Kiolbasa and Aydin. That group includes three players from the top ten seeds: Azerbaijan's Ulviyya Fataliyeva, the 3^rd seed; Ukraine's Anna Ushenina, the 6^th seed; and Georgia's Meri Arabidze, the 8^th seed.

Oliwia Kiolbasa (right) defeated Gunay Mammadzada from Azerbaijan with the white pieces | Photo: European Chess Union

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The playing hall during round five | Photo: European Chess Union

Standings after round 5

...165 players

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Links

• Official website
• Full technical information on Chess-Results