Ushenina takes gold at European Women's Rapid Championship

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/13/2025 – The 2024 European Women's Rapid Championship saw four players finish tied for first place with 8½/11 points, with Ukrainian GM Anna Ushenina securing the gold medal on tiebreaks. The former women's world champion remained undefeated throughout the event, climbing to the top with crucial wins in rounds 7 and 8. Yuliia Osmak and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh grabbed silver and bronze, while Eline Roebers finished just outside the podium spots. | Photo: Patricia Claros

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Four players tied atop the standings

The 2024 European Women's Rapid Championship followed Aleksandra Maltsevskaya's triumph in the blitz event, bringing another round of elite chess competition to Monte Carlo. This time, the players faced an 11-round Swiss tournament with a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment. As noted on the official site, these championships are considered events valid for the previous year.

The tightly contested rapid tournament saw four players finish with 8½/11 points: Anna Ushenina, Yuliia Osmak, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and Eline Roebers. Thanks to her superior tiebreak score, Ushenina claimed the gold medal, showcasing her enduring prowess as a former women's world champion (2012-2013) and European women's champion (2016). Among the four players at the top, the 39-year-old Ukrainian grandmaster was the only one to remain undefeated across all 11 rounds.

Starting the second day of the championship half a point behind early leaders Lela Javakhishvili and Stavroula Tsolakidou, Ushenina turned the tide with crucial victories in rounds 7 and 8 against Natalia Zhukova and Tsolakidou. She then held firm with three consecutive draws.

While Osmak also finished the event with three consecutive draws, Khademalsharieh and Roebers demonstrated impressive late-stage performances to finish among the leaders. Roebers, in particular, capped her tournament with back-to-back wins over Ekaterina Atalik (analysed below) and Nino Batsiashvili in rounds 10 and 11, securing fourth place. The Dutch rising star finished just outside the podium spots in both the blitz and rapid sections.

Roebers 1 - 0 Atalik

Analysis by André Schulz

Final standings

Rk. Name Pts. TB1
1 Ushenina, Anna 8,5 0
2 Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat 8,5 0
3 Osmak, Yuliia 8,5 0
4 Roebers, Eline 8,5 0
5 Javakhishvili, Lela 8 0
6 Stefanova, Antoaneta 8 0
7 Kosteniuk, Alexandra 8 0
8 Narva, Mai 8 0
9 Cramling, Pia 8 0
10 Sliwicka, Alicja 8 0
11 Tsolakidou, Stavroula 7,5 0
12 Bulmaga, Irina 7,5 0
13 Batsiashvili, Nino 7,5 0
14 Arabidze, Meri 7,5 0
15 Gaponenko, Inna 7,5 0
16 Toncheva, Nadya 7,5 0
17 Hrebenshchykova, Yelyzaveta 7 0
18 Paehtz, Elisabeth 7 0
19 Wagner, Dinara 7 0
20 Khotenashvili, Bella 7 0

...141 players

All available games

Links


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.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors