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
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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

Roebers, Eline23811–0Atalik, Ekaterina2395
European Women Rapid-ch 2024
Monaco12.01.2025
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d4 Even 6.d3 is often played. 6...dxe4 7.Nxe4 Nd7 7...Qxd4!? 8.Bd3 Nd7 9.Be3 Qd5 with compensation. 8.Bc4 Ngf6 9.c3 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Nf6 11.Qe2 This alternative has been played a few times: 11.Qf3 11...Bd6 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bd2 Qc7 14.a4 Bf4 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 0-0-0 17.0-0
The prospects are roughly balanced. 17...h5 18.a5 h4 19.Rf4 e5 20.Rf5 exd4 21.cxd4 21.exd4!? Kb8 22.a6 Rhe8 23.Qf3 b6 24.Rg5+- 21...Rhe8
22.a6?! 22.Rg5 g6 23.a6± 22...b6 Black missed 22...Rxd4 e.g. 23.axb7+ Kb8 24.Rg5 Qb6 25.Rxg7 Rxe3 with counterplay. 23.Qf3+- Kb8 24.Rc1 Qd7 25.b4 25.Rg5!? 25...Nd5? After this move, the game is over quickly. Better was 25...Re7 26.Rg5 Ne8 27.Rg4 26.Bxd5 cxd5 27.Rxf7 Qe6 28.Rcc7 1–0

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

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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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