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.
GM Anna Ushenina wins European Women's Rapid Chess Championship 2024! 🏆
— European Chess Union (@ECUonline) January 12, 2025
After 11 played rounds, as many as four players tied for the first place scoring 8.5 points and the tiebreaks determined the Winners. GM Anna Ushenina had the best tiebreaks to clinch gold, IM Sarasadat… pic.twitter.com/BuOv1LMslg
Analysis by André Schulz
| Roebers, Eline2381 | 1–0 | Atalik, Ekaterina2395 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | European Women Rapid-ch 2024 Monaco12.01.2025 | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2348 | 8,5 | 0 | |
| 2 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2344 | 8,5 | 0 | |
| 3 | IM | Osmak, Yuliia | 2306 | 8,5 | 0 | |
| 4 | IM | Roebers, Eline | 2332 | 8,5 | 0 | |
| 5 | IM | Javakhishvili, Lela | 2295 | 8 | 0 | |
| 6 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2385 | 8 | 0 | |
| 7 | GM | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2491 | 8 | 0 | |
| 8 | IM | Narva, Mai | 2339 | 8 | 0 | |
| 9 | GM | Cramling, Pia | 2354 | 8 | 0 | |
| 10 | WGM | Sliwicka, Alicja | 2255 | 8 | 0 | |
| 11 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | 2393 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 12 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 2354 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 13 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2344 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 14 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2335 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 15 | IM | Gaponenko, Inna | 2296 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 16 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | 2300 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 17 | WIM | Hrebenshchykova, Yelyzaveta | 2251 | 7 | 0 | |
| 18 | GM | Paehtz, Elisabeth | 2407 | 7 | 0 | |
| 19 | IM | Wagner, Dinara | 2346 | 7 | 0 | |
| 20 | GM | Khotenashvili, Bella | 2361 | 7 | 0 |
