Plovdiv: Gunina strikes again

15th European Individual Women's Chess Championship

This event, organised by the Bulgarian Chess Federation under the auspices of the European Chess Union, will be held in the Plovdiv Hall of the Novotel Hotel in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from July 5 (day of arrival) until July 18 (day of departure) 2014. The tournament is open to all players from chess federations which are members of the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.10), regardless of title or rating. There is also no limit in the number of participants per federation. The European Individual Women's Championship 2014 is a qualification event for the next World Cup, for which 14 players will qualify.

Round 7

To win a tournament you usually do not only need to play strong, you also need a little bit of luck. Much more so if the tournament is strong and lasts for 11 rounds. In round seven Valentina Gunia found herself to be quite lucky in her game against Natalia Zhukova, European's Women's Champion 2000.

Valentina Gunina on her road to another win

Natalia Zhukova missed a couple of good chances.

With this win Gunina defended her lead, and with a score of 6.5 out of 7 is now half a point ahead of her closest rival Lela Javakishvili from Georgia, who won against Mariya Muzychuk.

Lela Javakishvili

Tatina Kosintseva became European Champion 2007 and 2009, but has suffered from a lack of form since, dropping from 2581 Elo in November 2010 to 2476 Elo in July 2014. But with 5.5 out of 7 she has had a good tournament so far. In round seven she won surprisingly quickly and easily against Nana Dzagnidze who seemed to have forgotten the dangers lurking in the King's Indian.

Results

Source: chess-results

Standings

... 116 players

Source: chess-results

Games (Rounds 1 to 7)

Having fun: Valentina Gunina (left) with friends

Polish talent Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska

Defending champion Thanh Trang Hoang

Elina Danielian (left) and Antoaneta Stefanova engaging in a chat before the game

Schedule 

The championship is an eleven-round Swiss. The rate of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Players may only agree to a draw after the 40th move has been made by Black. Players violating this rule will be forfeited. If a player is offered a draw before the 40th move she should call an arbiter. Her opponent shall be punished for distracting, according to the FIDE Laws of Chess. The zero–tolerance rule will be applied: players who are not seated at the board at the start of a round forfeit the game.

Prizes

The total prize fund is 60,000 Euros, distributed as follows:

The first three places will be awarded cups and medals. According to Article 4.4 of the ECU Tournament Rules and regulations, the money prizes will be equally shared among the players with the same score.

Previous Champions

2000 Batumi: Natalia Zhukova
2001 Warsaw: Almira Skripchenko-Lautier
2002 Varna: Antoaneta Stefanowa
2003 Silivri: Pia Cramling
2004 Dresden: Alexandra Kostenjuk
2005 Chisinau: Kateryna Lagno
2006 Kusadasii: Ekaterina Atalik
2007 Dresden: Tatiana Kozintseva
2008 Plovdiv: Kateryna Lagno
2009 St Petersburg: Tatiana Kozintseva
2010 Rijeka: Pia Cramling
2011 Tiflis: Viktorija Cmilyte
2012 Gaziantep: Valentina Gunina
2013 Belgrad: Hoang Thanh Trang

Photos: Elisabeth Pähtz and Boyan Botev for the tournament site

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.