Plovdiv: Gunina strikes again

by Johannes Fischer
7/14/2014 – In 2012 Valentina Gunina became European Women's Champion, and she seems set for a repeat in Plovdiv 2014. After beating number one seed Nana Dzagnidze in round six, she continued her winning streak against Natalia Zhukova in round seven to reach an impressive score of 6.5 out of 7 and an Elo-performance of 2800. Fortune smiled on her.

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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

Br. Nr. Name Elo Pkt. Ergebnis Pkt. Name Elo Nr.
1 16 Zhukova Natalia 2451 5 0 - 1 Gunina Valentina 2501 4
2 9 Javakhishvili Lela 2474 5 1 - 0 Muzychuk Mariya 2521 2
3 1 Dzagnidze Nana 2541 0 - 1 Kosintseva Tatiana 2476 8
4 11 Khurtsidze Nino 2460 0 - 1 Girya Olga 2493 5
5 19 Kashlinskaya Alina 2441 ½ - ½ Hoang Thanh Trang 2490 6
6 7 Stefanova Antoaneta 2488 0 - 1 Melia Salome 2454 14
7 10 Socko Monika 2462 4 0 - 1 Batsiashvili Nino 2417 22
8 51 Ptacnikova Lenka 2310 4 0 - 1 4 Danielian Elina 2458 12
9 13 Paehtz Elisabeth 2456 4 ½ - ½ 4 Gvetadze Sofio 2356 36
10 53 Nikolova Adriana 2303 4 1 - 0 4 Mkrtchian Lilit 2446 18
11 79 Mammadzada Gunay 2182 4 1 - 0 4 Milliet Sophie 2406 24
12 33 Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina 2369 4 1 - 0 4 Charochkina Daria 2375 32
13 3 Pogonina Natalija 2508 1 - 0 4 Abdulla Khayala 2233 67
14 45 Ovod Evgenija 2330 ½ - ½ Skripchenko Almira 2449 17
15 55 Golubenko Valentina 2292 0 - 1 Goryachkina Aleksandra 2434 20
16 21 Bodnaruk Anastasia 2429 0 - 1 Vasilevich Irina 2328 46
17 23 Arabidze Meri 2406 1 - 0 Videnova Iva 2315 48
18 28 Foisor Cristina-Adela 2383 1 - 0 Ozturk Kubra 2311 50
19 29 Savina Anastasia 2383 ½ - ½ Ambartsumova Karina 2301 54
20 49 Yildiz Betul Cemre 2312 1 - 0 Gaponenko Inna 2380 30

Source: chess-results

Standings

Rg. Snr     Name FED Elo Pkt.  Wtg1   Wtg2   Wtg3 
1 4
 
GM Gunina Valentina RUS 2501 6.5 2399 27.0 30.5
2 9
 
IM Javakhishvili Lela GEO 2474 6.0 2405 26.0 29.5
3 14
 
IM Melia Salome GEO 2454 5.5 2429 25.5 29.0
4 22
 
IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2417 5.5 2404 27.5 30.5
5 5
 
WGM Girya Olga RUS 2493 5.5 2400 25.0 28.0
6 8
 
GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2476 5.5 2381 24.0 26.5
7 16
 
GM Zhukova Natalia UKR 2451 5.0 2478 30.5 34.0
8 79
 
WFM Mammadzada Gunay AZE 2182 5.0 2391 22.0 24.5
9 6
 
GM Hoang Thanh Trang HUN 2490 5.0 2389 25.0 28.0
10 53
 
WGM Nikolova Adriana BUL 2303 5.0 2369 24.5 26.5
11 19
 
WGM Kashlinskaya Alina RUS 2441 5.0 2359 23.5 25.0
12 33
 
WGM Szczepkowska-Horowska Karina POL 2369 5.0 2353 25.5 28.0
13 12
 
GM Danielian Elina ARM 2458 5.0 2338 26.5 30.5
14 1
 
GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2541 4.5 2447 31.0 34.5
15 2
 
IM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2521 4.5 2434 27.5 30.0
16 28
 
IM Foisor Cristina-Adela ROU 2383 4.5 2411 28.5 30.5
17 13
 
IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2456 4.5 2404 26.0 29.0
18 7
 
GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2488 4.5 2403 28.5 32.0
19 11
 
IM Khurtsidze Nino GEO 2460 4.5 2392 25.5 29.0
20 3
 
WGM Pogonina Natalija RUS 2508 4.5 2372 27.5 30.5
21 42
 
WGM Kochetkova Julia SVK 2333 4.5 2340 24.5 26.5
22 20
 
WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra RUS 2434 4.5 2331 23.0 25.5
23 23
 
IM Arabidze Meri GEO 2406 4.5 2319 24.0 27.0
24 36
 
IM Gvetadze Sofio GEO 2356 4.5 2313 23.0 26.0
25 31
 
WGM Schleining Zoya GER 2376 4.5 2297 22.5 25.0
26 44
 
WGM Mammadova Gulnar AZE 2331 4.5 2261 22.5 25.0
27 49
 
WGM Yildiz Betul Cemre TUR 2312 4.5 2254 22.5 24.5
28 34
 
IM Guseva Marina RUS 2362 4.5 2240 22.0 24.5
29 35
 
IM Bulmaga Irina ROU 2357 4.5 2228 21.0 23.0
30 46
 
IM Vasilevich Irina RUS 2328 4.5 2174 18.0 20.5

... 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 

Saturday 05.07 at 19.00 Opening ceremony
Saturday 05.07 at 22.00 Technical Meeting
Sunday 06.07 at 15.00 1st round
Monday 07.07 at 15.00 2nd round
Tuesday 08.07 at 15.00 3rd round
Wednesday 09.07 at 15.00 4th round
Thursday 10.07 at 15.00 5th round
Friday 11.07 at 15.00 6th round
Saturday 12.07 at 15.00 7th round
Sunday 13.07 Rest day
Monday 14.07 at 15.00 8th round
Tuesday 15.07 at 15.00 9th round
Wednesday 16.07 at 15.00 10th round
Thursday 17.07 at 13.00 11th round
Thursday 17.07 at 20.00 Closing Ceremony

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:

1 €11,000
2 €9,000
3 €7,000
4 €5,500
5 €4,000
6 €3,000
7 €2,500
8 €2,250
9 €2,000
10 €1,750
11 €1,600
12 €1,500
13 €1,400
14 €1,300
15 €1,200
16 €1,000
17 €1,000
18 €1,000
19 €1,000
20 €1,000

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

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.

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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