The 15-year-old sensation from Ukraine, WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, emerged as the sole leader of the European Women’s Chess Championship 2026 after ten rounds of play in Batumi, Georgia!
Anastasiia Hnatyshyn (UKR, 2207) defeated IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2389) today with the White pieces to enter the final round of the tournament with a half-point edge over the runners-up.
It was a brilliant game for the Ukrainian teenager, who got a clear edge out of the opening and started pressing for a win after Roebers made a mistake with 28…g6?. The endgame was more than pleasant for White, and Anastasiia maneuvered to the kingside, created a passed pawn, and eventually converted it into a win with a nice tactical motif.
Anastasiia Hnatyshyn holds an outstanding score of 8.5/10 points. She has already secured an IM norm, a spot in the next FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup, and has gained 205.6 rating points in this tournament alone! With a live rating of 2456.6, Hnatyshyn climbed to the 21st spot on the Women’s live rating list and became the top-rated Girl U20 according to the live ratings.
Scoring 8/10 points each, IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP, 2375) and IM Olga Badelka (AUT, 2392) tie for the second place, and they are followed by IM Mai Narva (EST, 2426), IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL, 2404) and IM Klaudia Kulon (POL, 2377).
Today’s round was opened by the President of the European Chess Union, Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, who made the first ceremonial move in the game between Hnatyshyn and Roebers. Mr. Azmaiparashvili addressed both players and wished them good luck in the remaining rounds of the tournament. The ceremony took place in the presence of the President of the Georgian Chess Federation, Mr. Akaki Iashvili.
The final round starts tomorrow at 11:00 CEST (13:00 – local time), and the top board pairings are:
- IM Klaudia Kulon (POL, 2377) Vs. WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn (UKR, 2207)
- IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP, 2375) Vs. IM Olga Badelka (AUT, 2392)
- IM Mai Narva (EST, 2426) Vs. IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL, 2404)
- IM Davaademberel Nomin-Erdene (HUN, 2328) Vs. GM Anna Ushenina (UKR, 2420)
- IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2389) Vs. WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2194)
All eyes will be on the top board, where Ukrainian teenage sensation Anastasiia Hnatyshyn stands on the verge of history. She aims to replicate the monumental success of her 17-year-old compatriot, Roman Dehtiarov, who clinched the European Individual Chess Championship earlier this year in April.
Live video broadcast of the games with commentaries by GM Valerian Gaprindashvili and WIM Sandra Djukic can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.
All rankings, pairings and results can be found here.
Photo gallery can be found on the ECU Flickr page.