Five rounds were played at the European Women’s Chess Championship 2025 in Rhodes, Greece, and four players tie for the top scoring 4.5/5 points each: GM Bella Khotenashvili (GEO, 2418), IM Mai Narva (EST, 2380), IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2376), and WFM Anastasia Kirtadze (GEO, 2180).
GM Bella Khotenashvili (GEO, 2418) today defeated IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2367). Khotenashvili gained a clear advantage in the early part of the middlegame out of a complex and blocked position. Facing troubles, Eline Roebers drained her time, and eventually got flagged.
IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2376) was victorious with black pieces against WGM Govhar Beydullayeva (AZE, 2400). Maltsevskaya didn’t have issues to equalize after the opening and gained a Bishop pair asset which started working out when she managed to open the position. Her advantage converted into the material exchange up advantage, and she won the game in the next couple of moves.
IM Mai Narva (EST, 2380) scored against FM Alexandra Zherebtsova (MNE, 2229). Mai Narva got the advantage with Blacks from the opening, but she wasn’t precise and allowed her opponent to equalize. A very complex game eventually transposed into an endgame where Narva used Zherebtsova’s mistake to score a win.
16-year-old WFM Anastasia Kirtadze (GEO, 2180) again surprised and shined in the tournament. She defeated GM Elina Danielian (ARM, 2398) in just 21 moves. Danielian had a nice position out of the opening, but she made the first mistake with 16…h6? when Kirtadze got the clear edge. A couple of moves later, Danielian blundered a piece and resigned. With four victories and one draw against significantly better rated opponents, Kirtadze is earning more than 130 ELO points so far!
Five players score 4/5 points and closely follow the leaders: IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2367), IM Teodora Injac (SRB, 2454), IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2362), GM Monika Socko (POL, 2369), and IM Sophie Milliet (FRA, 2371).
Th last round before the free day will be played tomorrow at 14:00 CET (15:00 local time), and live games with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and Dragana Nikolovska can be followed through the ECU TV platform or the ECU YouTube channel.
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
Detailed information can be found on the Official website.