Georgian Grandmaster Nana Dzagnidze is the winner of the 18th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship, which was held in Riga/Latvia, from from 10th to 23rd April in the Radisson Blu Latvija Conference & Spa Hotel.
In the final decisive round she drew with Russian Natalija Pogonina, and triumphed as a sole leader with 8.5 points.
Second place was shared between two Russian players Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alisa Galliamova, who both scored 8 points. According to the tie-breaks, silver went to the young Russian, while the bronze went to her older colleague, who defeated Alina Kashlinskaya in the final round.
The event gathered the best female chess players from Europe who competed for this prestigious title and the rich prize fund of 75.000 EUR. Also, the Championship was the qualification event for the next World Women Championship, and 14 players qualified.
The qualifiers are: Kateryna Lagno (Russia), Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), Monika Socko (Poland), Elina Danielian (Armenia), Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany), Marina Nechaeva (Russia), Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia), Natalia Zhukova (Ukraine), Natalija Pogonina (Russia), Hoang Thanh Trang (Hungary) and Anita Gara (Hungary).
The championship was played according to the Swiss system in 11 rounds, with the time control 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.