After nine played rounds at the European Women Individual Chess Championship 2018 which takes place in Vysoke Tatry, Slovakia, the leading position belongs to Valentina Gunina (RUS, 2507) with the score of 8 points.
Valentina Gunina maintains the lead from the 6th round and managed to improve it with the whole point ahead of the runner-ups, with only two rounds to go. After the draw in the 2nd round, Valentina Gunina won 3 games in a row, and then in a clash of the 6th round drew again to continue with victories in the rest of the games.
And while Gunina secured the top for at least one more round, Ushenina Anna (UKR, 2422), Stefanova Antoaneta (ECU, 2479), Paehtz Elisabeth (GER, 2468) and Atalik Ekaterina (TUR, 2452) tie for the second place, each with 7 points.
Only two rounds left to be played, and the live transmission of the final games can be followed through the official website of the Championship.
The 10th round starts today at 15.00 pm (local time) and the top pairings are as followed:
| 1 | 13 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2468 | 7 | 8 | GM | Gunina Valentina | 2507 | 4 | |||
| 2 | 17 | IM | Atalik Ekaterina | 2452 | 7 | 7 | GM | Stefanova Antoaneta | 2479 | 8 | |||
| 3 | 24 | GM | Ushenina Anna | 2422 | 7 | 6½ | IM | Osmak Iulija | 2361 | 47 | |||
| 4 | 65 | WGM | Kulon Klaudia | 2319 | 6½ | 6½ | WGM | Goryachkina Aleksandra | 2495 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 3 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 2507 | 6½ | 6 | WGM | Girya Olga | 2470 | 12 | |||
| 6 | 1 | GM | Muzychuk Mariya | 2540 | 6 | 6 | IM | Arabidze Meri | 2393 | 34 | |||
| 7 | 36 | IM | Mammadzada Gunay | 2392 | 6 | 6 | IM | Cornette Deimante | 2467 | 14 | |||
| 8 | 15 | IM | Javakhishvili Lela | 2467 | 6 | 6 | WIM | Badelka Olga | 2375 | 41 | |||
| 9 | 25 | IM | Bulmaga Irina | 2414 | 6 | 6 | WIM | Shuvalova Polina | 2389 | 38 | |||
| 10 | 33 | IM | Szczepkowska Karina | 2403 | 6 | 6 | WIM | Unuk Laura | 2329 | 57 |
The European Individual Women’s Chess Championship is a qualification event for the next World Women’s Chess Championship. According to the current FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 14 players will qualify. The total prize fund of the event is 70.000 EUR.
The Championship is played in 11 rounds, Swiss system, in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Rules of Chess with 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 the move one.
Official Website of the Championship
Photos by: Oleksandr Martynkov
