IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 2377) extended her lead in the European Women’s Chess Championship 2024 after defeating WIM Alicja Sliwicka (POL, 2315) yesterday in the 8th round.
Playing with black pieces, Ulviyya Fataliyeva took the space advantage in the early part of the game with a slight positional advantage. Sliwicka had her chance to take over the edge after Fataliyeva’s mistake 25…Na7? Instead of going for 26.g5, Alicja played suspiciously 26.a3? and the Azerbaijani once again took control over the game. The advantage was decisive after a couple of moves, and the game finished with Fataliyeva delivering mate.
Playing on the second board, IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2394) outplayed IM Lela Javakhishvili (GEO, 2447). Bulmaga had the advantage ever since the players entered the middlegame, and it went decisive after Javakhishvili’s 22…f5? Irina had a few tactical motives to win the game, but chose the safest one – taking the Queen. After the game, Irina Bulmaga joined our live studio to analyze the moves with GM Alojzije Jankovic.
IM Nataliya Buksa (UKR, 2394) was victorious against IM Olga Zimina (ITA, 2299) on the fourth board. Straight out of the opening, Buksa had a slightly better position but her advantage drastically improved after Zimina’s unsound knight sacrifice 22.Nd5? Nataliya Buksa showed a precise play and entered a winning endgame with Queen for a Rook + Bishop.
With only two rounds to go, IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva scores 7.5/8 points with a full point lead over IM Irina Bulmaga and IM Nataliya Buksa who tie for second place scoring 6.5 points, each.
The penultimate 9th round starts today at 14:00 CEST and the top-board pairings are:
- IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva vs. IM Irina Bulmaga
- IM Nataliya Buksa vs IM Dinara Wagner
- IM Gunay Mammadzada vs. IM Yuliia Osmak
- IM Lela Javakhishvili vs. IM Khanim Balajayeva
- IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya vs. GM Nino Batsiashvili
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
Live video broadcast with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and Dragana Nikolovska can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.