IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva maintains the sole lead at the European Women’s Chess Championship 2024

IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 2377) maintained the sole lead after seven played rounds at the European Women’s Chess Championship 2024 in Rhodes, Greece.

In the top-board all-Azerbeijani derby of the sixth round, Ulviyya Fataliyeva defeated WGM Govhar Beydullayeva (AZE, 2402) with black pieces. The game was quite balanced until 30.Nc4? when Fataliyeva gained a clear advantage. She further improved the edge and forced Beydullayeva to resign after a couple of moves.

IM Lela Javakhishvili (GEO, 2447) took a victory with black pieces against IM Marina Brunello (ITA, 2353). The game opened with the Giuoco Piano and the position was around the equality for most of the time. Brunello made a fatal mistake with 32.Bb2?? blundering a piece and resigned immediately after.

WIM Alicja Sliwicka (POL, 2315) outplayed IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL, 2393) with black pieces. Sliwicka had a slight edge from the early part of the game and gradually improved it to develop a dangerous mating attack. Maltsevskaya didn’t defend well and resigned in the 37th move.

Scoring 6/7 points each, IM Lela Javakhishvili and WIM Alicja Sliwicka follow the sole leader and trail by half a point.

All results, rankings & pairings can be found here.

The 8th round starts at 14:00 CEST and brings interesting top-board encounters. Live games with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and Dragana Nikolovska can be followed through the ECU YouTube channel.