It was a highly exciting encounter between Meri Arabidze and Anastasiia Hnatyshyn. Playing White, Arabidze pressed for a win but made several inaccuracies in the middlegame, allowing Hnatyshyn to seize the initiative. With a clearly superior position, the young Ukrainian then ran short of time and committed a costly mistake with 39…Qd7?, leading to a position that was very difficult to handle in practice, even though the engine still assessed it as equal. Arabidze went on to reach a favourable endgame and eventually secured the win, bringing her score to 6 points out of 7.
After six consecutive victories, Anastasiia Hnatyshyn’s remarkable winning streak came to an end with the black pieces against Meri Arabidze. | Photo: European Chess Union
IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez (ESP, 2375) defeated IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE, 2450) with the white pieces. The game developed at a rapid pace, and Fataliyeva committed a serious mistake on move 18 that immediately gave White a clear advantage. Vega demonstrated excellent technique and remarkable precision, converting her edge without giving her opponent any chances.
Trailing the three co-leaders is a group of five players on 5.5/7, all of whom won their seventh-round games: IM Laura Unuk (SLO, 2289), FM Alexandra Zherebtsova (MNE, 2242), IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2389), GM Anna Ushenina (UKR, 2420) and IM Olga Badelka (AUT, 2392).
Results
| Bd. | No. | White | Elo | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Elo | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2409 | 5 | 1 – 0 | 6 | WFM | Hnatyshyn, Anastasiia | 2207 | 76 | ||
| 2 | 19 | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | 2375 | 5 | 1 – 0 | 5 | IM | Fataliyeva, Ulviyya | 2450 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 27 | IM | Bivol, Alina | 2361 | 4½ | 0 – 1 | 4½ | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2420 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 35 | WGM | Rakhmangulova, Anastasiya | 2328 | 4½ | ½ – ½ | 4½ | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | 2404 | 10 | ||
| 5 | 11 | IM | Kiolbasa, Oliwia | 2397 | 4½ | ½ – ½ | 4½ | IM | Kulon, Klaudia | 2377 | 18 | ||
| 6 | 12 | IM | Badelka, Olga | 2392 | 4½ | 1 – 0 | 4½ | WGM | Mkrtchyan, Mariam | 2365 | 26 | ||
| 7 | 13 | IM | Buksa, Nataliya | 2392 | 4½ | 0 – 1 | 4½ | FM | Zherebtsova, Alexandra | 2242 | 57 | ||
| 8 | 78 | WIM | Aydin, Gulenay | 2204 | 4½ | 0 – 1 | 4½ | IM | Roebers, Eline | 2389 | 16 | ||
| 9 | 47 | IM | Unuk, Laura | 2289 | 4½ | 1 – 0 | 4 | IM | Javakhishvili, Lela | 2442 | 4 | ||
| 10 | 5 | IM | Narva, Mai | 2426 | 4 | 1 – 0 | 4 | GM | Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan | 2306 | 45 | ||
| 11 | 7 | GM | Khotenashvili, Bella | 2415 | 4 | 1 – 0 | 4 | WGM | Hrebenshchykova, Yelyzaveta | 2309 | 44 | ||
| 12 | 9 | IM | Wagner, Dinara | 2408 | 4 | ½ – ½ | 4 | FM | Jarocka, Liwia | 2288 | 48 | ||
| 13 | 51 | WGM | Schneider, Jana | 2283 | 4 | 1 – 0 | 4 | IM | Mammadzada, Gunay | 2374 | 20 | ||
| 16 | 29 | IM | Milliet, Sophie | 2361 | 4 | 1 – 0 | 4 | WGM | Safarli, Josefine | 2253 | 55 | ||
| 24 | 23 | WGM | Klek, Hanna Marie | 2369 | 3½ | 1 – 0 | 3½ | WIM | Kirtadze, Anastasia | 2233 | 66 | ||
| 28 | 33 | IM | Khukhashvili, Sopiko | 2329 | 3½ | 0 – 1 | 3½ | WGM | Sieber, Fiona | 2224 | 70 | ||
| 42 | 104 | WIM | Ismayil, Malak | 2122 | 3 | 1 – 0 | 3 | WFM | Peglau, Charis | 2238 | 59 | ||
| 57 | 75 | WFM | Bashylina, Luisa | 2208 | 2½ | 1 – 0 | 2½ | WFM | Hayrapetyan, Nvard | 2057 | 124 |
Standings after round 7
| 1 | WFM | Hnatyshyn, Anastasiia | 2207 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2409 | 6 | 0 | |
| 3 | IM | Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina | 2375 | 6 | 0 | |
| 4 | IM | Unuk, Laura | 2289 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 5 | FM | Zherebtsova, Alexandra | 2242 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 6 | IM | Roebers, Eline | 2389 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 7 | GM | Ushenina, Anna | 2420 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 8 | IM | Badelka, Olga | 2392 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 9 | IM | Fataliyeva, Ulviyya | 2450 | 5 | 0 | |
| 10 | IM | Kiolbasa, Oliwia | 2397 | 5 | 0 | |
| 11 | GM | Socko, Monika | 2355 | 5 | 0 | |
| 12 | WGM | Toncheva, Nadya | 2320 | 5 | 0 | |
| 13 | IM | Narva, Mai | 2426 | 5 | 0 | |
| 14 | WFM | Kobak, Polina | 1986 | 5 | 0 | |
| 15 | IM | Salimova, Nurgyul | 2404 | 5 | 0 | |
| 16 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja | 2317 | 5 | 0 | |
| 17 | IM | Milliet, Sophie | 2361 | 5 | 0 | |
| 18 | WGM | Rakhmangulova, Anastasiya | 2328 | 5 | 0 | |
| 19 | IM | Kulon, Klaudia | 2377 | 5 | 0 |
…165 players
Games
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