EUROPEAN WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

[LawrenceCooper]

Four English players involved: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1368962 ... 0&SNode=S0 Round 1 starts later today.

[Mick Norris]

Good luck to all 4

The 25th European Women Championship gives qualification spots for the FIDE Women World Cup. According to the decision of the ECU at least 10 players will qualify.

[LawrenceCooper]

Results of the last round for ENG
Rd. Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
1 21 21 FM Sivanandan Bodhana 2374 0 1 - 0 0 WIM Vidic Teja 2123 103
1 38 120 WFM Subramanian Anusha 2068 0 ½ - ½ 0 WGM Toncheva Nadya 2320 38
1 47 47 IM Unuk Laura 2289 0 ½ - ½ 0 WFM Hariharan Shambavi 2008 129
1 53 53 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira 2265 0 1 - 0 0 WCM Venskaya Nika 1937 135

[Paul Cooksey]

Bodhana rode her luck a bit but good to start with a win.

Her rating jumped 200 points in the last few months after two excellent open tournaments. Interesting to see if she consolidates at that level well ahead of all our other women players.

[NickFaulks]

Her prep seems to have gone horribly wrong ( move 17 ).

[Roger de Coverly]

Her prep seems to have gone horribly wrong ( move 17 ).

[SetUp "1"] [FEN "2b2rk1/1pp2pp1/r7/p2pPqB1/5P2/1R4Q1/P1P3PP/5RK1 b - - 2 17"]

Black to move.

It could just have been a tactical oversight, but the other players to reach this position had spotted the problem.

[LawrenceCooper]

Results of the last round for ENG
Rd. Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
2 11 68 WIM Hryzlova Sofiia 2226 1 1 - 0 1 FM Sivanandan Bodhana 2374 21
2 29 127 WFM Tsirulnik Maritsa 2028 1 0 - 1 1 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira 2265 53
2 47 129 WFM Hariharan Shambavi 2008 ½ ½ - ½ ½ IM Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann 2310 43
2 48 46 IM Zimina Olga 2290 ½ 1 - 0 ½ WFM Subramanian Anusha 2068 120

[LawrenceCooper]

Results of the last round for ENG
Rd. Bo. No. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg No.
3 9 53 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira 2265 2 1 - 0 2 WFM Kobak Polina 1986 130
3 34 21 FM Sivanandan Bodhana 2374 1 0 - 1 1 WFM Huseynova Lala 2149 97
3 52 129 WFM Hariharan Shambavi 2008 1 0 - 1 1 WIM Kirtadze Anastasia 2233 66
3 61 120 WFM Subramanian Anusha 2068 ½ ½ - ½ ½ WGM Khurtsilava Inga 2175 89

[Matt Mackenzie]

Not the best start for Bodhana then.....

[LawrenceCooper]

Barnet Knights v Barnet Knights on board 3 in round 4:
FM Kazarian Anna-Maja 2317 WGM Mirzoeva Elmira 2265

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Not the best start for Bodhana then.....

Her third round opponent, Lala Huseynova (aged 16), seems to be seriously underrated.

[Geoff Chandler]

Her prep seems to have gone horribly wrong ( move 17 ).

Who? What? Where? When? The only clue is move 17.

If one is going to mention a game then I think one should make an effort to furnish more background details.
The game in question is S. Hryzlova - B. Sivanandan, Rd.2 of the 2026 European Women's Chess Ch.
Having clearly established whose game we are talking about and where it took place adding a diagram would have been helpful, or better still, two minutes research to see if the 'poor prep' suggestion was valid.

A link to the actual game. https://www.chess.com/events/2026-europ ... an_Bodhana indicates both players trotted along quite quickly to reach this position with Black to play their 17th, move.

2b2rk1/1pp2pp1/r7/p2pPqB1/5P2/1R4Q1/P1P3PP/5RK1 b - - 0 17

Times: White has taken approx 3 minutes, Black 9 minutes.

Bodhana took 9 minutes on the TN 17...Rc6.

Did black forget their prep? I do not think so, 17...Rg6 is screaming out to be played, it has been played in the past and is the best move. Not a move you would easily forget. It threatens f6.
I'm going with Bodhana deciding her opponent was flicking out moves too quickly and wanted to get her on her own ASAP by tickling the c2 pawn.

To a certain degree it worked. White took 12 minutes on 18.Bf6!

[Roger de Coverly]

Did black forget their prep? I do not think so, 17...Rg6 is screaming out to be played, it has been played in the past and is the best move. Not a move you would easily forget.

My assumption was that .. Rg6 had to be played because that thwarts White's annoying threat of Bf6. We saw in the game that if Black allows this, they can end up an exchange down for little or no compensation.

[Geoff Chandler]

HI Roger,

Yes ...Rg6 looks forced and allowing Bf6! has been played, after Bf6 Black is on the back foot.
Here Bodhana took 9 seconds...

r1bq1rk1/ppp2pp1/8/3pP3/8/2Q5/P1P2PPP/1RB2RK1 b - - 0 13

on 13...a5 not a natural looking move so still in prep.

2b2rk1/1pp2pp1/r7/p2pPqB1/5P2/1R4Q1/P1P3PP/5RK1 b - - 0 17

Was 17...Rc6 pre-planned (probably not unless her computer is a ZX81)
17...Re8 was tried in https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=3126860 and met 18.Bf6 (1-0 8 moves later)
She forgot her prep. (I`d say no and anyway that is not an excuse). I think it was OTB inspiration something which should be encouraged although in this case it was mistimed.

[Roger de Coverly]

on 13...a5 not a natural looking move so still in prep.

2b2rk1/1pp2pp1/r7/p2pPqB1/5P2/1R4Q1/P1P3PP/5RK1 b - - 0 17

Novice players prior to being taught "proper" openings can have a liking for attempting to get rooks into play by P-R4 and R-R3. Every so often it can become an option in more orthodox theory.