The Bulgarian women’s national team is the European chess champion for the first time in history!
At the Old Continent Championships in Budva, Antoineta Stefanova, Nurgyul Salimova, Victoria Radeva, Gergana Peycheva and Beloslava Krasteva achieved the biggest success in the history of the women’s national team, finishing with 16 points after seven wins, two draws and no losses and were one point ahead of the second-placed Azerbaijan.
In the last ninth round, the Bulgarian women achieved a memorable victory with 2.5:1.5 points against the No. 1 seed in the scheme and vice-champion from the last Chess Olympiad team of Georgia.
Victories for Bulgaria were achieved by Antoineta Stefanova on the first board and Gergana Peycheva on the third, with Peycheva’s success securing the title. The triumph of the Bulgarian came from a position in which she was very close to losing.
The match between the Bulgarians and the Georgians started with a very quick draw on the second board. Already on the 18th move, Nino Batiashvili and Nurgyul Salimova made a triple repeat, which automatically brought a draw in the game.
About two and a half hours later, the two teams traded one win each within a few minutes. First on the first board, former world champion Antoaneta Stefanova prevailed over Bela Hotenashvili in 31 moves. Stefanova had an advantage in the debut and methodically managed to develop it.
On the fourth board, however, Salome Melia leveled the score at 1.5:1.5 with a victory with the white pieces over Beloslava Krasteva after 36 moves.
Thus, the outcome of the match between Bulgaria and Georgia had to be decided between Gergana Peycheva and Lela Javakhishvili, who were playing at the third table.
Towards the middle of the game, Peycheva looked close to losing, but in the end, the Bulgarian showed extreme intransigence and eventually not only leveled the game, but managed to get the win after nearly 6 hours of play, forcing Javakhashvili to surrender in the 83rd move.
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