At the European Women's Chess Championship held on the Greek island of Rhodes, Azerbaijani chess player Gulnar Mammadova qualified for the World Cup by finishing in the top 10, while reigning European champion Ulviyya Fataliyeva had to settle for 24th place this time. Turkan Mamedyarova stood out with a streak of victories.
Idman.biz evaluates the performance of Azerbaijani players in Rhodes through statistics.
Among the 34 participating countries, Azerbaijan ranked 5th in terms of the number of players sent to the championship. Of the 8 representatives, 4 exceeded their ranking expectations, while the other 4 performed below expectations. In this regard, Turkan Mamedyarova demonstrated the best performance. Ranked 62nd among 136 participants, she exceeded expectations by finishing 22 spots higher—in 40th place. Gulnar Mammadova, who achieved the best result among our players, started as the 27th seed but climbed 17 spots to finish 10th and secure a spot in the World Cup. Narmin Abdinova improved by 12 spots (from 72nd to 60th), and Lala Huseynova moved up 10 spots (from 100th to 90th).
The biggest drop was seen by Govhar Beydullayeva, our highest-rated player in the tournament. Ranked 11th at the start, she finished 28th—17 spots lower. Sabina Ibrahimova dropped 16 spots (from 66th to 82nd), Ulviyya Fataliyeva fell by 9 spots (from 15th to 24th), and Ayan Allahverdiyeva by 8 spots (from 45th to 53rd).
At the end of the continental championship, Narmin Abdinova was the player who gained the most rating points—she increased her rating by 55.60 points. Sabina Ibrahimova gained 15.00, Turkan Mamedyarova 9.80, Gulnar Mammadova 9.50, and Lala Huseynova a modest 0.80. However, three of our players experienced rating losses: Ulviyya Fataliyeva lost 13.10, Govhar Beydullayeva 5.50, and Ayan Allahverdiyeva 4.00 points.
Ulviyya Fataliyeva had the most wins among our players, winning 6 out of 11 games. In terms of consecutive wins, Turkan Mamedyarova held the record with 4 in a row.
Gulnar Mammadova suffered the fewest defeats—only once during the entire tournament.
In the 9th round, Turkan Mamedyarova defeated Turkish player Ekaterina Atalik, who was rated 169 points higher than her. Meanwhile, in the 3rd round, Lala Huseynova beat Polish player Michalina Rudzinska, who had a 158-point rating advantage.
Vugar Mammadov
Idman.biz
