Ukrainian WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, ranked 74th at start, scored 9/11 points to claim the title in Batumi, becoming the fourth Ukrainian woman to win the continental championship.
2:58 PM
Fifteen-year-old Ukrainian chess player Anastasiia Hnatyshyn won the European Women's Chess Championship 2026 in Batumi, Georgia, finishing with a score of 9 out of 11 points.
Hnatyshyn entered the final round as the sole leader with a half-point advantage over her nearest rivals. Playing with the Black pieces against Polish representative IM Klaudia Kulon, rated 2377, she held the game to a draw, which secured the gold medal and the title. Kulon had earned an early edge out of the opening but Hnatyshyn defended precisely to achieve the result needed.
In the runners-up positions, IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez of Spain (rated 2375) and IM Olga Badelka of Austria (rated 2392) drew their game after a long fight in a balanced position. Both players attempted to win to catch Hnatyshyn at the top. IM Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria (rated 2404) also tied for second place.
Hnatyshyn's victory is particularly notable given her starting position in the tournament. The Lviv native entered the competition ranked only 74th among 150 participants. Her performance at the championship has already secured her an IM norm and a spot in the next FIDE Women's World Chess Cup. During the tournament, she gained 205.6 rating points, climbing to a live rating of 2456.6 and reaching 21st place on the world rankings.
In the penultimate round, Hnatyshyn defeated IM Eline Roebers of the Netherlands with the White pieces. She obtained a clear edge from the opening and pressed for a win after Roebers played 28…g6. Hnatyshyn maneuvered to the kingside, created a passed pawn, and converted it into a victory with a tactical motif in the endgame.
With this championship, Hnatyshyn becomes the fourth Ukrainian woman in history to win the continental title. Her success follows an outstanding 2025, when she finished runner-up at the Olympic team qualifying tournament in Uzhhorod, earning a place on Ukraine's squad for the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand.
Sabrina Vega of Spain, who finished in the runners-up group at age 39, won her second silver medal at a European Individual Women's Championship exactly ten years after her first such medal at the same event.
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