Ulviyya Fataliyeva, the leading figure in Azerbaijani women’s chess, has made an impressive start to the Individual European Chess Championship in Batumi, Georgia, immediately moving to the top of the standings.
As reported by İdman.Biz, Fataliyeva secured a perfect result in the opening two rounds of the continental tournament. With two points, she is part of a group sharing first place from 1st to 18th, while leading the standings on tie-break criteria.
The Azerbaijani player defeated Margareth Olde of Estonia and Maka Purtseladze of Georgia in the opening rounds. In round three, Fataliyeva will face compatriot Turkan Mamedyarova.
Former Azerbaijani women’s chess leader Gunay Mammadzada is also competing in Batumi. After becoming a mother last year, she has now returned to top-level chess. Mammadzada collected one and a half points in the opening rounds and currently sits in 31st place.
Govhar Beydullayeva and Turkan Mamedyarova have also scored one and a half points, occupying 24th and 29th positions respectively. The remaining Azerbaijani participants have collected no more than one point so far. In total, Azerbaijan is represented by 11 players at the tournament.
Beydullayeva remains the only Azerbaijani representative who competed in the men’s (Open) European Individual Championship held in April in Katowice, Poland. There, she scored six points and finished 174th among 501 participants. In the separate women’s ranking within the Open event, she placed seventh among 56 female players.
The top 10 players at the European Championship in Batumi will qualify for the 2027 Women’s Chess World Cup.
