European Individual Chess Championship 2022
The European Individual Chess Championship, one of the most prestigious chess tournaments, was held between the 26th of March and7th of April. The tournament took place in Slovenia and it consisted of 11 rounds. There were 317 (114 were grandmasters) players from 39 different countries. Most of these players are well-known and respected people in the chess community. The tournament’s favorite from the initial ranking was Czech grandmaster David Navara, who had competed strongly in European Individual Championships before. But like many sports, chess does not have a certain final ranking. The German grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum has become the first with 8.5 out of 11 rounds. Also, he has gained +20.8 ELO (ELO is a rating system in chess to show a player’s skills) which is pretty impressive when you are playing a chess tournament at that level with an ELO of 2642. His ELO performance was 2785 and he won 6 games in a streak. Bluebaum’s games during the tournament were remarkable. In most of his games, he showed how chess players can increase the pressure on their opponents. The top 20 players of the tournament have been qualified for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. Most of the grandmasters had an eye on the top 20 rankings so they could play for the 2023 FIDE World Cup. Excitingly, there was a Turkish grandmaster among the top 20, GM Mustafa Yılmaz. Yılmaz scored 8/11 and finished the tournament in 6th place without any defeat. In the last round of the tournament, Yılmaz and a German grandmaster Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu played. It was not their first time playing with each other. Before, even in Slovenia, they had played together. In this last round, Yılmaz performed a game with great quality. For further information, you can check out the chessresults page and the official website of the tournament.
In the women’s category of the tournament, a very talented and successful WIM (Woman International Master) Govhar Beydullayeva finished the competition in the first place. Her performance was outstanding. She scored 7/11 with only one loss in the first round (See “Player Info”). With her 7 points, Beydullayeva has gained +75.8 ELO. Even just her ELO gain in this prestigious tournament shows how much talent she has.
I had the chance to make a short interview with Beydullayeva (I want to thank her again for accepting). Before the interview itself, I want to briefly tell you about Beydullayeva. Beydullayeva was born in 2003 (See Govhar Beydullayeva). She started to play chess when she was only 4 years old. At the age of 6, she started going to a chess club. And since then she has succeeded a lot. She has won Azerbaijani, European, and World Championships (“Govhar Beydullayeva.”). Her current ELO is 2308 and she is the 22nd girl player in the world.
Beydullayeva Interview:
- You have scored 7 out of 11 and gained +75 ELO in this prestigious tournament, with many strong competitors. You have once again proven that you are a very strong and talented player. Did you prepare differently than normal for this tournament?
Yes, I always try to prepare strongly for each tournament. However, especially for this tournament, I had to train even harder because I knew that I was going to play with a lot of GMs (Grandmasters). That’s why I prepared strongly, both chess-wise and physically (sport and fitness). Plus, it was very important to prepare psychologically for this tournament. Since the tournament was very competitive, it was going to be hard to face loss. But I played better than I had expected. I only had a loss in the first round. And even won against two GMs.
- Throughout the tournament what did you do to keep up the great performance?
Throughout the tournament, I tried to show my best performance over the board. I can say that this is one of the best tournaments I have played. One of the most important reasons that I kept playing stronger and better than in my other tournaments is that I was more relaxed since my opponents had a higher rating than me and I was not scared of losing anything. In my opinion, the more comfortable the players are the better performance they can show. But the players — who put high goals and think of them during the game — play uncomfortably. Of course, before this tournament, I had big goals as well. But I did not think of them during the game and I just tried to play a game with quality.
- With your gain of +75 ELO, you will be one of the top 10 girl players in the world. How does this make you feel?
This motivates me for my future tournaments. In my next tournaments, my goals are to prepare better to raise my ranking to the top 3 girl chess players and then raise my ranking on the women’s ELO list.
- At this young age, how did your women’s category championship in European Individual Chess Championship make you feel?
Before the tournament, being one of the three women at the top was my goal. In this tournament, there were many strong and well-known female chess players such as Nurgül, Salimova, Buksa Natalya, and İnjac Teodora. After all, I came 1st in the women’s category. Since my main goals were to gain ELO and become a WGM (Woman Grandmaster) I am thrilled that I could achieve these in one tournament.
- Will you play in the European Women’s Individual Chess Championship? If so what are your targets?
Yes, I’ll play in the European Women’s Individual Chess Championship. My most important target is to make my game better and earn the right to play in the World Cup.
I am intrigued by the 2023 FIDE World Cup, after seeing these competitive games. Since the 2023 FIDE World Cup will be played in the second half of 2023, players will have plenty of time to prepare. This means that we will see high-quality and even more competitive games there. :)
Works Cited
Govhar Beydullayeva. chess.az/1124-qadinlar-arasinda-azerbaycan-chempionati-govher-ve-gulnar-100-lik-netice-ile-liderlik-edirler-canlyenlenr.html. Accessed 1 May 2022.
“Govhar Beydullayeva.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govhar_Beydullayeva. Accessed 1 May 2022.
İnce, Safiye Öykü. European Individual Chess Championship 2022.
— -. Player Info.
