RIGA, April 15 (LETA) – Talented Russian player Aleksandra Goryachkina was in the leading position after the fifth round of the European Individual Women’s Chess Championship which took place on Saturday.
Goryachkina, 18, twice world junior girls chess champion, has won 4.5 points of 5 after the first five rounds at the European tournament which
is taking place in Riga.
Nine players follow Goryachkina with four points each. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Anna Muzychenko, who is seen as the tournament’s favorite, has
earned 3.5 points so far, which leaves her outside the top ten at the moment.
Ilze Berzina, the leading Latvian player, suffered her first a defeat at this championship against 17th-seeded Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia. With three points, Berzina is currently in 37th place in the overall standings.
In the sixth round on Sunday, Berzina will take on Russia’s Natalija Pogonina.
As reported, the European Women’s Chess Championship is taking place at Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija in Riga through April 22. Latvia is
represented by seventeen players at the championship.
The players finishing in the first 14 places at the European tournament in Riga will qualify for the Chess World Cup.
