Bulgaria triumphed with the European women's team chess title at the Old Continent Championship in Budva, Montenegro. This became a fact after the victory of our team consisting of Nurgyul Salimova, Antoineta Stefanova, Beloslava Krasteva and Gergana Peycheva over the current world champions from Georgia.
Second at the World Cup in Baku, Salimova drew with Nino Batsiashvili - the Bulgarian was with the black pieces, and her game ended at 0.5-0.5. The most experienced in our team, former world champion Stefanova, congratulated herself with success over Bella Hotenashvili on the first board to secure a 1-point lead for Bulgaria.
This was followed by Krasteva's loss to Salome Melia, which left the fate of the clash for first place in the hands of Peycheva. Ours needed a win or a draw, and after a great fight and reversal, in the end Peycheva broke the resistance of Lela Javakhishvili with the white pieces to bring the title to Bulgaria as well.
"My position was worse earlier in the game, I was exposed. I think when she played queen at 4, that was the turning point in the match. I still thought the game would end in a draw," said Peycheva after her victory over Javakhishvili. /BGNES
