OMM Newsroom
Nermin Abdinova won gold in the girls’ under-18 event at the European Youth Chess Championship in Hersonissos on the Greek island of Crete. She scored nine points by winning all nine games and secured the title before the final round. Abdinova also defeated FIDE representative Lizaveta Lyashkevich in the last round.
Research based on archives of the European Chess Union, FIDE and the Chess-Results database, as well as records from previous tournaments, shows that no previous winner in the under-18 girls’ or boys’ events at the European Championship had won all nine games. According to available historical records, Abdinova is the first player in this age group to win every game.
Poland’s Mateusz Bartel won the boys’ under-18 title with 8.5 points in 2003. Azerbaijan’s Ulviyya Fataliyeva took first place in the same age group with eight points in 2014. Among the strongest previous results by Azerbaijani players at European championships was Govhar Beydullayeva’s 8.5 points in the girls’ under-14 event in 2017.
Abdinova’s achievement is also a first for Azerbaijan: the country’s representatives had never before scored all nine possible points in any age group at the European Championship. She finished two points ahead of silver medalist Klara Shotka of Poland and bronze medalist Sofiia Moskalets of Ukraine. Her victory brings the European under-18 girls’ title back to Azerbaijan after a 12-year gap.
Azerbaijani players won two more medals at the championship. Tunar Davudov took silver in the boys’ under-18 event with seven points, while Selin Mammadova won bronze in the girls’ under-8 event with eight points. The Azerbaijani Chess Federation’s work to develop chess, including tournaments held as part of the Chess Tour Azerbaijan series, is among the initiatives in this field.
