The Ukrainian Open team and the Polish Women’s team won the 2025 European Team Championships in Batumi, Georgia on Tuesday. Both teams were in the lead after round five and suffered subsequent losses but managed to clinch the gold medals after all.
Final Standings
Open Section
This report covers the last four rounds, starting with the Open section. Ukraine was on nine match points by then, one more than the Netherlands, Serbia, and France who were in a tie for second place. The next opponent for the leaders was France, playing without GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja in Batumi.
GM Igor Kovalenko‘s win over GM Pierre Laurent-Paoli was the only decisive game. This was similar to the third round, when Kovalenko also grabbed the two match points against Croatia, and this scenario would repeat once more in the next round!
The Netherlands defeated defending champion Serbia 3-1 to keep the pace, and so the clash Ukraine vs. Netherlands on top board was inevitable the next day. As mentioned, that also saw three draws, and there also it was Kovalenko who emerged as the match winner.
It was the soldier beating the politician, as Van Wely has spent recent years as a member of the Dutch Senate while Kovalenko has been serving in the Ukrainian army following Russia’s invasion in 2022.
After wins against Armenia and Hungary, Azerbaijan was now in second place and therefore the next opponent for Ukraine. It was another match with three draws, but this time Ukraine was on the wrong side of the score as it suffered its only loss in the event. Azerbaijani GM Rauf Mamedov beat GM Andrei Volokitin for the two match points.
Ukraine, now tied with Azerbaijan, emerged as the winners after all, following a dramatic final round on Tuesday. The Azeris had run out of steam and went down 3-1 to the 2023 champion Serbia, while Ukraine beat England with the smallest of margins thanks to 16-year-old GM Ihor Samunenkov‘s win against GM Luke McShane.
It was only the second European Team victory for Ukraine, after their first title in 2021, but definitely a special one at a time when the country is still facing deadly attacks from Russia on a daily basis. Such a team event can provide the necessary distraction, while the national team spirit remained as high as ever.
Besides the team gold, Kovalenko and Samunenkov took home individual gold medals for boards four and five, respectively. GM Richard Rapport won it for Hungary, scoring 5.5/7 and a 2869 performance rating. Serbia’s GM Alexey Sarana won gold for board two (5.5/9, 2713) and Azerbaijan’s GM Eltaj Safarli for board three (5/7, 2777).
The dream to win a medal with my national team is still alive.🇳🇱
For now, another individual bronze.🥉
European Team Championship has been a fun event, congrats to the winners!👏 pic.twitter.com/VGqYSaoCvM
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) October 14, 2025
Women’s Section
In the Women’s section, Poland had been dominant in the first five rounds, winning every match. They continued to do so for one more round as they were also too strong for the host nation Georgia, the chess-minded country famous for its glory days when GMs Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze held the world title.
On top board, IM Alina Kashlinskaya beat GM Nana Dzagnidze in a match that ended in a 3-1 victory for Poland.
Poland’s only loss, in round seven, suddenly made the tournament interesting again as their three-point lead shrunk to one. The highly-experienced GMs Anna Ushenina and Natalia Zhukova were too strong for IMs Aleksandra Maltsevskaya and Oliwia Kiolbasa, respectively.
With wins against France (3-1) and Azerbaijan (2.5-1.5), Poland kept their fate in their own hands and clinched the gold medals convincingly after all, finishing two match points ahead of Ukraine. Also here, it was the second European title for the winning team, 20 years after the Polish women won in Gothenburg, in 2005. GM Monika Socko played back then as well.
In the final round, Kiolbasa’s win against IM Gulnar Mammadova secured the two match points for Poland, where only one was needed.
Below are the individual board gold medal winners in the women’s section:
- IM Mai Narva (Estonia) with 7/8 and a 2648 performance;
- GM Anna Ushenina (Ukraine) with 6/8 and a 2520 performance;
- IM Oliwia Kiolbasa (Poland) with 5.5/8 and a 2474 performance;
- GM Bella Khotenashvili (Georgia) with 5.5/7 and a 2523 performance;
- WGM Kateryna Dolzhykova (Germany) with 3.5/5 and a 2427 performance.
A tremendous victory for the Ukrainian men’s national chess team and a silver medal for the women’s team at the European Team Championship! Proud to bring my 11th medal for Team Ukraine over the years 2001 – 2025 ! Huge thanks to @uachessfed and @AKamyshin for their support ! pic.twitter.com/SKrpq3naOu
— Andriy Volokitin (@AndriyVolokitin) October 14, 2025
The European Team Chess Championship, which took place October 5-14 in Batumi, Georgia, is Europe’s most important team event of the year. It was a nine-round team Swiss event with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes, with a 30-second increment starting on move one. The top three teams from the European Teams Chess Championship received cups and gold, silver, and bronze medals. The best-performing players in each section received board medals.
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