Eline Roebers wins European Women’s Blitz Championship

A dramatic final-round win for the champion

The 2025 edition of the European Women’s Blitz Championship was held on Friday, 9 January, in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. As customary, the European Chess Union staged the tournament at the beginning of the year following the nominal edition. The event was played as a 13-round Swiss with a time control of three minutes per game plus two seconds per move from the first move. A total of 127 players from 30 federations registered to compete.

The top seeds were Eline Roebers (Netherlands), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Switzerland) and Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria). Particular attention was also drawn to English prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, aged ten, who entered the event as tenth seed with a blitz rating of 2332 – higher than her current rapid and classical ratings.

The tournament was won by top seed Eline Roebers, the 19-year-old International Master and 2023 Dutch Women’s Champion. Known for her strength in blitz chess, Roebers secured the title after a dramatic final-round encounter on the top board against Georgian grandmaster Bela Khotenashvili, who had started the round as the sole leader with a full-point advantage and remained undefeated after 12 rounds. A draw would have been sufficient for Khotenashvili to claim the championship.

Playing with White, Roebers adopted an aggressive approach from the outset. Early kingside pawn advances left her position weakened in the centre, allowing Khotenashvili to generate a dangerous passed pawn on the b-file. By the late middlegame, Black had built a substantial advantage, with an extra exchange and two additional pawns. Roebers nevertheless continued to pose practical problems around the black king. Under pressure, Khotenashvili allowed the position to simplify, and in a queen-and-pawn versus rook-knight-and-pawn ending, a final inaccuracy proved decisive. Roebers converted the opportunity to win the game.

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Both players finished on 10 points, but as the first tiebreak criterion was the result of their direct encounter, Roebers was awarded the title. Khotenashvili took second place. Four players shared third place on 9½ points: Yuliia Osmak, Nino Batsiashvili, Oliwia Kiolbasa and Alicja Sliwicka. Bodhana Sivanandan finished a creditable 14^th with 8½ points.

The European Women’s Rapid Championship follows, with 5 rounds scheduled for Saturday and the remaining 6 rounds for Sunday. The time control is 15 minutes for the game plus 10 seconds per move from the start.

Final standings

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