site.btaBulgarian Women's Chess Team Nears First European Title

Bulgaria triumphed over Poland, advancing to the final stages of the women's European Team Chess Championship. The national chess team notched up their fifth straight win at the European Team Championship, accruing 14 match points and inching ever closer to clinching their first-ever title.

In the penultimate eighth-round match of the championship, the Bulgarian players edged out Poland with a score of 2.5 to 1.5.

This victory guarantees the Bulgarian team will win a medal. Bulgaria's opponent in the ninth and final round will be confirmed later Sunday, likely to be the top-ranked Georgian team.

Mirroring their performance on Saturday against France, Bulgaria quickly established a 2:0 lead, thanks to wins by Nurgyul Salimova and Beloslava Krasteva, both playing with the white pieces.

Board two saw Salimova win in 39 moves against Oliwia Kiolbasa. This was Salimova's fourth consecutive win in the tournament. By move 18, Salimova had significantly better positioning and maintained control until the end.

On board four, Krasteva managed to checkmate Alicja Sliwicka on move 42. Post-opening, both players committed errors, but Sliwicka's mistakes were eventually exploited by Krasteva.

This meant the Bulgarian team only needed half a point from the matches between Monica Socko and Antoaneta Stefanova on board one, and Jolanta Zawadzka and Gergana Peycheva on board three.

Socko and Zawadska, key members of the Polish team that secured the European title in 2005, offered formidable resistance. Nonetheless, their efforts were insufficient to thwart the Bulgarian team, which ultimately clinched the match.

The decisive moment came from Stefanova, who, in a slightly advantageous position, strategically forced a threefold repetition to secure the necessary draw.

In the concluding match, Peycheva lost to Zawadska, which at that point had no impact on the overall outcome.