Valentina Gunina Is European Women's Champion
Valentina Gunina of Russia won the European Women's Individual Championship in Gaziantep, Turkey with a score of 8½/11.
Top seed Anna Muzychuk led by a full point going into the final round, but in a dramatic finish Gunina beat her to win the title by virtue of her superior tie-break score.
Tatiana Kosintseva also won her last round game to claim second place in a tight finish at the top!
(left to right) Tatiana Kosintseva, Valentina Gunina and Anna Muzychuk
Over 100 women from 25 countries took part in the Championship.
The top standings in Gaziantep are below. The top 14 players qualified for the next World Cup.
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | GUNINA Valentina | RUS | 2511 | 8½ | 2660 | 70 | 74½ |
| 2 | KOSINTSEVA Tatiana | RUS | 2513 | 8½ | 2649 | 68½ | 73 |
| 3 | MUZYCHUK Anna | SLO | 2583 | 8½ | 2631 | 70 | 75 |
| 4 | CMILYTE Viktorija | LTU | 2497 | 8 | 2592 | 67½ | 73 |
| 5 | SEBAG Marie | FRA | 2512 | 7½ | 2570 | 71½ | 77 |
| 6 | STEFANOVA Antoaneta | BUL | 2531 | 7½ | 2544 | 68½ | 73½ |
| 7 | LAHNO Kateryna | UKR | 2546 | 7½ | 2524 | 67½ | 72½ |
| 8 | DANIELIAN Elina | ARM | 2478 | 7½ | 2515 | 60½ | 64 |
| 9 | KHOTENASHVILI Bela | GEO | 2490 | 7½ | 2503 | 61 | 64½ |
| 10 | POGONINA Natalija | RUS | 2449 | 7½ | 2501 | 61½ | 66½ |
| 11 | KOSTENIUK Alexandra | RUS | 2448 | 7½ | 2437 | 57 | 61½ |
| 12 | HOANG Thanh Trang | HUN | 2438 | 7 | 2510 | 69 | 74½ |
| 13 | KHURTSIDZE Nino | GEO | 2447 | 7 | 2505 | 66½ | 71½ |
| 14 | DZAGNIDZE Nana | GEO | 2559 | 7 | 2468 | 65 | 69 |
| 15 | MELIA Salome | GEO | 2400 | 7 | 2461 | 63½ | 68 |
| 16 | KOVANOVA Baira | RUS | 2392 | 7 | 2452 | 60 | 64½ |
| 17 | JAVAKHISHVILI Lela | GEO | 2448 | 7 | 2450 | 62 | 66½ |
| 18 | ROMANKO Marina | RUS | 2417 | 7 | 2444 | 60½ | 64 |
| 19 | USHENINA Anna | UKR | 2458 | 7 | 2429 | 58 | 62½ |
| 20 | ZHUKOVA Natalia | UKR | 2435 | 7 | 2415 | 57½ | 62 |
Valentina Gunina (left) defeated early leader Hoang Thanh Trang in round seven
Elina Danielian finished 8th overall
Anna Muzychuk (right) inflicted another defeat on Hoang Thanh Trang in round eight
Anna Muzychuk (right) kept up the pace with a win in round nine
Anna Muzychuk beat Viktorija Cmilyte in a tactical encounter in round 11
The crucial last round encounter between Muzychuk and Gunina ended with a blunder
