Anastasiia Hnatyshyn claimed the 2026 European Women's Chess Championship in Batumi, Georgia, as the 76th seed in a field of 165 players. The 15-year-old scored 9 out of 11 points to finish clear first and earn the Woman Grandmaster title along with her first International Master norm. She also collected the €10,000 first prize and gained 214 rating points.
Hnatyshyn posted eight wins, two draws and a single loss. Spain's IM Sabrina Vega, Austria's IM Olga Badelka and Bulgaria's IM Nurgyul Salimova finished half a point behind on 8.5 points. The Ukrainian entered the event with a 2207 rating. She defeated several pre-tournament favorites, including Vega in round three and fifth seed IM Mai Narva in round four. After her only defeat to IM Meri Arabidze in round seven, she closed with three wins and a draw against higher-seeded opponents. It feels really insane. I couldn't even dream about this title, Hnatyshyn said after the final round. She added that she plans to celebrate her 16th birthday next week and rest before considering future chess goals. Her coaches, GM Adrian Mikhalchishin and IM Volodymyr Grabinsky, described the result as unexpected yet consistent with her recent progress. Former women's world champion GM Anna Muzychuk, also from Lviv, called the performance impressive.