19-year-old Nurgyul Salimova finishes second at Bulgarian Championship 2023 in the Open section
It is rare to see female players take part in the Open section of their country's National championship.19-year-old IM Nurgyul Salimova decided to do that at Bulgarian Championship 2023. The teenager scored an impressive 6/9 and edged past two more players, GM Momchil Petkov and GM Martin Petrov, to finish second overall. She scored four wins, four draws and suffered her sole loss of the event against the top seed and eventual champion, GM Kiril Georgiev, to win a Silver. The teenager earned her first GM-norm last year when she defeated the legend, GM Nigel Short in the penultimate round. We hope her performance will inspire more girls and women to participate in the Open section and do well in it. Photo: KK/Nurgyul's ig
Salimova shines
The Bulgaria no.2 woman decided to take some new challenges and decided to participate in the Open section of Bulgarian Championship 2023. She did fantastic in it and won a Silver medal.
Nurgyul - Lachezar: 1-0
IM Nurgyul Salimova's (2387) favorite game from the event is against FM Lachezar Yordanov (2335) in the seventh round.
16.Nb5! should give you an idea about how strong Nurgyul is. If an opportunity is presented, she does not shy away from seizing it. 16...axb5 17.Qd5! now the idea behind Nb5 becomes clear. White sacrificed the knight to open up the d-file and threaten checkmate at d8, also while attacking the rook at a8. 17...Nd7 18.Qxa8 Bc5 19.Rxd7! yes it works Kxd7 20.Bxb5+ Ke6 21.Bc4+ Kf5 22.h4 and White went on to win the game eventually.
A total of 28 took part from various parts of Bulgaria. The nine-round Swiss league non-rating tournament took place from 21st to 28th January. It was organized by BFS 2022, Palms Bet at Black and White Club, Grand Hotel Millenium in Sofia, Bulgaria. The time control of the tournament was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment.
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Georgiev Kiril | MKD | 2546 | ШК Ан Пасан, София | 6,5 | 0 | 44 | 47 |
| 2 | 9 | IM | Salimova Nurgyul | BUL | 2387 | ШК Бургас 64, Бургас | 6 | 0 | 43 | 46,5 |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Petkov Momchil | BUL | 2523 | ШК Енергия, Добрич | 6 | 0 | 42,5 | 46 |
| 4 | 2 | GM | Petrov Martin | BUL | 2535 | ШК ЕЛИТ, София | 6 | 0 | 40,5 | 43,5 |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Spasov Vasil | BUL | 2499 | СКШ Шумен, Шумен | 5,5 | 0 | 43,5 | 47,5 |
| 6 | 6 | GM | Nikolov Momchil | BUL | 2480 | ШК Сините камъни, Сливен | 5,5 | 0 | 43,5 | 47,5 |
| 7 | 8 | IM | Stoyanov Tsvetan | BUL | 2446 | ШК Бургас 64, Бургас | 5,5 | 0 | 42 | 45,5 |
| 8 | 12 | Daskalov Dimitar | BUL | 2298 | ШК ЦСКА, София | 5,5 | 0 | 41,5 | 44,5 | |
| 9 | 13 | IM | Nikolov Sasho | BUL | 2222 | ШК ЦСКА, София | 5,5 | 0 | 38,5 | 41 |
| 10 | 11 | FM | Yordanov Lachezar | BUL | 2335 | ШК Варна, Варна | 5 | 0 | 43 | 46,5 |