The women's national team of Bulgaria defeated France in the seventh round of the European team chess championship in Budva. The Bulgarian women won with 3:1 points, and this allowed them to go to the top of the standings with 12 match points, one more than France, BTA reported.

Before this round, neither team had known the taste of defeat, and the French women had only one draw. However, the strong start of the opponent did not seem to have startled the Bulgarians at all, who held a real lesson last night. Nurgyul Salimova's victory on the second board was particularly impressive. With the white pieces, she defeated Sophie Milliet in 38 moves. Thus, Salimova achieved her third consecutive victory and continues to be the strongest-performing player on all second boards.

The first victory was achieved by Beloslava Krasteva, who also won with the white pieces against Anastasia Savina on the fourth board.

The inclusion of Krasteva was the surprise in the Bulgarian team last night and it proved to be a very successful move as the bronze medalist from the U20 World Girls Championship was much fresher than Savina and managed to defeat her in 45 moves.

Salimova and Krasteva's wins gave Bulgaria a 2-0 lead, but France got back into the game after Polina Guichard beat Gergana Peycheva on the third board. This left the development of the outcome of the match entirely in the hands of the first board player Antoaneta Stefanova. The Bulgarian, playing with black, had a lost position after the first 30 moves, but not only managed to get out of it but also turned the game around and won it after 55 moves of play, when she already had a checkmate position.

Two more rounds remain until the end of the European Championship.

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