The home favourite had won her first four matches at the tournament in Romania, but was beaten by her fourth-seeded opponent.

Bulmaga’s defeat saw her leapfrogged by Mammadzada, Ukraine’s Iulija Osmak and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya of Russia.

The top three are all unbeaten, and each have 4.5 points.

Tenth seed Osmak saw off Poland’s 19th seed Jolanta Zawadzka, while Maltsevskaya, who is seeded 13th^, earned her fourth win of the tournament against Slovenia’s Laura Unuk.

Bulmaga then heads an eight-way tie on four points.

Armenia’s Elina Danielian and Poland’s Monika Socko remain unbeaten on four points after drawing their match, while top seed Nino Batsiashvili of Georgia bounced back from her defeat to Bulmaga yesterday with victory over Armenian 23rd seed Anna M. Sargsyan, who was previously unbeaten.

The lowest-ranked player on four points is Armenia’s Maria Gevorgyan, the 62nd seed who lost her first match to Mammadzada but made it four wins in a row against Russia’s eighth seed Olga Girya.

Oliwia Kiolbasa of Poland also made it four wins from her first five matches by beating the tournament’s second seed Bela Khotenashvili of Georgia, but it was a better day for Khotenashvili’s compatriot, the seventh seed Meri Arabidze, who remains unbeaten after a win against Estonia’s Mai Narva.

Ukraine’s Nataliya Buksa, seeded 11^th, is the final player on four points, and remains unbeaten with three wins and two draws after seeing off Bulgaria’s 42nd seed Gabriela Antova.