Nicolau won the Romanian Women's Chess Championship six times: 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1973. For Romania, Nicolau also participated in the Chess Olympiad. At the 17th Chess Olympiad (1966) and 20th Chess Olympiad (1972), she was a member of the women's team which won the silver medal. As an individual, she won silver at the Olympiads in 1963 and 1966 at the first board, and won bronze in 1972 at the second board.