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A level-headed Alexandra Kosteniuk was very critical of her play so far at the Munich Grand Prix after scoring a fourth consecutive win on Sunday. Talking to press officer Michael Rahal, she noted that she was fortunate to get three whites in the first four games, and confessed that “even though the result is great, I have to consolidate”. Kosteniuk expanded, referring to her round-4 victory over Tan Zhongyi:
Of course the result is very nice, but I wasn’t happy at all. I know how this creativity usually backfires because when I started to play with white in such a creative way from move 4 on, usually it doesn’t work so well. [...] She found a way to equalize when I decided to go for something that I didn’t analyse at all.
In the last round before the rest day, Kosteniuk will play black against Harika Dronavalli, who comes from drawing her first four games in Munich.
A 3-player chasing pack stands a whole 1½ points behind the runaway leader, all with three draws and a single win to their names. Besides Nana Dzagnidze, who won her first game in the event, round-4 winners Mariya Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru comprise this group. On Sunday, Muzychuk defeated Zhu Jiner, while Humpy got the better of Mariya’s sister, Anna.
Harika Dronavalli held Elisabeth Paehtz to a draw with the black pieces — later on, they shared what seems to be a fun conversation | Photo: David Llada
Alexandra Kosteniuk facing Tan Zhongyi | Photo: David Llada
Jolly Kunjappu, a performance artist and philosopher, played the first move in Humpy Koneru vs Anna Muzychuk | Photo: David Llada
Mariya Muzychuk | Photo: David Llada
