Munich GP: Kashlinskaya scores, Kosteniuk escapes

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/7/2023 – The fifth round of the Munich Grand Prix saw Alina Kashlinskaya scoring her first full point. The Polish IM was losing in the middlegame, but managed to hold on and turn the tables once Mariya Muzychuk erred in a double-edged position. Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) kept her 1½-point lead by escaping with a draw from a clearly inferior position against Harika Dronavalli. | Photo: FIDE / David Llada

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“Dessert is on me”

Alina Kahslinskaya scored her first win at the Munich Grand Prix in Monday’s fifth round. After surviving a losing position and making the most of Mariya Muzychuk’s mistakes, the Polish IM talked to press officer Michael Rahal. Referring to the fact that her husband, GM Radoslaw Wojktaszek, had joined the commentary team precisely during this round, Kashlinskaya noted:

I thought, ‘Come on, you misplayed everything, you prepared this’. We were discussing this line, and then I misplayed everything, I played slowly, so basically everything I shouldn’t do I did today.

There is a silver lining for the couple, though. Kashlinskaya added:

We have an agreement with my husband: when I win, I buy him dessert. [...] So today dessert is on me!

With this win, Kashlinskaya went into the one rest day of the event with a 2½/5 score, two points behind runaway leader Alexandra Kosteniuk. The latter was in real danger in round 5, but saw her opponent, Harika Dronavalli, misplaying the position soon after the time control. The game ended in a draw.

But Harika and Mariya Muzychuk were not the only players who missed big opportunities in the fifth round. Tan Zhongyi could not make the most of a massive advantage on the clock against Dinara Wagner, while Humpy Koneru could have collected a second consecutive win, but failed to convert her material advantage into a win in her game with black against Nana Dzagnidze. Humpy and Dzagnidze are sharing second place on 3/5 points.

Zhansaya Abdumalik, Elisabeth Paehtz

Zhansaya Abdumalik and Elisabeth Paehtz before their round-5 encounter | Photo: David Llada

Kashlinskaya takes her chance

 

Mariya Muzychuk, Alina Kashlinskaya

Mariya Muzychuk playing white against Alina Kashlinskaya | Photo: David Llada

Harika plays brilliantly, then fails with f3-f4

 

Harika Dronavalli

Harika Dronavalli | Photo: David Llada

Results - Round 5

 

Standings - Round 5

 

All games

 
 

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.