If Luis Rentero (1922-2015) lifted his head today at the Women’s Grand Prix in Munich, he would be very happy. Ten of the twelve world elite women participating in the tournament fought with great intensity as promoted by the architect of Linares (Jaén), which became the Wimbledon of chess and the model of extreme combativity. Chinese Zhongyi Tan, Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk (in the process of becoming Swiss), Georgian Nana Dzagnidze and German Elisabeth Paethz are the first leaders.
The only very predictable thing has happened: Ukraine’s Muzychuk sisters Mariya and Anna drew, as in their previous twenty games since October 2015. The only ingredient with a certain morbidity in this tournament will be their confrontations with Kosteniuk, although that is the case It must be borne in mind that the Russian plays with the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and is in the process of acquiring Swiss citizenship. Kosteniuk won today in an interesting match against her ex-compatriot Alina Kashlinskaya, who became Polish shortly after the invasion of Ukraine (she is married to Polish GM Radoslav Wojtaszek).
As is usual in official tournaments and also in some private tournaments, the regulation stipulates that players of the same nationality must compete against each other on the opening day. So did Indians Humpy Koneru and Dronavalli Harika, who also drew but gave the impression that they were fighting much more seriously than the Muzychuk sisters. There is no question that the two Chinese got along well, because former world champion (2017-2018) Zhongyi Tan beat her country’s best young star, Jiner Zhu, who was 18th in the world at the age of 20.
The other two games were very spectacular and instructive at the same time. Paethz prevailed against Dinara Wagner, who was also German, from a laboratory idea that she had worked out conscientiously with her coach and her father (a great teacher), as she explained later. And then he finished with an award-winning combination for the most beautiful game. But the best in terms of quality and complexity from start to finish was the precious exchange of swords between Kazakh Zhansaya Abdumalik and Dzagnidze, which prevailed in a position of enormous tactical complexity and under great time pressure.
The very elegant halls of the Kempinski luxury hotel, venue of the tournament, do not best match the expression Luis Rentero used when addressing journalists to highlight the fighting spirit of the Linares tournament, but his philosophy is transferrable to the current one in Munich: “Look how these gladiators fight! Look how the floor of the stage is covered in blood! Gladiators also fight hard for now.
First round: harika-koneru, to draw; M. Muzychuk – A. Muzychuk, boards; Kosteniuk – Kashlinskaya, 1-0; Tan-Zhu, 1-0; Pähtz-Wagner, 1:0; Abdumalik Dzagnidze, 0-1.
Classification: 1st-4th Tan, Kosteniuk, Dzagnidze and Paethz 1; 5th-8th Koneru, A. Muzychuk, M. Muzychuk, and Harika; 9th-12th Abdumalik, Kashlinskaya, Zhu, and Wagner 0.
Second round (Friday, 3:00 p.m.): Koneru Abdumalik; Dzagnidze–M. muzychuk; zhu-harika; Kashlinskaya – light brown; Paehtz-Kosteniuk; Wagner—A. Muzychuk.
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