German national player Dinara Wagner has won the blitz tournament at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy International Women's Tournament. She prevailed against the competition at the German Football Museum – a strong performance that will have an impact on the ongoing main tournament at the International Dortmund Chess Days.
It was not only a closed tournament on the stage of the ‘N11’ in the football museum, but also served as an early tiebreak for the classic tournament format, which will continue until Sunday. Dinara Wagner arrived with determination and immediately won the opening game against her national team colleague Elisabeth Pähtz.
‘That was the most important game tonight, I realised that I can play good chess today,’ she said later in the winner's interview with the evening's presenter Patrick Zelbel.
So she left the field with a smile: with 4 points from 6 games, the German national player secured the day's victory at the ‘Spielmacherinnen auf dem Schachbrett’ (Playmakers on the Chessboard) event.
Over 70 fans watched the two-hour programme at the German Football Museum, ranging from young to old and with varying levels of chess knowledge. Among them were Mayor Barbara Brunsing and Sebastian Junker, Chairman of Sparkasse Dortmund, who attended the tournament after being welcomed by Dr Henry Wahlig 
(German Football Museum).
It was an all-round successful evening for the guests, with everyone involved agreeing afterwards that football and chess were a perfect match. This generated a great deal of media interest. A large number of photographers and videographers were on site, including WDR television with a live broadcast from the venue:
Reporter Marc Sense vom Blitzschachturnier im Deutschen Fußballmuseum
At the halftime, Elisabeth Pähtz was still in the lead ahead of Dinara Wagner and Lu Miaoyi. But Wagner's second victory of the evening against Pähtz put her in the lead, which she did not relinquish. In the penultimate round, she seemingly easily outplayed 15-year-old Lu Miaoyi, who is currently leading the classical tournament.
‘Yes, that was a prepared variation in the Catalan opening,’ Wagner revealed later.
Pähtz still had a chance to take the lead before the final round, but had to play black against the Chinese participant. Lu Miaoyi, who always plays aggressively, won this game with her attack, pushing Elisabeth Pähtz out of second place.
1. Dinara Wagner
2. Lu Miaoyi
3. Elisabeth Pähtz
4. Deimanté Daulyté-Cornette
The expert and commentator for the chess days, GM Artur Yusupov, had already said beforehand that he had high hopes for Dinara Wagner this week – despite two bitter defeats at the start of the tournament. Because ‘her chess is excellent, she plays her games at a very high level for a long time and will get more good opportunities’. He was right, and after her victory in the prestigious blitz tournament, the young national player will take her momentum with her to the Alte Schmiede cultural centre over the next few days.
This evening, chess came to life in an extraordinary atmosphere – exciting, close to the audience and in the heart of Dortmund.
Introductory image: Dariusz Gorzinski
