Kashlinskaya Defeats Coleman, Reaches IM Not A GM Final

IM Alina Kashlinskaya became the first player to reach the final of the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship‎. On Thursday, the Russian player defeated IM Teddy Coleman 17.5-6.5.

In the final, Kashlinskaya will meet the winner of the match between IM John Bartholomew and IM Greg Shahade, which takes place Saturday, May 16 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (01:00 May 17 CEST). This match will be broadcast live on Chess.com/TV with commentary by GMs Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky.

Kashlinskaya has now won three matches in a row to reach the final. Her first-round opponent, IM Christof Sielecki, put up the toughest resistance (13-11), after which Eric Rosen (13-8) and now Coleman (17.5-6.5) were set aside with even bigger numbers.

Kashlinskaya doesn't seem to be afraid of anyone. Asked about that, she told a nice story about her games with GMs Anish Giri and Vladimir Kramnk, both of whom she held to a draw at the 2018 Isle of Man tournament.

"I have to thank my husband [GM Radek Wojtaszek - PD] because when I saw the pairings I was so happy that I was going to play such strong players that I actually didn't care about the result. My goal in this tournament was to play as many strong players as possible.

"My husband told me I was wrong: 'You just have to go there and try to beat them!' Then I understood, why not? We are all people, and there are no titles or ratings that are making moves, just people. Everyone could have a better day or worse."

There are no titles or ratings that are making moves, just people.
—Alina Kashlinskaya

Back to the IM Not A GM Championship, where Kashlinskaya played the Move of the Match straight away in the very first game:

Kashlinskaya won the five-minute portion 6-2 and did even better with a 6-1 score in the three-minute games. The match was more or less over by then, but she also won the bullet, with 5.5-3.5.

Coleman showed great sportsmanship when interviewed about the match and asked about what went wrong for him:

"First of all, I think Alina was just way too good! So, congratulations. I felt like she had all the answers; even when I had good positions she kind of dug her heels in and defended really well, and it was hard for me to break through," he said.

"On my side, I think I was way too cautious. I think I played very slowly, and then I found myself in time pressure every time. I think I needed to play with a little bit more confidence."

It was a sad and sudden end in game 21 when Coleman must have decided to play faster and tried a premove, only to do it in a position where there was a checkmate:

"It's always a pleasure to have more time than your opponent, again as I understood that, again, I was getting slightly out prepared. So I thought that I will have some tricks if I have more time," said Kashlinskaya.

"I thought that was my only way to play, to put pressure on the clock and then in time trouble maybe find some tricks. I think there were some blunders from Teddy's side just because he was in time trouble."

Kashlinskaya won $250 outright and $182.29 based on win percentage, so $432.29 in total. Coleman won $67.71 on percentage and combined with the $539.88 in the first two rounds, he earned $601.59 in the competition.

All games of the match

Fabiano Caruana made a guest appearance in the show.

The inaugural IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship exclusively features international masters in an effort to bring entertainment to the Chess.com audience. All matches are broadcast live with commentary and occasional roasting from GMs Vidit Gujrathi, Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess. 

Matches feature 75 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 45 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 25 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess. The total prize fund is $6,000. 

The other semifinal between IM John Bartholomew and IM Greg Shahade takes place Saturday, May 16 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (01:00 May 17 CEST).

Related posts:

• IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Semifinals Set
• IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Moves To Quarterfinals
• Rosen, Shahade Reach IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals
• Kashlinskaya Beats Sielecki In Thrilling IM Not A GM Match
• Bartholomew, Rozman Reach IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals
• IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship info article‎