.jpeg)
Former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi found out just how useful it is to go into the final round with a substantial lead at the Cairns Cup. She suffered her first defeat in round nine, but thanks to her five wins and three draws she still had enough of a cushion to be awarded the winner's trophy outright after her closest rival Alice Lee drew her game.
Tan Zhongyi would surely have liked to finish the tournament unbeaten, but her defeat against Stavroula Tsolakidou does little to diminish her performance | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
It looked as though Tan would face an opponent in the final round whose energy might be beginning to fade. Stavroula Tsolakidou had remained unbeaten through round six. The Greek IM had even retained theoretical chances of winning the tournament and/or earning a GM norm. But she then lost to Bibisara Assaubayeva in round seven and to Carissa Yip in round eight. The spotlight of the final round seemed to inspire the 26-year-old, however. She played an excellent positional game and obtained a convincing win.
With this victory, Tsolakidou finished fifth in the strong field and gained 8 Elo points. She was the only player to inflict a defeat on both Tan and Lee, handing each of them their only loss of the tournament - a notable achievement. Tournament winner Tan, meanwhile, leaves with the trophy, $65,000 in prize money and a gain of 16 Elo points.
Stavroula Tsolakidou had every reason to smile after defeating the tournament winner and former women's world champion | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
Alice Lee was no longer able to catch the leader, but she was nevertheless delighted in the interview after her game. Finishing second in such a strong tournament is still a major success. Furthermore, with her score, the 16-year-old also earned her first GM norm. There was an added twist: in the final round, she faced her friend and defending champion Carissa Yip, needing another half-point to secure the norm.
Friends Alice Lee and Carissa Yip have already played many wild games against each other - their encounter on Wednesday was not quite as exciting, but it ended with an excellent achievement for the 16-year-old | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
Lee admitted: "I was nervous before the game and unhappy with the opening because I was on the defensive". Yip's advantage, however, lasted only from moves 13 to 22 and, according to the engine, peaked at around one and a half pawns. Lee once again showed composure, equalised and reached a balanced endgame. Even then, she was not entirely reassured, as in this position...
...she had been worried about 40...Bf2 and envisaged having to defend for a long time with inactive pieces. After all, the bishop on f2 cannot be driven away, and Black could try to break through on the kingside. The engine, however, evaluates the position as 0.00.
Eventually, this position arose and, just when everyone expected Yip to repeat moves, she feinted a new move with a smile in Lee's direction – only to play 46...Ke8 after all, allowing 47.Ng1 and a repetition:
"I'm relieved and happy", Lee said afterwards, unsurprisingly, following what was probably the best tournament of her career so far, in which she defeated four grandmasters.
What goes through the mind of a former world champion after starting a major tournament with four straight losses? Alexandra Kosteniuk showed resilience and recovered. She drew four games in a row and then won her final-round game against Vaishali Rameshbabu. The result saw the two swap places: Kosteniuk finished second-last, while her opponent ended at the bottom of the standings. Whether Vaishali's result had anything to do with not wanting to reveal too much before her World Championship match is impossible to know. What is clear is that both will probably want to put this tournament behind them quickly.
A positive finish for Alexandra Kosteniuk (left): after opening with four defeats, she followed with four draws and then scored her first win in the final round against Women's World Championship challenger Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Alongside Lee's draw, round nine produced two further draws. Bibisara Assaubayeva and Humpy Koneru agreed a draw that was a fair reflection of the play. Assaubayeva thus finished fourth overall, while the winless Koneru placed eighth.
Anna Muzychuk also finished without a win, but unlike Koneru, she remained unbeaten. She recorded her ninth draw in the ninth and final round. With black, she had little difficulty keeping the balance in her game against Divya Deshmukh.
| Advertising |
.jpeg)