Cairns Cup: Alice Lee starts with 2 out of 2

by Johannes Fischer
6/12/2025 – 15-year-old Alice Lee is the youngest participant in the highly competitive Cairns Cup in Saint Louis and ranked 10th in the seedings, but she nevertheless got off to a flying start with two convincing victories. In round 2, she demonstrated her tactical skills and won with black against former world champion Mariya Muzychuk. The second victory of the round went to Nana Dzagnidze, who beat Bibisara Assaubayeva. The three remaining games ended in draws. This means that Alice Lee has taken the sole lead after two rounds with 2 out of 2. | Photo: Screenshot from a promotional video for the Cairns Cup
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In the first round, Lee won with the white pieces in positional style against Nino Batsiashvili. In the second round, she had Black against Mariya Muzychuk, winning with a precisely calculated counterattack.

When it came to fashion, Alice Lee opted for a T-shirt with a good tip in round 2. So far, she has followed it. | Photo: Lennart Ootes /Saint Louis Chess Club

Nana Dzagnidze lost a complicated game against Humpy Koneru in round 1, but she fought back in round 2 and defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva.

The three remaining games of the round all ended in draws. Tan Zhongyi and Humpy Koneru fought a fierce battle. Tan was in a better position after the opening, but was unable to capitalise on her chances in a double-edged and complicated position.

Carissa Yip, playing black against Alina Kashlinskaya, managed to win a pawn in a in a line of the Spanish Opening, but in the ensuing rook endgame Kashlinskaya had no trouble holding the draw.

Nino Batsiashvili and Harika Dronavalli played an unspectacular draw. In a variation of the Queen's Gambit, neither player objected to early exchanges and the position quickly levelled out into a draw.

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".