Cairns Cup: Tan beats Zatonskih to grab the sole lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/17/2024 – Tan Zhongyi, the top seed in Saint Louis, grabbed the sole lead at the Cairns Cup after beating Anna Zatonskih’s French Defence in round 4. Second place is shared between Mariya Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli, who both drew on Sunday. The second decisive game of the day saw Alice Lee getting the better of Alexandra Kosteniuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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A French Defence gone wrong

Defending champion Anna Zatonskih has been struggling at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. The 4-time US women’s champion stands in last place with ½/4 points after losing all her games with black and drawing Anna Muzychuk with the white pieces. In round 4, she was defeated by top seed Tan Zhongyi, who made the most of Zatonskih’s mishandling of a French Defence.

Zatonskih captured pawns on the a and b-files with her queen, allowing Tan to gain a big advantage in development.

Tan v. Zatonskih

After 13.Rb4, Zatonskih realized she needed to be very careful with a potential kingside attack and spent almost half an hour on her next two moves. There followed 13...Qd5 14.Re1 h6 15.Qd2 Nxc5 16.Re5

White is already in the driver’s seat, but her advantage became even bigger after 16...Qc6, when Black’s best chance was to give up her queen for a rook and a minor piece with 16...Nxd3 17.Rxd5 Nxb4 18.Rd8 Nc6.

The problem for Black is that, after the text, White can make use of her major pieces to break through decisively on the kingside — 17.Rg4 Nxd3 (17...f5 would have made things a bit harder for White) 18.Qxh6 g6

A French Defence gone wrong, indeed. White can choose how to win here, with 19.Rxg6+, as played by Tan, the best-looking alternative. Resignation came after 19...fxg6 20.Qxg6+.

Tan is now the sole leader in Saint Louis, as the only player with a +2 score (3/4 points). Second place is shared between Mariya Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli, who both drew on Sunday. A half point behind the closest chasers are five players, all with a fifty-percent score — included in this group is 14-year-old Alice Lee, who got the better of Alexandra Kosteniuk in round 4.

Round 4 results

NameRtg.Nt.Pts.Pts.NameRtgNt.
2489
2
½-½
2415
2457
1
½-½
2
2510
2506
½-½
2505
2501
2
0-1
1
2368
2540
2
1-0
½
2327

Elisabeth Paehtz, Mariya Muzychuk

Elisabeth Paehtz and Mariya Muzychuk signed a 58-move draw | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Kosteniuk 0 - 1 Lee

Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alice Lee

Alexandra Kosteniuk v. Alice Lee | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 4

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TBPerf.
1
2540
3.0
4
4.75
2598
2
2489
2.5
4
5.00
2543
3
2510
2.5
4
3.75
2552
4
2415
2.0
4
4.50
2498
5
2368
2.0
4
4.00
2497
6
2505
2.0
4
3.50
2440
7
2501
2.0
4
3.50
2455
8
2506
2.0
4
2.75
2456
9
2457
1.5
4
3.25
2362
10
2327
0.5
4
1.00
2193
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

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1.e4 0 c5 0 2.Nf3 0 e6 0 3.d4 0 cxd4 0 4.Nxd4 0 Nc6 0 5.g3 0 Nxd4 0 6.Qxd4 0 b6 0 7.Bg2 0 Bb7 0 8.0-0 0 Nf6 0 9.Nc3 0 Bc5 0 10.Qd3 0 0-0 2:24 11.Bg5 9:42 Qc7 5:58 12.Rad1 11:51 Bc6 53 13.Bxf6 7:15 gxf6 7 14.Kh1 35 b5 18:41 15.Qf3 12:08 Be7 13:38 16.Qh5 8:09 Qe5 6:31 17.Qh6 6:14 b4 10:19 18.f4 1:19 Qc5 4:03 19.f5 8:19 Kh8 2:38 20.Ne2 5:37 Qxc2 21:45 21.Nd4 5:20 Qc5 1:41 22.Nxc6 8:32 dxc6 1 23.e5 1:47 Qxe5 10 24.fxe6 7:01 fxe6 49 25.Rfe1 38 Rad8 2:29 26.Rc1 1:43 Qg5 4:23 27.Qxg5 1:42 fxg5 2 28.Rxc6 1:24 Rf2 2:44 29.Rcxe6 36 Bf6 14 30.Rf1 1:26 Rxf1+ 48 31.Bxf1 5 Bxb2 20 32.Kg2 20 a5 1:29 33.Bb5 3 Rd5 1:46 34.Bc4 8 Rc5 2:35 35.Bb3 10 Kg7 3 36.Kf3 1:41 h5 6 37.Ke4 2:12 Bf6 16 38.Ra6 1:20 Re5+ 11 39.Kd3 5 g4 1:15 40.Ra7+ 1:01 Kg6 11 41.Ra6 30:38 Kf5 30:26 42.Bf7 49 h4 1:11 43.Bg8 55 hxg3 1:13 44.hxg3 12 Rc5 23 45.Be6+ 39 Kg5 15 46.Ra8 12 Rc3+ 35 47.Ke4 18 Rxg3 9 48.Rxa5+ 1:07 Kh4 6 49.Ra6 21 Bg5 36 50.Ra7 41 Re3+ 46 51.Kf5 8 Rf3+ 8 52.Ke4 4 Re3+ 1:33 53.Kf5 2 Rf3+ 21 54.Ke4 0 Rf6 34 55.Rh7+ 39 Kg3 34 56.Bf5 30 Rf8 32 57.Rb7 1:23 Re8+ 9 58.Kd3 29 Re3+ 24 59.Kd4 52 Rf3 32 60.Be4 50 Rf2 1:00 61.Rxb4 17 Rd2+ 14 62.Ke5 24 Rxa2 19 63.Bf5 51 Bf4+ 22 64.Ke4 38 Re2+ 13 65.Kd3 46 Re3+ 20 66.Kc2 20 Re5 48 67.Bd7 36 Rc5+ 8 68.Kb3 28 Kf3 13 69.Rc4 30 Re5 6 70.Bc6+ 46 Kg3 28 71.Bd7 10 Re7 33 72.Rd4 38 Kf3 14 73.Bxg4+ 47 Kxg4 6 74.Kc4 2 Kf5 30 75.Rd5+ 5 Be5 12 76.Kd3 21 Rh7 24 77.Rc5 53 Rh3+ 10 78.Kc4 7 Ke4 6 79.Rc6 9 Rh1 31 80.Kb5 14 Bd4 1:07 81.Rc8 28 Rb1+ 17 82.Kc6 3 Rb6+ 6 83.Kc7 39 Re6 32 84.Kd7 1:19 Kd5 8 85.Rc7 1:03 Rh6 37 86.Rb7 11 Bb6 9 87.Kc8 46 Rh8+ 1:22 88.Kd7 4 Bc5 25 89.Rc7 11 Rh6 3:39 90.Rb7 23 Bb6 34 91.Kc8 8 Rg6 33 92.Kd7 20 Kc5 25 93.Rb8 1:07 Kd5 16 94.Rb7 23 Rd6+ 44 95.Ke7 38 Ke5 6 96.Rd7 1:13 Rh6 6 97.Kf7 9 Rf6+ 54 98.Ke7 1:13 Bc5+ 11 99.Kd8 4 Bd6 8 100.Kc8 14 Rf8+ 1:20 101.Rd8 1:09 Rf3 30 102.Rd7 50 Ke6 42 103.Rh7 14 Rf8+ 23 104.Kb7 4 Kd5 5 105.Rh5+ 40 Be5 5 106.Kb6 33 Rb8+ 7 107.Ka5 8 Rb1 1:41 108.Ka6 36 Kd6 3 109.Ka5 27 Bc3+ 50 110.Ka4 11 Kc6 45 111.Ka3 39 Bd4 30 112.Ka2 37 Rb4 11 113.Rg5 45 Bc5 29 114.Rg3 24 Kd5 2 115.Rc3 1:06 Rb8 30 116.Rc2 44 Kd4 18 117.Rb2 10 Ra8+ 6 118.Kb1 16 Kd3 15 119.Rb3+ 24 Kc4 32 120.Rb2 54 Bd4 2:17 121.Ra2 4 Rh8 17 122.Kc2 33 Bc3 31 123.Ra4+ 38 Bb4 2 124.Ra2 47 Rh3 55 125.Rb2 31 Rh2+ 42 126.Kb1 4 Rh1+ 9 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Dronavalli,H2489Dzagnidze,N2506½–½2024B44Cairns Cup 20241.1
Kosteniuk,A2501Paehtz,E24571–02024B30Cairns Cup 20241.2
Lee,A2368Tan,Z25400–12024A50Cairns Cup 20241.3
Krush,I2415Muzychuk,A2505½–½2024D35Cairns Cup 20241.4
Muzychuk,M2510Zatonskih,A23271–02024C11Cairns Cup 20241.5
Tan,Z2540Krush,I2415½–½2024B43Cairns Cup 20242.1
Muzychuk,A2505Muzychuk,M2510½–½2024B12Cairns Cup 20242.2
Dzagnidze,N2506Zatonskih,A23271–02024A13Cairns Cup 20242.3
Paehtz,E2457Lee,A2368½–½2024A09Cairns Cup 20242.4
Dronavalli,H2489Kosteniuk,A25011–02024A34Cairns Cup 20242.5
Zatonskih,A2327Muzychuk,A2505½–½2024B13Cairns Cup 20243.1
Lee,A2368Dronavalli,H2489½–½2024D11Cairns Cup 20243.2
Muzychuk,M2510Tan,Z2540½–½2024C15Cairns Cup 20243.3
Kosteniuk,A2501Dzagnidze,N25061–02024B47Cairns Cup 20243.4
Krush,I2415Paehtz,E2457½–½2024E43Cairns Cup 20243.5
Paehtz,E2457Muzychuk,M2510½–½2024A11Cairns Cup 20244.1
Tan,Z2540Zatonskih,A23271–02024C13Cairns Cup 20244.2
Dzagnidze,N2506Muzychuk,A2505½–½2024D35Cairns Cup 20244.3
Dronavalli,H2489Krush,I2415½–½2024B33Cairns Cup 20244.4
Kosteniuk,A2501Lee,A23680–12024C42Cairns Cup 20244.5
Lee,A2368Dzagnidze,N2506½–½2024E04Cairns Cup 20245.1
Krush,I2415Kosteniuk,A2501½–½2024E49Cairns Cup 20245.2
Muzychuk,A2505Tan,Z2540½–½2024B12Cairns Cup 20245.3
Muzychuk,M2510Dronavalli,H2489½–½2024C54Cairns Cup 20245.4
Zatonskih,A2327Paehtz,E2457½–½2024E11Cairns Cup 20245.5
Kosteniuk,A2501Muzychuk,M25101–02024B11Cairns Cup 20246.1
Dronavalli,H2489Zatonskih,A2327½–½2024C13Cairns Cup 20246.2
Paehtz,E2457Muzychuk,A2505½–½2024A07Cairns Cup 20246.3
Dzagnidze,N2506Tan,Z2540½–½2024D59Cairns Cup 20246.4
Lee,A2368Krush,I2415½–½2024E17Cairns Cup 20246.5
Tan,Z2540Paehtz,E24571–02024D40Cairns Cup 20247.1
Krush,I2415Dzagnidze,N25060–12024E48Cairns Cup 20247.2
Zatonskih,A2327Kosteniuk,A25010–12024D12Cairns Cup 20247.3
Muzychuk,M2510Lee,A23681–02024D27Cairns Cup 20247.4
Muzychuk,A2505Dronavalli,H2489½–½2024C60Cairns Cup 20247.5
Krush,I2415Muzychuk,M2510½–½2024E48Cairns Cup 20248.1
Kosteniuk,A2501Muzychuk,A25050–12024C55Cairns Cup 20248.2
Dzagnidze,N2506Paehtz,E2457½–½2024E62Cairns Cup 20248.3
Dronavalli,H2489Tan,Z2540½–½2024B51Cairns Cup 20248.4
Lee,A2368Zatonskih,A23271–02024D30Cairns Cup 20248.5
Tan,Z2540Kosteniuk,A2501½–½2024D14Cairns Cup 20249.1
Paehtz,E2457Dronavalli,H2489½–½2024E06Cairns Cup 20249.2
Muzychuk,A2505Lee,A23681–02024C42Cairns Cup 20249.3
Zatonskih,A2327Krush,I2415½–½2024D02Cairns Cup 20249.4
Muzychuk,M2510Dzagnidze,N2506½–½2024B22Cairns Cup 20249.5

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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