Lee and Kosteniuk escape
The fifth round of the Cairns Cup was the first one to feature all games ending drawn. Plenty of fighting chess was seen at the World Chess Hall of Fame, though, with many of the players choosing to enter complicated endgame struggles. Sole leader Tan Zhongyi defended a somewhat difficult position with the black pieces against Anna Muzychuk to remain atop the standings with a +2 score (3½ out of 5).
Meanwhile, Alice Lee, the 14-year-old US rising star who came from beating Alexandra Kosteniuk, escaped with a draw against experienced Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze.
Lee, playing white, is two pawns down, and engines here evaluate the position with a -4. But converting this into a win requires some precision, especially given the broken pawn structure on the kingside, and the fact that Black has a dark-squared bishop and her pawn on the h-file promotes on a light square.
The great defensive resourcefulness demonstrated by the 14-year-old allowed her to eventually achieve a draw.
84...Bf2 was the deciding blunder by Dzagnidze, as it allows 85.Nh4+, and 85...Bxh4, as played in the game, leads to forced draw after 86.Kg1 Kg3 87.Kh1 h2 with a stalemate. Black cannot promote the pawn on the light square if the king approaches the corner in time, as in this case.
Black could have won the game with 84...Bc5 85.Nh4+ Kg4 86.Ng6 Kg3, and the pawn queens.
Results - Round 5
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.
Defending champion Anna Zatonskih signed a 36-move draw with Elisabeth Paehtz | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Krush ½ - ½ Kosteniuk
Analysis by André Schulz
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Ne2 Qc7 10.Ba2 b6 11.Bb2 Ba6 12.c4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nc6 14.Nb5 Qe7 15.0-0 Rac8 16.Qe2 Bb7 17.a4 Ne4 18.Qg4 f5 19.Qe2 Nc5 20.Bb1 Rfd8 21.Bc2 Nb4 22.f3 Nxc2 23.Qxc2 a6 24.Nd4 Nd7 25.Qb3 Qf7 26.Rfd1 e5 27.Ne2 Rxc4 28.Qxb6 Rb8 28...Nxb6 29.Rxd8+ Qf8 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Rb1 Rc6 32.Bxe5+- 29.Qd6 Bc6 30.Bxe5 Rc8 31.Bf4 Bxa4 32.Rd2 Bb5 33.Nd4 Rc1+ 34.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 35.Kf2 Nf8 36.Nxb5 axb5 37.Qb8 Qc4 38.Rd8 Rc2+ 39.Kg3 Qf7 40.h4 40.Qd6 h6 40...Qg6+ 41.Qxg6 hxg6 42.Bd6+- 41.h4 Ra2 42.h5 Ra7 43.Qb8 Rd7 44.Rc8 Qf6 45.Qxb5 Rf7 46.Re8 Qc3 47.Qd5 Qf6 48.Kh3 Kh7 49.Be5 40...h6 41.Kh3? 41.h5? g5 42.hxg6 Qxg6+ 43.Kh4 Qf6+ 44.Kh3 Rc1 41.Qd6 41...Rc1 42.Bd6 42.Kh2 Qf6 43.Bg3 Rc4 42...Rh1+ 43.Kg3 f4+ 44.exf4 44.Bxf4 Qf6= 44...Qg6+ 45.Kf2 Qc2+ 46.Kg3 Qg6+ 47.Kf2 Qc2+ 48.Kg3 Qg6+ ½–½ 
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.
Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Standings after round 5
All games
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