Cairns Cup: Fighting draws

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
6/18/2024 – All five games ended drawn in round 5 of the Cairns Cup, with Alice Lee (pictured) and Alexandra Kosteniuk escaping with half points from clearly inferior positions, against Nana Dzagnidze and Irina Krush, respectively. The results left Tan Zhongyi as the sole leader with four rounds to go. Mariya Muzychuk and Harika Dronavalli are tied for second place a half point back. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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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 v. Kosteniuk

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

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Anna Zatonskih

Defending champion Anna Zatonskih signed a 36-move draw with Elisabeth Paehtz | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Krush ½ - ½ Kosteniuk

Analysis by André Schulz

Krush, Irina2415½–½Kosteniuk, Alexandra2501
Cairns Cup 2024
Saint Louis17.06.2024[Schulz,A]
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 The pin of the f8-knight is a heavy mortgage for Black. However, White must be careful that Black doesn't get perpetual check. 40.h4 One winning idea is 40.Qd6 h6 40...Qg6+ 41.Qxg6 hxg6 42.Bd6+- 41.h4 Ra2 42.h5 Ra7 43.Qb8 threatening Rxf8 and Qxa7. Rd7 44.Rc8 Threatens Bd6. Qf6 45.Qxb5 Rf7 46.Re8 Qc3 47.Qd5 Qf6 48.Kh3 with zugzwang. Kh7 49.Be5 40...h6
41.Kh3? After this move Black skilfully gets out of the predicament. 41.h5? g5 42.hxg6 Qxg6+ 43.Kh4 Qf6+ 44.Kh3 Rc1 is not any better. Correct was again 41.Qd6 41...Rc1 42.Bd6 42.Kh2 Qf6 43.Bg3 Rc4 with the idea of Rxh4 and perpetual check. 42...Rh1+ 43.Kg3 f4+ 44.exf4 44.Bxf4 Qf6= Threatens checkmate. 44...Qg6+ 45.Kf2 Qc2+ 46.Kg3 Qg6+ 47.Kf2 Qc2+ 48.Kg3 Qg6+ ½–½

Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 5

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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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