Cairns Cup: Important wins for Tan Zhongyi and Alice Lee

by Stefan Liebig
8/19/2026 – Tan Zhongyi (pictured) is on course for her second Cairns Cup title in Saint Louis after her 2024 triumph. Following her win against Bibisara Assaubayeva in the eighth round, she needs just a draw to secure overall victory. The only player who can still catch her is Alice Lee. She defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu, and a draw against Carissa Yip in the final round would be enough for the 16-year-old to earn her first grandmaster norm. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
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Tan cannot be stopped

Round eight once again produced three decisive games. Only the all-Indian encounter between Divya Deshmukh and Humpy Koneru and the game between 2017 World Championship runner-up Anna Muzychuk and 2008 world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk ended in draws. Both games remained balanced throughout. After starting with 0/4, Kosteniuk has now drawn four games in a row, while Muzychuk has drawn every game so far.

Anna Muzychuk is on fifty percent with eight draws in eight rounds! | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 8 results

With five wins and three draws, Tan Zhongyi already looks like the likely winner of this year's Cairns Cup after eight rounds. However, she can still be caught by the impressive Alice Lee. After a somewhat fortunate win over Divya Deshmukh in round seven, Tan convincingly defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva, who, like Lee, had been trailing her by one point. In the King's Indian Defence, the chaser was unable to generate lasting counterplay with the black pieces. Tan conducted the attack with great precision.

Bibisara Assaubayeva (right) was unable to stop Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Alice Lee still with chances

Alice Lee continues to have an excellent tournament. Although she was unable to convert a position in which she had been clearly better for a long time against Anna Muzychuk in round seven, she convincingly defeated Vaishali Rameshbabu with black in round eight. It was the 16-year-old's fourth win of the tournament against an opponent with the GM title.

Alice Lee has been one of the standout players at the Cairns Cup | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Vaishali handled the Italian Opening better than her rival and obtained the more favourable position. However, her inaccurate moves on 19 and 20, as well as several other suboptimal decisions, allowed Lee to seize the initiative. After Lee played 29...Nxe4, though, the position was equal. Two moves later, Vaishali made a decisive mistake.

Lee quickly and convincingly converted the position after 31.Kg1. She exchanged queens and played patiently and accurately with her extra pawn.

With this victory, Lee is not only the only chaser who can still catch Tan, but she can also secure her first grandmaster norm with a draw as white against defending champion Carissa Yip. How much she will play for a draw or keep an eye on her theoretical chances of winning the tournament remains to be seen in the final round. Perhaps the current example of Vincent Keymer against Javokhir Sindarov in the parallel Sinquefield Cup can serve as a reminder that playing for a draw might turn out to be the wrong plan.

Will Carissa Yip - pictured here during her game against Stavroula Tsolakidou - spoil compatriot Alice Lee's GM norm chances in round nine? | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Carissa Yip has also had a very strong tournament. She lost her opening game against Tan but has remained unbeaten since. In round eight, she handed Stavroula Tsolakidou her second consecutive defeat. The Greek IM had been unbeaten through round six, but has now lost some ground on the leaders.

Standings after round 8

Round 8 quick analysis

All games

Links

<< Sinquefield Cup: Pragg wins to catch So, Sindarov and Keymer also score
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Topics: Alice Lee, Cairns Cup 2026, Carissa Yip, Tan Zhongyi
Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
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See also

Cairns Cup: Tan and Lee still perfect

8/12/2026 – Tan Zhongyi and Alice Lee (pictured) maintained perfect scores after the second round of the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. Tan defeated Humpy Koneru after breaking through on the queenside, while Lee overcame fellow overnight leader Divya Deshmukh in a rook ending. Defending champion Carissa Yip bounced back from her opening-round loss by beating Alexandra Kosteniuk, leaving Tan and Lee alone at the top on 2/2. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

See also

Cairns Cup: Tan, Lee and Deshmukh start with wins

8/11/2026 – Tan Zhongyi, Divya Deshmukh (pictured) and Alice Lee made winning starts to the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, emerging as the early leaders after a first round that produced three decisive games. Tan got the better of defending champion Carissa Yip, Deshmukh overcame Vaishali Rameshbabu and Lee beat Alexandra Kosteniuk, while Humpy Koneru missed winning chances against Stavroula Tsolakidou and Bibisara Assaubayeva drew Anna Muzychuk. | Photo: Austin Fuller

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60m How to fight Queen's Pawn Openigns

After 1.d4 d5 many players with White avoid the great amount of theory in the Slav, Semi-Slav, QGA and Orthodox Queen's Gambit and do not therefore play 2.c4. This is not very ambitious, but the painful experience of many chess players has been that the Colle System, the Trompowsky Attack, the Torre Attack and the London System are nevertheless extremely dangerous. Black has to be prepared for each of these openings and IM Valeri Lilov offers you some help with his six instructive videos, in which he demonstrates for each single opening a relevant plan for Black. In addition to the openings mentioned, the Bulgarian trainer also delves into the Catalan, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and the Richter-Veresov Opening.