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.

Mastering Chess Strategy Vol.1-3

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Become a master of chess strategy – get Robert Ris’s complete bundle now at a special price!

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.

The top-tier Trompowsky

The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Nowadays, the list of requirements for an opening repertoire is long: being sound and sustainable; not requiring much memorisation; offering great attacking chances; making your opponent think early on etc… The time of finding a minimal advantage from the opening has passed, and we are better off with a more practical approach - simply understanding the position better than our opponent does. The Repertoire for White 1.d4 ... 2.Bg5! from IM Robert Ris answers all these requirements!
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7/d5/c5

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.

The flexible Taimanov Sicilian

Looking for a realistic way to play for a win with Black against 1.e4 without taking unnecessary risks? The Taimanov Sicilian is a reliable system, and hence one of the best options out there!

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

Calculation Training in Attack & Defence Vol.1 & Vol.2

The two DVDs offer you the chance to solve 66 exercises with multiple questions. These exercises are presented in the interactive format, which makes them accessible for players of different strengths as we will go through the thought process step by step

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Links

• Saint Louis Chess Club
• World Chess Hall of Fame