Cairns Cup: Alice Lee starts with 2 out of 2

by Johannes Fischer
6/12/2025 – 15-year-old Alice Lee is the youngest participant in the highly competitive Cairns Cup in Saint Louis and ranked 10th in the seedings, but she nevertheless got off to a flying start with two convincing victories. In round 2, she demonstrated her tactical skills and won with black against former world champion Mariya Muzychuk. The second victory of the round went to Nana Dzagnidze, who beat Bibisara Assaubayeva. The three remaining games ended in draws. This means that Alice Lee has taken the sole lead after two rounds with 2 out of 2. | Photo: Screenshot from a promotional video for the Cairns Cup
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In the first round, Lee won with the white pieces in positional style against Nino Batsiashvili. In the second round, she had Black against Mariya Muzychuk, winning with a precisely calculated counterattack.

Muzychuk, Mariya24920–1Lee, Alice2389
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis11.06.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Rc8 9.c4 g6 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.b3 Bd7 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.Rc1 0-0 14.h3 Re8 15.Rc2 Qa5 16.a4
16...Qg5?! Played ambitiously, but on the kingside the black queen easily loses her way. Better was 16...e5! 17.Nf3 b5! and despite her pawn weaknesses, Black has enough counterplay, e.g. 18.axb5 axb5 19.Qxd6 after 19.cxb5 Qb4 keeps the balance 19...bxc4 20.b4 Qc7 with equality. 17.Bc1? White does not play energetically enough. With 17.e5! she could have exploited the precarious position of the black queen on the kingside, e.g. dxe5 18.Nf3 Qh6 19.Bc1 Qh5 20.Rxe5 Bf5 21.Rd2 with a clear advantage for White. 17...Qh5 18.Qd3 Bc6 19.b4 Nd7 20.f4?! This advance weakens the dark squares on the kingside. Safer and better was 20.Nxc6 Rxc6 21.Nd5 with an equal position. 20...a5 21.b5 Nc5 22.Qe3 e5 23.Nde2
23...Bxe4! A precisely calculated tactical blow. 24.Ng3? This counterattack on the black queen looks strong, but fails tactically. The only way to limit the damage somewhat was 24.Nxe4 exf4 25.Nxf4 although even then, after Qf5 Black stands better. 24...exf4 25.Qxf4 Bxc2! 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Nxh5 Re1+ 28.Kh2 Be5
Black wins back the queen and is winning. 29.Nf6+ Kh8 30.Qxe5 dxe5 31.Bh6 Bd3 32.Ncd5 Bxc4 33.Nc7 Ne4 34.Ng4 f6 35.Ne8 Kg8 36.Nexf6+ Nxf6 37.Nxf6+ Kf7 38.Nxh7 Re2 39.Kg1 Bb3 40.Ng5+ Ke7 41.Kf1 Rc2 42.Bg7 Bxa4 43.b6 Bb5+ 44.Kg1 Bc6 45.g4 e4 46.Bd4 a4 47.h4 a3 48.h5 gxh5 49.gxh5 a2 50.h6 a1Q+ 51.Bxa1 Rc1+ 0–1

When it came to fashion, Alice Lee opted for a T-shirt with a good tip in round 2. So far, she has followed it. | Photo: Lennart Ootes /Saint Louis Chess Club

Nana Dzagnidze lost a complicated game against Humpy Koneru in round 1, but she fought back in round 2 and defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Dzagnidze, Nana25051–0Assaubayeva, Bibisara2509
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis11.06.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Qb3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Rc1 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.0-0 Ne4 13.Bg3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 Nf6 15.Rfe1 Rb8 16.Bb1 c5 17.Qc2 Re8 18.Rcd1 Qc8 19.dxc5 bxc5
20.Nxd5! The start of a tactical skirmish that secures White a slight advantage. Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Rxb2! With this counter, Black wins the pawn back, but does not achieve full equality. 22.Qxb2 Nxd5 23.e4 Nc7 24.Bd3 Ne6 25.Bc4 Qc7 26.Rb1 Bd6 27.Qc3 Rb8 28.Rxb8+ Qxb8 29.Qd3 Bf8 30.Bb3 Qd6 31.Bd5 Be7 32.Qb5
32...Nc7? A mistake that costs a pawn. When Assaubayeva made this move, she had only 17 seconds left on the clock. With more time, she likely would have saved the game. After 32...Kf8 White is still better, but there is no clear path to victory. 33.Qb8+ Qd8 34.Qxa7 Nxd5 35.exd5 Bf8 36.Qb7 Qf6 37.Qb3 Qa1+ 38.Kh2 Qf1 39.Qc2 c4 40.Ne5 c3 41.Qxc3 Qxf2 42.Qc8 Qd4 43.Nd7 Qxd5 44.Qxf8+ Kh7 45.Qe7 Qh5+ 46.Qh4 Qd5 47.Qa4 Qh5+ 48.Kg1 Qd5 49.Qc2+ Kg8 50.Qc8+ Kh7 51.Nf8+ Kg8 52.Ne6+ Kh7 53.Qc2+ g6 54.Nf4 Qd4+ 55.Kh2 1–0

The three remaining games of the round all ended in draws. Tan Zhongyi and Humpy Koneru fought a fierce battle. Tan was in a better position after the opening, but was unable to capitalise on her chances in a double-edged and complicated position.

Carissa Yip, playing black against Alina Kashlinskaya, managed to win a pawn in a in a line of the Spanish Opening, but in the ensuing rook endgame Kashlinskaya had no trouble holding the draw.

Nino Batsiashvili and Harika Dronavalli played an unspectacular draw. In a variation of the Queen's Gambit, neither player objected to early exchanges and the position quickly levelled out into a draw.

Results

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 4 e6 6 2.d4 19 d5 6 3.Nc3 6 Nf6 11 4.Bg5 22 dxe4 13 5.Nxe4 8 Nbd7 10 6.Nf3 1:22 h6 12 7.Nxf6+ 24 Nxf6 6 8.Be3 13 Bd6 36 9.Bd3 32 0-0 1:28 10.Qe2 21 b6 1:51 11.0-0-0 1:21 Bb7 1:01 12.Kb1 2:14 Nd5 12:21 13.c4 3:28 Nb4 7:24 14.Ka1 5:08 Nxd3 34 15.Rxd3 37 Qf6 7:30 16.Bd2 12:20 Rfd8 14:11 17.Bc3 7:50 Qf5 3:17 18.Rhd1 9:57 a5 3:20 19.h3 22:59 Ba6 5:28 20.g4 1:51 Qh7 4:44 21.Nd2 2:54 b5 1:38 22.d5 6:57 bxc4 9:50 23.Re3 11 exd5 17 24.Nf3 6 Bf8 6:57 25.g5 9:48 c5 2:35 26.g6 14 Qxg6 3:11 27.Ne5 4 Qf5 2:37 28.Ng4 6:10 d4 34 29.Rg1 45 Rd6 4:23 30.Rf3 4:13 Qd5 1 31.Rf6 1:01 dxc3 1:42 32.Nxh6+ 9 Kh7 11 33.Rxd6 1:52 Bxd6 4:52 34.Nxf7 21 cxb2+ 22 35.Kb1 4 Qf5+ 29 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tan,Z2546Kashlinskaya,A24590–12025Cairns Cup 20251.1
Koneru,H2543Dzagnidze,N25051–02025Cairns Cup 20251.2
Assaubayeva,B2509Muzychuk,M24921–02025Cairns Cup 20251.3
Lee,A2389Batsiashvili,N24621–02025Cairns Cup 20251.4
Dronavalli,H2483Yip,C24311–02025Cairns Cup 20251.5

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<< FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships: MGD1 leads with four wins
Cairns Cup, Round 3: Fortune smiles on Carissa Yip >>
Topics: Alice Lee, Cairns Cup 2025
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.
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