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The Cairns Cup, the equivalent of the Sinquefield Cup for top female players, started on Thursday in Saint Louis. The tournament is named after its initiator and co-founder of the Sinquefield Cup, Dr Jeanne Cairns-Sinquefield, and aims to promote women's chess. Dr Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield also offered other incentives for women to play more chess.
Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, our co-founder, announced the Cairns Chess Queens Award, a $100k award for up to 5 American women who achieve the title of Grandmaster within the next five years. Congratulations to GM Irina Krush, who is honored to be the first American woman to… pic.twitter.com/jUSAjoOisa
— Saint Louis Chess Club (@STLChessClub) June 14, 2024
Guest of honour at the opening ceremony was Nona Gaprindashvili, women's world champion from 1962 to 1978. The Georgian took part in the tournament's warm-up, the Ultimate Move event on the eve of the tournament, and opened the 2024 Cairns Cup with the official bell-ringing ceremony on the first day of play.
The ten-strong field includes three players from the USA, Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih and 14-year-old Alice Lee. Other top international players include former world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk, Mariya Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi, as well as top players Harika Dronavalli, Nana Dzagnidze, Anna Muzychuk and Elisabeth Pähtz. With the exception of Alice Lee, all of these players hold the title of Grandmaster.
The opening round saw three decisive games. Tan Zhongyi defeated Alice Lee and Mariya Muzychuk won against Anna Zatonskih. Alexandra Kosteniuk also beat Elisabeth Pähtz, so the world champions had three wins to their name.
Tan Zhongyi (right)
Mariya Muzychuk (left)
Irina Krush and Anna Muzychuk drew their game, as did Harika Dronavalli and Nana Dzagnidze.
Alexandra Kosteniuk and Elisabeth Pähtz know each other from many tournaments and are good friends. But in their games they fight hard against each other.
Alexandra Kosteniuk wants to know what is happening
Elisabeth Pähtz soon knew that she was in trouble
Elisabeth Pähtz has a rather poor record against Alexandra Kosteniuk, especially in the Sicilian Defence. The two grandmasters engaged in a theoretical duel in the Rossolimo Variation, which gradually developed in Kosteniuk's favour.
Nona Gaprindashvili
Results
Table
Games
