Cairns Cup, Round 3: Fortune smiles on Carissa Yip

by Johannes Fischer
6/13/2025 – Carissa Yip, US Women's Champion in 2021, 2023 and 2024, had a disappointing start to the Cairns Cup, losing one game and drawing another. However, in round three, she secured her first victory against Nino Batsiashvili, albeit with a touch of luck. The other four games in the round ended in draws, leaving Alice Lee as the sole leader with 2.5/3. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club
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"Luck comes and goes," said Carissa Yip, a mathematics and computer science student at Stanford University, philosophically reflecting on her victory against Nino Batsiashvili. The game could indeed have ended differently.

Yasser Seirawan interviews Carissa Yip after the game

The four other games of the round ended all in draws. Nana Dzagnidze, playing black against Alice Lee, surprised her opponent with a double fianchetto in the Grünfeld Defence, but despite this interesting opening experiment, the game quickly levelled out and soon ended in a draw.

Alice Lee at the start of her game against Nana Dzagnidze | Poto: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club

Harika Dronavalli and Mariya Muzychuk also drew without much excitement. Humpy Koneru had good chances against Alina Kashlinskaya in a sharp rook endgame with opposite-coloured bishops, but she failed to capitalise on them. Bibisara Assaubayeva could also have caused Tan Zhongyi more problems in the endgame.

Alina Kashlinskaya (right) and Humpy Koneru discussing their game | oto: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club

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Topics: 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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