Cairns Cup, Round 5: Four draws and a win

by Johannes Fischer
6/16/2025 – After five of nine rounds, three players share the lead at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis: Humpy Koneru, Harika Dronavalli and Alice Lee. All three drew in round 5 and now have 3.5 points. The only win in round 5 went to Carissa Yip (pictured), who defeated Nana Dzagnidze. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club
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However, Carissa Yip's victory did not go entirely smoothly. After a nice sacrifice in the middlegame, Yip missed an immediate tactical win and instead had to win an endgame with an extra pawn. Both sides handled this endgame imprecisely, but in the end Yip prevailed.

The other four games in the round ended in draws without any major excitement.

Results

Table

Games

Tournament page

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".