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

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Topics: Cairns Cup 2025, Carissa Yip
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 decision in the Cairns Cup, one of the strongest women’s tournaments of the year, will come today in the ninth and final round, in the direct encounter between Carissa Yip and Alice Lee. After eight rounds, Yip leads with 5.5 out of 8, half a point ahead of Alice Lee, who has scored 5 points from 8 games. This means a draw will be enough for Yip, who has White, to win the tournament. Harika Dronavalli and Humpy Koneru share third and fourth place with 4.5 out of 8, but no longer have a chance to win the event, regardless of the outcome between Yip and Lee. | Follow the action live starting at 19.00 CEST (13.00 ET, 22.30 IST)
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