2/17/2020 – Humpy Koneru comfortably held a draw with White against Harika Dronavalli and claimed first place at the Cairns Cup after Ju Wenjun defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk, the only player who had a chance to catch up with the leader. Ju's victory left her on clear second place, while Kosteniuk shared the third-fourth spot with Mariya Muzychuk. Meanwhile, Irina Krush got her first win of the event and Kateryna Lagno miraculously saved a half point for a second day in a row. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/16/2020 – The 2nd Cairns Cup in Saint Louis is played from February 7-17. The field is led by World Champion Ju Wenjun, and features most of the world's best women chess players. The tournament winner will receive USD $45,000 from the total prize fund of $180,000. Rounds begin daily at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 14:00 EST) and the games will be broadcast live with commentary by WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan and GM Alejandro Ramirez. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/16/2020 – A sensational win by 16-year-old Carissa Yip over world champion Ju Wenjun was the story of the day in Saint Louis. Humpy Koneru also won and would have got to the final round a full point ahead had Alexandra Kosteniuk not defeated Nana Dzagnidze with the black pieces. So, going into the last day of action (unless a playoff is needed to decide the champion), Humpy is on 5½ out of 8 and Kosteniuk is the only contender a half point behind. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/15/2020 – Ju Wenjun and Humpy Koneru are still sharing the lead of the Cairns Cup after a seventh round in which things could have taken a different path. The only decisive result of the day saw Mariya Muzychuk beating Valentina Gunina — Muzychuk got a much better position, lost her advantage and ended up winning when Gunina overestimated her chances. Meanwhile, Ju Wenjun could not convert a clear advantage, and Humpy saved a half point in a difficult endgame. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/14/2020 – The top two seeds are sharing the lead with three rounds to go at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. Ju Wenjun was joined in first place by Humpy Koneru after the latter defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk from a very slightly superior knight endgame in round six. The other winner of the day was Carissa Yip, who beat Valentina Gunina to collect her second straight victory. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/12/2020 – All five games of the Cairns Cup ended decisively on Tuesday, leaving Ju Wenjun and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the shared lead on 3½ out of 5. Humpy Koneru took down former sole leader Nana Dagnidze, Valentina Gunina scored a fine attacking win against Harika Dronavalli and Carissa Yip got on the scoreboard with a victory over compatriot Irina Krush. The players will rest on Wednesday before returning to the fray for the final four rounds. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/11/2020 – Nana Dzagnidze is still leading the second edition of the Cairns Cup after none of the chasers scored wins in round four. Ju Wenjun and Alexandra Kosteniuk (pictured) did get to join the players trailing a half point behind the Georgian though, after beating Valentina Gunina and Carissa Yip respectively. The rest of the games finished drawn, with Irina Krush missing a good chance to take down Harika Dronavalli. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/10/2020 – Nana Dzagnidze became the first sole leader of the Cairns Cup after inflicting Carissa Yip's third straight loss in Saint Louis. Kateryna Lagno and Mariya Muzychuk are still a half point back after drawing their direct encounter, while Harika Dronavalli joined them in shared second place after beating Alexandra Kosteniuk. Valentina Gunina, in the meantime, got on the scoreboard with a win over Irina Krush. | Photo: Austin Fuller

2/9/2020 – An exciting day of chess left four players sharing the lead at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. Mariya Muzychuk showcased her attacking abilities to take down Humpy Koneru, Kateryna Lagno outplayed Carissa Yip with Black from a balanced yet dangerous endgame, while Valentina Gunina could not take advantage of Alexandra Kosteniuk's opening blunder and ended up losing for a second day in a row. Irina Krush missed a chance to beat world champion Ju Wenjun with the black pieces. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

2/8/2020 – The second edition of the Cairns Cup kicked off Friday at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Humpy Koneru and Nana Dzagnidze (pictured) were the first ones to get full points, as they defeated Carissa Yip and Valentina Gunina respectively. Both won after their opponents employed risky strategies with the black pieces. World champion Ju Wenjun started with Black and got a comfortable draw against Mariya Muzychuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

2/6/2020 – Starting Friday, most of the world's best female players will play the 2nd Cairns Cup in Saint Louis. The field is led by World Champion Ju Wenjun. The tournament winner will receive USD $45,000 from the total prize fund of $180,000. Rounds begin daily at 19:00 UTC (20:00 CET / 14:00 EST) and the games will be broadcast live with commentary.

2/1/2020 – Fabiano Caruana did phenomenally at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee and was able to reduce his Elo distance to World Champion Magnus Carlsen from 50 to 20 points — Carlsen now stands at 2862 and Caruana at 2842. Ju Wenjun remained Women's World Champion, and world number two. Firouzja won the Juniors battle in the Tata Steel Masters, and Zhansaya Abdumalik maintains a healthy lead in among the top girls. | Pictured: Caruana watches the game Firouzja vs Dubov | Photo: Alina l'Ami

2/1/2020 – Two strong tournaments that are about to celebrate their second editions will take place in February — the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, an elite-level tournament for top female players, and the Prague Festival, modelled after the Tata Steel Chess Masters and Challengers. The highly competitive Aeroflot Open, a massive festival in Graz and a fun-filled weekender in Bunratty will also keep chess fans entertained. | You'll find all of these events and more covered in our live games broadcast area Live.ChessBase.com and we'll also be providing News coverage.

1/24/2020 – The 2020 Women's World Championship came to a dramatic finale on Friday with a four-game rapid tiebreak. After a pair of draws, Ju Wenjun struck first with a win in the third game. But unlike in the final classical game, Goryachkina was not able to equalize the score and force the tiebreak into the blitz phase. Ju hung on for a draw, winning the tiebreak, the match and thereby retaining her title as Women's World Champion. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/24/2020 – The Women's World Chess Championship was decided by tie-breaks! Ju Wenjun won the third of four rapid games which was enough to retain her World Champions title. The final regulation game was a must-win for the challenger Goryachkina and she delivered, sending the match to rapid tiebreaks in Vladivostock tomorrow at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/23/2020 – With one regular match game to be played the momentum was very much on the side of current World Champion Ju Wenjun, who won back-to-back points in games 9 and 10 then easily made a draw in game 11. Her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina came into game 12 in Vladivostock knowing that she had to win at all costs. And she delivered! With the match now tied at 6:6, the World Championship will be decided in a tiebreaking series of rapid (and even blitz) games on Friday starting at the same time: 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST) with commentary by GM Nigel Short & GM Hou Yifan. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/22/2020 – Chinese defending champion Ju Wenjun and her challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina from Russia are playing a twelve-game match at locations Shanghai and Vladivostok. Game 11 of the Women's World Championship Match ends in a draw after 40 moves. Defending champion Ju Wenjun is leading 6-5. In the final game on Jan 23, the challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina has White in a must-win situation. Ju Wenjun took the lead with back-to-back wins in Game 9 and Game 10. The second half in Vladivostock starts two hours earlier with games commencing at 5:30 UTC (6:30 CET, 12:30 AM EST). | Photos: Zhang Yanhong, Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)

1/20/2020 – Ju Wenjun took the lead for the second time in the match with just two games before the end of the competition for the Women's World Championship. She defeated her challenger with the black pieces in today's tenth game in a Queen's Gambit Declined, and has excellent chances to retain her title. | Photos: Eteri Kublashvili (FIDE / official site)