6/15/2023 – The Cairns Cup is the strongest privately organized women’s tournament in the world. The third edition of the event came to an end on Monday, with Anna Zatonskih stunning the chess world by winning the closed competition with a round to spare. Alexandra Kosteniuk finished in second place, after grabbing three wins in a row in the final rounds. On Sunday, she defeated Bella Khotenashvili in a game that featured four queens on the board amid a fantastic tactical struggle. | Robert Ris analysed the formidable encounter.

6/13/2023 – The ninth round of the Cairns Cup saw Alexandra Kosteniuk grabbing a third consecutive win to secure clear second place in the final standings. Kosteniuk defeated Elisabeth Paehtz with black, while Irina Krush, who was sharing second place with Kosteniuk before the final round, failed to get the better of tournament winner Anna Zatonskih in a tricky endgame. In the other decisive game of the day, Nana Dzagnidze defeated Gunay Mammadzada. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

6/12/2023 – The Cairns Cup is taking place on June 3-12 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Humpy Koneru, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Harika Dronavalli are the top seeds in the 10-player single round-robin with a classical time control. The event will feature one of the strongest female fields, as they compete for a total prize fund of $180,000. | Follow the action live starting at 20.00 CEST (14.00 ET, 23.30 IST)

6/12/2023 – Anna Zatonskih beat Zhansaya Abdumalik in round 8 of the Cairns Cup to claim tournament victory with one round to spare. Alexandra Kosteniuk’s win over Bella Khotenashvili helped Zatonskih to grab clear first place. Remarkably, the tournament champion was the lowest-rated player in Saint Louis. Zatonskih is set to face Irina Krush in Monday’s final round. | Photo: Bryan Adams

6/11/2023 – In the seventh round of the Cairns Cup played on Saturday, sole leader Anna Zatonskih got a rest day. Elisabeth Paehtz missed her chance to catch up with Zatonskih, as the German grandmaster lost to Bella Khotenashvili. Thanks to this win, the Georgian now stands half a point behind Zatonskih. Irina Krush is also back in the mix after beating Harika Dronavalli. Krush is one point behind Zatonskih, but the two still have to play each other. | Photo: Austin Fuller

6/10/2023 – In the sixth round of the Cairns Cup played on Friday, Anna Zatonskih won her game with black against Gunay Mammadzada and now stands alone at the top of the standings with a 4½/6 score. Elisabeth Paehtz is in second place after beating Nana Dzagnidze with white to reach a 3½/6 score. Zatonskih’s lead is not quite so clear, however, if you consider that the table is somewhat ‘skewed’ after Humpy Koneru withdrew due to health issues. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

6/8/2023 – Before round 5 of the Cairns Cup began, the organizers announced that Humpy Koneru had to withdraw due to medical issues. Humpy’s games in the first four rounds will not be counted in the tournament standings, though they will be rated by FIDE. In the fifth round, Bella Khotenashvili scored a third consecutive victory, as she defeated Nana Dzagnidze after the latter failed to make the most of a deadly kingside attack. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

6/7/2023 – An eventful fourth round at the Cairns Cup saw both co-leaders losing their games, allowing Anna Zatonskih to climb to sole first place in Saint Louis. Zatonskih defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk from the black side of a French Defence, while Bella Khotenashvili got the better of Irina Krush, who had caught Kosteniuk in the lead after winning her round-3 encounter. The third decisive game of the day saw Nana Dzagnidze beating Humpy Koneru. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

6/6/2023 – Following two rounds with 4 out of 5 games ending decisively, only Irina Krush and Bella Khotenashvili managed to score full points in round 3 of the Cairns Cup. Krush is now sharing the lead with Alexandra Kosteniuk on 2½ points. Anna Zatonskih stands in sole third place a half point behind the co-leaders. Zatonskih will face Kosteniuk with black in Tuesday’s fourth round. | Photo: Austin Fuller

5/22/2023 – A new edition of the Cairns Cup, the equivalent of the Sinquefield Cup but for top women players, will be played from 3 June. Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk top the women's seedings. The tournament is named after Dr Jeanne Cairns, Rex Sinquefield's wife.