4th Cairns Cup R4: 14-year-old Alice Lee stuns Alexandra Kosteniuk

by Shahid Ahmed - 17/06/2024

14-year-old IM Alice Lee (USA) scored the biggest upset of 4th Cairns Cup 2024 in Round 4. She defeated GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) in a definitive manner. The teenager's creative and beautiful attack was commendable, especially against a former Women's World Champion. GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) crushed the defending champion, IM Anna Zatonskih (USA) in just 20 moves to emerge sole leader 3/4. GM Harika Dronavalli drew with GM Irina Krush (USA). GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) missed a small but significant opportunity against GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR). Both Harika and Mariya are at 2.5/4 each. They will face each other in the fifth round. Round 5 starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Lennart Ootes

Zhongyi crushes Zatonskih in a 20-move miniature

The fourth round of 4th Cairns Cup 2024 was the most eventful one. There might be only two decisive games, yet there were a lot of fighting games. GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) had to defend tenaciously against GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) to salvage a half point in an extremely difficult Queen endgame.

IM Alice Lee (USA) scored the biggest upset of the round by defeating GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Lennart Ootes

Cairns Cup official logo | Photo: Official site

Elisabeth -Mariya: 0.5-0.5

GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER, 2457) had a couple of winning chances against GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR, 2510) in the major piece endgame.

Position after 50...Qe5

White does not need to trade the queens immediately. 51.Qxe5 fxe5 forces the exchange of rooks too. The resultant pawn endgame is a draw as neither side can break through the inevitable gridlock. However, White needed to sidestep 51.Kg2! and wait things out. The longer Black delays, the longer White needs to wait, until it is the right time to trade queens and go into a favorable rook endgame.

GM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) had a small but significant edge in the endgame against GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Crystal Fuller

Zhongyi - Anna Zatonskih: 1-0

GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2540) crushed the defending champion, IM Anna Zatonskih (USA, 2327) in just 20 moves.

GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) made a short work of IM Anna Zatonskih (USA) in just 20 moves | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Crystal Fuller

Nana - Anna Muzychuk: 0.5-0.5

GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2505) survived a tough ordeal against GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO, 2506) in the queen endgame. Despite being lost for the better part of the queen endgame, Anna continued the fight and it was not easy for her opponent to find the practical way to win the game.

Gritty GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) defended extremely well against GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO) in the tough queen endgame | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Crystal Fuller

GM Harika Dronavalli - GM Irina Krush (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Crystal Fuller

Kosteniuk - Alice: 0-1

IM Alice Lee (USA, 2368) pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament when she defeated the former Women's World Champion - GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2501). Starting out with the Petrof Defence, the 14-year-old managed to weather the early storm. Later, she brought her own.

Position after 25...c4!

24...d5 25.cxd5 c4! and Black's wrath was faster and stronger towards the white king than white's towards the black king.

IM Alice Lee (USA) quite possibly scored the biggest win of her career so far | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Lennart Ootes

Round 4 in progress | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club/Crystal Fuller

Replay live stream

Replay Round 4 Live Commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, and IMs Jovanka Houska, Nazi Paikidze and Begim Tokhirjonova | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 4 games

Round 4 results

Table	White	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	GM Dzagnidze, Nana	1.5	GEO	2506	GM Muzychuk, Anna	1.5	UKR	2505	½-½
2	GM Tan, Zhongyi	2.0	CHN	2540	IM Zatonskih, Anna	0.5	USA	2327	1-0
3	GM Paehtz, Elisabeth	1.0	GER	2457	GM Muzychuk, Mariya	2.0	UKR	2510	½-½
4	GM Dronavalli, Harika	2.0	IND	2489	GM Krush, Irina	1.5	USA	2415	½-½
5	GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2.0	SUI	2501	IM Lee, Alice	1.0	USA	2368	0-1

Details

Standings after Round 4

Zhongyi Tan gains sole lead 3/4, Harika and Mariya at 2.5/4 | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

Details

Round 5 pairings

Table	White	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Score	Fed.	Rating
1	IM Lee, Alice	2.0	USA	2368	GM Dzagnidze, Nana	2.0	GEO	2506
2	GM Krush, Irina	2.0	USA	2415	GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra	2.0	SUI	2501
3	GM Muzychuk, Mariya	2.5	UKR	2510	GM Dronavalli, Harika	2.5	IND	2489
4	IM Zatonskih, Anna	0.5	USA	2327	GM Paehtz, Elisabeth	1.5	GER	2457
5	GM Muzychuk, Anna	2.0	UKR	2505	GM Tan, Zhongyi	3.0	CHN	2540

Details

Schedule

Every day Round starts at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Only rest day is on Tuesday 18th June 2024.

Thursday	6/13/24	13:00:00	Round 1
Friday	6/14/24	13:00:00	Round 2
Saturday	6/15/24	13:00:00	Round 3
Sunday	6/16/24	13:00:00	Round 4
Monday	6/17/24	13:00:00	Round 5
Tuesday	6/18/24	All Day	Rest Day
Wednesday	6/19/24	13:00:00	Round 6
Thursday	6/20/24	13:00:00	Round 7
Friday	6/21/24	13:00:00	Round 8
Saturday	6/22/24	13:00:00	Round 9
Sunday	6/23/24	13:00:00	Playoff (if necessary)

Total prize fund

The total prize fund is US$ 200000.

Place	Prize
1st	$50,000
2nd	$40,000
3rd	$30,000
4th	$20,000
5th	$15,000
6th	$11,000
7th	$10,000
8th	$9,000
9th	$8,000
10th	$7,000

Format

It is a round-robin event with a Classical time control.

Links

Official site

Tournament details

Saint Louis Chess Club: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube

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