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Harika Dronavalli set to face World's Best Women at 4th Cairns Cup

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/06/2024

Harika Dronavalli will face the world's best women at 4th Cairns Cup 2024 starting today. Before the round-robin strong Classical tournament begins, for the first time, there was a Women's Ultimate Moves match. You can watch the replay of the live stream with commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan to find out which team won. Harika's opponents will be - Zhongyi Tan (CHN), Mariya Muzychuk (UKR), Nana Dzagnidze (GEO), Anna Muzychuk (UKR), Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI), Harika Dronavalli, Elisabeth Paehtz (GER), Irina Krush (USA), IM Alice Lee (USA) and the defending champion, IM Anna Zatonskih (USA). Round 1 starts today at 1 p.m. local time, 11:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

Strong Women's tournament in Saint Louis, Missouri

Before the beginning of Cairns Cup, for the first time ever, a Women's Ultimate Moves casual team event took place. All ten participants of the tournament along with fifth Women's World Champion - Nona Gaprindashvili (GEO) and IM Nazi Paikidze (USA). It was a best of ten games team event with a time control of 5 minutes + 2 seconds delay. Teammates had to be rotated after every five moves.

First-ever Women's Ultimate Moves match | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

Cairns Cup official logo | Photo: Official site

Teams and rotation order

Team A: Zhongyi Tan, Anna Muzychuk, Harika Dronavalli, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Alice Lee and Anna Zatonskih

Team A watching the match | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

Team B: Mariya Muzychuk, Nana Dzagnidze, Elisabeth Paehtz, Irina Krush, Nona Gaprindashvili and Nazi Paikidze

Team B members enjoy the match as Harika ponders over her next move | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club
2024 Cairns Cup: First-Ever Women's Ultimate Moves! | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Players

FIDE Women's Candidates 2024 winner - GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2540), 15th Women's World Champion - GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR, 2510), 38th Olympiad Gold medalist - GM Nana Dzagnidze (GEO, 2506), World Rapid Women 2014 and World Blitz Women 2014 and 2016 winner - GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2505), 12th Women's World Champion - GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2501), Women's World Championship 2017 Bronze medalist - GM Harika Dronavalli (2489), Germany's first and only female to become a Grandmaster - GM Elisabeth Paehtz (2457), USA's first and only female Grandmaster - GM Irina Krush (2415), Youngest American female to achieve IM title - Alice Lee (2368) and the defending champion - IM Anna Zatonskih (USA, 2327).

Round 1 pairings

TableWhiteScoreFed.RatingBlackScoreFed.RatingResult
1GM Dronavalli, Harika0.0IND2489GM Dzagnidze, Nana0.0GEO2506
2GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra0.0SUI2501GM Paehtz, Elisabeth0.0GER2457
3IM Lee, Alice0.0USA2368GM Tan, Zhongyi0.0CHN2540
4GM Krush, Irina0.0USA2415GM Muzychuk, Anna0.0UKR2505
5GM Muzychuk, Mariya0.0UKR2510IM Zatonskih, Anna0.0USA2327

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.

 

Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, cofounder of Saint Louis Chess Club, announced the Cairns Chess Queens Award, a $100k award for up to five American women who achieve the title of Grandmaster within the next five years. GM Irina Krush became the first American woman to receive this award!

Links

Official site

Tournament details

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


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