Cairns Cup R3: Dzagnidze Leads
GM Nana Dzagnidze is the only player on 2,5 points after three rounds at the Cairns Cup in St. Louis after beating WGM Carissa Yip on Sunday. Harika Dronavalli and Valentina Gunina also won their games.
You can follow the tournament here as part of our live portal. Chess.com is offering a daily, live commentary broadcast with GM Robert Hess, IM Hans Niemann, GM Roeland Pruijssers and WFM Anna Cramling on Chess.com/tv. The rounds start at 1 p.m. local time which is 11 a.m. Pacific and 20:00 Central European Time, with rounds on Feb. 7-11 and 13-16.
The official broadcast has WGM Jennifer Shahade, GM Yasser Seirawan, and GM Alejandro Ramirez, and there's a Russian-language broadcast with IM Almira Skripchenko and WGM Anastasiya Karlovich, on www.uschesschamps.com.
Four players were sharing the lead after two rounds, but only one of them scored the full point. This also meant that Yip, the youngest IM-elect in American history since last October, is still on zero points.
After trying the King's Indian the other day, Yip's Hippopotamus Defense was an even more daring choice and Dzagnidze's treatment with the white pieces was exemplary. It was only that she missed a few killer blows that the game didn't end earlier.
Harika Dronavalli scored her first win, at the expense of Alexandra Kosteniuk. The Russian GM was outplayed in the middlegame, where she had a tactical solution at one moment to change the course of the game.
In a game where both players were seeking their first win, Irina Krush spoiled a massive advantage in timetrouble. It was Gunina, who said she has been suffering from jetlag, who ended up scoring her first win.
The fourth round will be played on Monday, starting at 1 p.m. local time which is 11 a.m. Pacific and 20:00 Central European Time. The tournament is a 10-player round-robin with a prize fund of $180,000.
Round 3 games
Previous reports:
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