Alice Lee Takes Sole Lead On Perfect 2/2

IM Alice Lee, the youngest and lowest-rated player in the Cairns Cup 2025, won again in round two and leads with a perfect score. With the black pieces, she defeated GM Mariya Muzychuk. In the other decisive game, GM Nana Dzagnidze recovered from round one's loss by scoring against GM-elect Bibisara Assaubayeva. 

We saw draws in GM Tan Zhongyi vs. GM Koneru Humpy (an incredibly complex game), IM Alina Kashlinskaya vs. IM Carissa Yip, and GM Nino Batsiashvili vs. GM Harika Dronavalli.

Round three starts on Thursday, June 12, at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CEST / 10:30 p.m. IST.

Lee is off to an early, sole lead with a perfect score. She'll be put to the test in round three, however, when she faces the other player who won: Dzagnidze.

Cairns Cup Standings After Round 2

Muzychuk 0-1 Lee

Lee is on fire, now scoring her second win and doing it with the black pieces. The second win was "kind of like surprising" even for her, she said, explaining that "this game I was just hoping to hold." Last year, she played Muzychuk and "was completely crushed. So this game was like, okay, if I draw, I'm pretty happy, but a win is better!" 

If I draw, I'm pretty happy, but a win is better!

—Alice Lee 

After losing in the previous round, Muzychuk went for a solid approach against the Sicilian Defense. With the Moscow Variation, she traded a set of minor pieces and established a Maroczy Bind. We would expect a slower, maneuvering game, but Lee had other plans.

Although Lee's maneuver of ...Qa5-g5 was initially dubious, the game continuation justified her choice. By the time she played 22...e5!, White was clearly under pressure, evidenced by the fact that Muzychuk thought for 30 minutes here. Lee explained, "We got into a pretty complex position and somehow I had this moment where I could break through with this move ...e5," and added, "I don't think she expected the move at all and then her position just became very difficult to play."

The next move, Muzychuk was hit by the temporary piece sacrifice 23...Bxe4!, and Lee even got to sacrifice her queen (temporarily, again). It was a beautiful and well-calculated attack, analyzed as our Game of the Day by GM Rafael Leitao.

Dzagnidze 1-0 Assaubayeva

In a Slav Defense middlegame, Dzagnidze found a nice tactical operation, starting with the faux-sacrifice 20.Nxd5!, after which she had pressure with the unopposed bishop on the light squares. The advantage slipped at some point, but Assaubayeva's 32...Nc7?, played with 17 seconds left, dropped a pawn. Dzagnidze converted that advantage in the endgame of queen and knight vs. queen and bishop.

The Georgian grandmaster is back on 50 percent after losing in round one against Humpy. She said of that loss, "It was a very tough game versus Koneru... I had two moments where I could get an almost winning position." But, happier after round two, she said, "Generally, it's never easy to start a tournament, to get in shape takes time."

Generally, it's never easy to start a tournament, to get in shape takes time.

—Nana Dzagnidze

Tan ½-½ Humpy

Tan vs. Humpy quickly became one of the most complicated games of the day, but it cooled down just as quickly as it heated up. While the opposite-color bishop dynamic meant White had very serious winning chances at some point in the middlegame, when the heavy pieces got traded the game fizzled out.

It's the kind of game where both players might be upset with a draw. Humpy said, "I felt I had a big advantage and then I missed it," adding that her 15...Qh4 led to a "problematic position," even if it was objectively sound. The players generally navigated the chaos with commendable accuracy, though Tan was winning for exactly one move—the same move she decided to trade queens and steer to a draw. 

The winning move was 24.Qh2!, which Humpy did see but misevaluated. It turns out after 24...Qd4 25.Qg3! (the move she missed or misevaluated), the queen steps out of the way, the white king is safe, and the black bishop is hopelessly out of play.

We saw nearly perfect draws in the other two games, with 98 accuracy by all four players. 

Kashlinskaya ½-½ Yip

In the rook endgame that arose from the Ruy Lopez Opening (Zaitsev Variation), Kashlinskaya could have perhaps drawn more easily with 39.Rf6, the commentators pointed out, but she was never in any objective trouble. Yip won a pawn, but she never had any advantage.

Batsiashvili ½-½ Harika

Batsiashvili vs. Harika was another solid and accurate game, this time in the Queen's Gambit Declined. Batsiashvili said, "All the game I was thinking I'm a little bit better and somehow she held it." She suggested that maybe she could have avoided trading into an endgame to get more chances, but also concluded, "I could not find anything more interesting, I don't know why." It was a straightforward draw.

Will Lee score another win in her game against Dzagnidze, or will the others catch up? That'll be the big question as we look forward to round three on Thursday.

The 2025 Cairns Cup, taking place from June 10-20 in St. Louis, is one of the strongest women's tournaments in the world. The event is a 10-player round-robin with a classical time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. The event features a $250,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

• Round 1: All-Decisive Round Ends With 5 Early Leaders