American Duo Lee, Yip Topple Leaders
After yet another shakeup at the Cairns Cup 2025, we have three leaders: GM Koneru Humpy, IM Carissa Yip, and IM Alice Lee. Yip defeated Humpy, while Lee took down second-place IM Alina Kashlinskaya.
All three draws featured a winning advantage for one side, but one that wasn't realized. GM Harika Dronavalli missed a chance against GM-elect Bibisara Assaubayeva, GM Nana Dzagnidze against GM Mariya Muzychuk, and GM Nino Batsiashvili against GM Tan Zhongyi.
Round eight starts on Wednesday, June 18, at 1 p.m. ET / 19:00 CEST / 10:30 p.m. IST.
Humpy now shares the lead with the two Americans, Yip and Lee.
Cairns Cup Standings After Round 7
Yip 1-0 Humpy
Judging by the sharp middlegame, where Black sacrificed a pawn, you'd be hard-pressed to guess that it came out of the usually solid Berlin Defense. Humpy sacrificed a pawn on b7, and play became incredibly sharp, with White having to think about defending against constant checkmate threats. Yip explained that she was still in her preparation until 18...Be5.
Both sides navigated the complications more or less without any mistakes, until move 27, when we saw mutual blunders. First Lee, who was much better, blundered into a worse position, and then Humpy, after thinking for less than a minute, blundered a piece.
Still, for the quality of most of the game and its implication for the tournament, it's our Game of the Day. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes it below.
Yip said, "This win is, I think, a very important one, I'm kind of back in the running in the tournament." After starting with a loss in round one, she is now in the shared lead after scoring her third win in a row—and her fourth win in the tournament. She'll have Black against Assaubayeva in the next round, but she'll face her friend Lee with White in the last.
Lee 1-0 Kashlinskaya
Lee won her first-ever game against Kashlinskaya, and this result allowed her and Yip to join the lead. In an unintentional sense, the two Americans helped each other out.
Lee explained, "Today, going into this game, I really did want to win because, I mean, in order to get a norm I sort of have to win this game, or score plus-two in the last three," later summarizing: "to win this game is very important for my tournament."
... to win this game is very important for my tournament.
—Alice Lee
Lee guessed that she caught her opponent out of book quite early in the game and then said of the rest: "It was quite balanced but not really dry for a while, but then I started getting this play with b4 and e5 in the center and I thought her position became quite hard and eventually it just completely fell apart." Indeed, 20...Rf6?? was the losing move that allowed Lee the attack she got.
Harika ½-½ Assaubayeva
After losing yesterday's game and dropping out of the lead, Harika missed a big chance to bounce back. Had she won this game, she would have been in the four-way tie at the top.
She took advantage of Black's mistake, 24...exd6?, finding the best and only move 25.Rc1!. But when she did reach a winning position, it was a matter of finding the correct order of moves. 28.Nxd6? led to liquidation into an equal rook endgame, while 28.bxc5 would have won a pawn and the game.
Muzychuk ½-½ Dzagnidze
Dzagnidze's advantage went from large to winning after the move 27.Rb8?, but only 27...Ng5! got the job done. Black would have broken through in the center. However, after one slow move, 27...Qa2?, the entire advantage slipped, and it was even Black who had to fight for the draw. Ultimately, the game ended in peace—a good save for Dzagnidze, but it was also a game she probably expected to win.
Batsiashvili ½-½ Tan
Batsiashvili said of her game, "I was thinking I have a better position because my structure is better and she has no dark-squared bishop." She indeed had a decisive advantage, according to the engine, right out of the opening. At two points, bringing her knight to h3, and not e2, would have been the best course of action. She said she hadn't considered the idea during the game, though she completely understood its strength in the interview.
After 18.Bb5+?!, Black found the strong idea of 18...Kd8 and bringing the king to the queenside. White tried to make some sort of attack happen, but after sacrificing a knight, she decided to repeat moves, the position being equal by that point anyway.
There are two rounds left. Yip is the only leader who will have the black pieces in round eight, against Assaubayeva. It's a big opportunity for Harika to catch up, even if she has Black against Lee, while Humpy will have the white pieces against Batsiashvili, who's in last place.
How to review?
You can review the round's broadcast on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube or Twitch channels. The games can also be reviewed from our dedicated 2025 Cairns Cup events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by the all-women team of FM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, IMs Nazi Paikidze, Almira Skripchenko, and WGM Katerina Nemcova.
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 6: Humpy Leads After All-Decisive Round 6
- Round 5: Yip Grinds Out 2nd Win; 3 Leaders Remain
- Round 4: Humpy, Harika Catch Lee In Shared Lead
- Round 3: Yip Picks Up 1st Win
- Round 2: Alice Lee Takes Sole Lead On Perfect 2/2
- Round 1: All-Decisive Round Ends With 5 Early Leaders
