Fifth Cairns Cup Begins Tuesday in St. Louis

Cairns Cup Preview

The fifth edition of the Cairns Cup kicks off this week at the Saint Louis Chess Club (SLCC). The strongest invitational in the world annually highlights top names in women’s chess, and this year is no exception: three of the players enter the tournament with spots in the top 10 of the world rankings, and five more competitors are in the top 20. A $250,000 prize fund is on the line.

Rounds begin daily at 12:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday June 10 (with the exception of the rest day on Sunday, June 15), with the final round concluding on Thursday, June 19. The nine-round Round Robin boasts a $250,000 prize fund, including a $60,000 prize for first. Playoffs, if needed, will be held at the same time on Friday, June 20, with the $5,000 Winners Bonus going to the victor.

SLCC will be streaming live coverage of each round on their YouTube channel, with commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, IMs Nazi Paikidze & Almira Skripchenko, and move-by-move analysis by WGM Katerina Nemcova.

Meet this year's players below:

Tan Zhongyi after her 2024 Cairns Cup victory (Photo courtesy of Crystal Fuller/SLCC)

GM Tan Zhongyi

The reigning Cairns Cup champion posted a dominant 6/9 in her first Cairns Cup appearance. The former Women’s World Champion has rebounded nicely since her loss in the Women’s World Championship earlier this year, with solid results at both the TePe Sigeman 2025 invitational and in the most recent leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix. That last event pushed her ahead of Humpy in the live rankings, and she is now fourth in the world.

Humpy Koneru during her victorious 2020 Cairns Cup campaign (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

GM Humpy Koneru

The 2020 Cairns Cup champion is back for her third Cairns Cup appearance after her 2023 competition was cut short due to health issues. The 38-year-old veteran has been in good form recently, winning the 2024 FIDE World Women’s Rapid Championship five years after her first victory in that event. Humpy is still ranked fifth in the world in classical, as well.

Nana Dzagnidze during the 2024 Cairns Cup (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

GM Nana Dzagnidze

One of two Georgian competitors in this year’s tournament, Dzagnidze is also one of only two competitors this year to have competed in all previous Cairns Cups. Last year, Dzagnidze posted her best-ever finish, tying for third with a 5/9 score. Dzagnidze enters as the highest-rated of the five competitors ranked between 11 and 20th in the world, coming in at 11th.

Photo courtesy of the organizers

GM-Elect Bibisara Assaubayeva

This is Assaubayeva’s first invitation to the Cairns Cup. The 21-year-old from Kazakhstan was the FIDE World Women’s Blitz Champion in both 2021 and 2022 when she was still an IM. Earlier this year, she crossed the 2500 threshold in classical chess to become eligible for the grandmaster title. She broke this threshold in style, gaining 15 points for her 5/9 score against nine grandmasters in the Sharjah Masters tournament last month. Currently ranked 10th in the world in the live rankings, she joins Tan and Humpy as the third top 10 player in the event.

Mariya Muzychuk during the 2024 Cairns Cup (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

GM Mariya Muzychuk

The two-time former Women’s World Champion is back for her third Cairns Cup after tying for third in both 2024 and 2020 with 5/9 scores. She currently sits at 12th in the world rankings.

Harika Dronavalli is one of two players to have played in every iteration of the Cairns Cup (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

GM Harika Dronavalli

Like Dzagnidze, Harika has competed in all four previous editions of the Cairns Cup. The 34-year-old veteran, who is currently ranked 13th in the world, tied with Dzagnidze (and Muzychuk, as well as GM Alexandra Kosteniuk) for third last year with a 5/9 score. Again, like Dzagnidze, this was her highest finish in the standings. It was also Harika’s first time finishing the event with a positive score.

Photo courtesy of the organizers

IM Alina Kashlinskaya

IM Alina Kashlinskaya is playing her first Cairns Cup. The 31-year-old Polish international master’s resume includes a first-place finish in the 2019 European Women’s Championship, and, more recently a first-place finish in the first leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix that boosted her to 20th in the world rankings. She held several competitors in this year’s Cairns Cup to a draw and notched a victory against Muzychuk in that tournament, so she is certainly one to look out for.

Photo courtesy of the organizers

GM Nino Batsiashvili

Batsiashvili joins Dzagnidze as one of two Georgian participants in this year’s Cairns Cup. This is the 38-year-old’s first time competing in this tournament, but, as a four-time Georgian national champion who has also won individual gold at the 44th FIDE Olympiad (in 2022, on board 2), the world number 19 is no stranger to top competition.

Carissa Yip with her third U.S. Women's Championship trophy (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

IM Carissa Yip

The back-to-back reigning U.S. Women’s Champion is competing in her first Cairns Cup since 2020. The 21-year-old Yip has posted some formidable results recently, most notably her individual gold at the 45th FIDE Olympiad (in 2024, on board 2). In 2020, Yip’s 4/9 score included seven decisive results and only two draws. Similar fireworks should be expected this year from the world number 27.

Alice Lee after her most recent American Cup victory earlier this year (Photo courtesy of Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

IM Alice Lee

The 15-year-old Lee is the reigning back-to-back American Cup champion, and now she is back for her second Cairns Cup after last year’s 4/9 finish in her debut. Despite being the only player in the field not in the world top 50, her wins over IM Anna Zatonskih (the 2023 Cairns Cup champion) and former Women’s World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk point to Lee’s substantial potential, as did her individual bronze medal at last year’s Olympiad.