Koneru Wins to Share Cairns Lead with Ju Wenjun

Humpy Koneru grabbed a share of the lead in Round 6 of the 2020 Cairns Cup. Her win over Alexandra Kosteniuk leaves her at 4/6, tied with Ju Wenjun. Ju drew with Harika Dronavalli.

courtesy STLCC

Koneru's victory resembled the proverbial drawing of water from a stone, winning what looked like a dead drawn knight and pawn ending. 51. ... Nf5 may have sealed Kosteniuk's fate.

Kosteniuk resigns. (photo Ootes)

[pgn] [Event "2nd Cairns Cup 2020"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2020.02.13"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Koneru, Humpy"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2580"] [BlackElo "2504"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2020.02.07"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd2 b6 7. Rc1 Ba6 8. Qa4 Qe7 9. a3 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 Ne4 11. Be2 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Bb7 14. Be2 Rc8 15. Qc2 c5 16. dxc5 Rxc5 17. Rxc5 Qxc5 18. Qxc5 bxc5 19. Bb5 Na6 20. Ke2 Nc7 21. Bd3 Nd5 22. Rc1 Rc8 23. Nd2 Nb6 24. f3 Kf8 25. Nc4 Bd5 26. Na5 c4 27. Bb1 e5 28. e4 Be6 29. Ba2 Ke7 30. b3 cxb3 31. Rxc8 Nxc8 32. Bxb3 Bxb3 33. Nxb3 Kd6 34. Kd3 Nb6 35. Kc3 Na4+ 36. Kb4 Nb2 37. Kb5 Nd1 38. Nd2 Nc3+ 39. Kb4 Ne2 40. Nc4+ Ke6 41. Kb5 g6 42. Ka6 f5 43. Kxa7 fxe4 44. fxe4 Nc3 45. Kb6 Nxe4 46. Ne3 Nc3 47. Kc5 Ne4+ 48. Kb5 Nd6+ 49. Kc5 Ne4+ 50. Kb4 Nd6 51. Nc4 Nf5 (51... Nb7) 52. Kc5 h5 53. Nd2 Nd6 54. a4 Nb7+ 55. Kc6 Nd8+ 56. Kc7 Ke7 57. a5 Ne6+ 58. Kc6 Kd8 59. a6 Kc8 60. a7 Nd4+ 61. Kb6 1-0 [/pgn]

The only other win of the round belonged to Carissa Yip, who took down last year's champion, Valentina Gunina.

[pgn] [Event "2nd Cairns Cup 2020"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2020.02.13"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Yip, Carissa"] [Black "Gunina, Valentina"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B04"] [WhiteElo "2412"] [BlackElo "2461"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2020.02.07"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 c6 6. Be2 Bf5 7. O-O Nd7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Nd3 e5 10. Re1 Be7 11. Nxb4 Bxb4 12. Bd2 Qa5 13. Nc3 exd4 14. a3 Bxc3 15. Bg4+ Be6 16. Bxe6 O-O-O 17. bxc3 dxc3 18. Bxc3 Qxc3 19. Rc1 Qxa3 20. Bh3 g6 21. Ra1 Qc5 22. Qb3 f5 23. Reb1 Nb6 24. Rxa7 Rd7 25. g3 Kb8 26. Ra2 Qxc4 27. Qa3 Rhd8 28. Qa7+ Kc8 29. Raa1 Nd5 30. Qa8+ Kc7 31. Rxb7+ Kd6 32. Rxd7+ Rxd7 33. Qb8+ Ke7 34. Re1+ Kf6 35. Qe8 Re7 36. Qh8+ Rg7 37. Bxf5 Qc3 38. Qf8+ Kg5 39. h4+ Kh6 40. Re6 Qa1+ 41. Kg2 Qa7 42. Be4 Qd7 43. Qf5 Qd8 44. Rxc6 Ne3+ 45. fxe3 Qd2+ 46. Qf2 Rd7 47. Qxd2 Rxd2+ 48. Kf3 Rd1 49. Rc7 Rf1+ 50. Ke2 Rf8 51. g4 Rh8 52. Rf7 Rg8 53. g5+ Kh5 54. Rf4 1-0 [/pgn]

The remaining three games - Ju-Dronavalli, Lagno-Dzagnidze, and Muzychuk-Krush, were all drawn. Play resumes today at 1pm CST with the seventh round. Koneru takes Black against Irina Krush, and Ju also has Black against Nana Dzagnidze.