6th Cairns Cup: Divya escapes jaws of defeat against Carissa

By admin August 14, 2026 0 comments

GM Zhongyi Tan defeated GM R Vaishali in Round 4 to emerge sole leader at 6th Cairns Cup 2026.

Zhongyi emerges sole leader, Kosteniuk loses four in-a-row

The 12th Women’s World Champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk’s (SUI) tough form continues. She suffered her fourth loss in-a-row, this time against GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ). GM Divya Deshmukh escaped a loss against the defending champion, IM Carissa Yip (USA) who missed all her opprtunities in a winning knight endgame. GM Humpy Koneru drew against GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR). GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) gained sole lead 3.5/4, with a victory over GM R Vaishali. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE) handed IM Alice Lee (USA) her first loss of the event. Bibisara, Divya, Stavroula and Alice are trailing the sole leader by a full point at 2.5/4 each.

Stavroula – Alice

Position after 20.Nf6+!

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE, 2433) found a nice attack 20.Nf6+! gxf6 as there were no better choice 21.exf6 h6 22.Bxf5 Rxd1+ 23.Qxd1 exf5?? IM Alice Lee (USA, 2430) had to play 23…Qxb2 and try to get rid of the f6-pawn immediately. Allowing that pawn to stay there as a wedge longer caused Black’s undoing.

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (GRE) scored her first win and handed IM Alice Lee (USA) her first loss of the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

Carissa – Divya: 0.5-0.5

The only Classical rated game between IM Carissa Yip (USA, 2459) and GM Divya Deshmukh (2490) ended in a draw at the last Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary. This time, the defending champion was completely winning in the knight endgame.

Position after 54…b4

White miscalculated and played 55.Nxc5? which was unnecessary. White just simply needed to push her passed pawns on the kingside 55.cxb4 Kg8 56.g6 c4 57.h6 c3 58.h7+ Kh8 59.Ng5 c2 60.Nf7+ Kg7 61.h8Q+ and the queen will capture the c2-pawn with a check soon. 55…Nxc5 56.cxb4 Ne6 now 57.g6+ Kh6 58.b5 is still winning for White. However, 57.Kg4?? Nd4 allowed Black to get back in the game and it ended in a draw.

IM Carissa Yip (USA) missed a few good chances to win against GM Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

GM Humpy Koneru – GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

Zhongyi – Vaishali: 1-0

GM R Vaishali (2489) has played eleven Classical rated games against the 16th Women’s World Champion, GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN, 2520). Zhongyi won four, Vaishali won two and the remaining five ended in draws. In a sharp and difficult position, Vaishali chose the incorrect way to give up an exchange.

Position after 30.Qg3

30…Ng6 31.gxf5 Bh4 is how Black needed to proceed. It was certainly not easy to find or calculate. So she played the natural 30…Rxb2?? 31.Rxb2+- Rxc4 32.Rb7 Qd8 33.gxf5+ Kh8 34.Rab1 Rc3 35.Qg4 Bd4 36.Kh1 Bc2 37.Rb8 exf5 38.Qh5 Qe7 39.Re8 Qf6 40.Rb7 and it’s over.

GM Zhongyi Tan (CHN) gained sole lead with a win over GM R Vaishali | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

Round 4 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay live stream

Replay Round 4 live commentary by IMs Nazi Paikidze (USA) and Almira Skripchenko (FRA) | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 4 games

Schedule and Format

There will be one round per day from 10th to 19th August. Rest day is on 15th August. Round 1 starts at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.