Lee impresses, but Tan takes the top prize in chess at hard-fought Cairns Cup

Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi made a powerful statement ahead of her world title match next year against reigning women’s world champion GM Ju Wenjun, capturing the 4th Cairns Cup over an elite field of female rivals at the St. Louis Chess Club last week.

Tan, looking to reclaim the women’s title that she held from 2027 to 2018, was undefeated at 6-3, finishing a half-point ahead of Ukraine’s GM Anna Muzychuk.

Fourteen-year-old IM Alice Lee, the rising superstar of the American women’s chess scene, scored a credible 4-5 at Cairns, tying eight-time U.S. women’s champ GM Irina Krush. Lee stumbled out of the gate with a Round 1 loss to the vastly more experienced Tan, but would bounce back with a nice win over another former women’s world champion later in the event.

Tan’s modest Queen’s Fianchetto Defense is a sensible choice against her far less experienced opponent, and with the appearance of what GM Joel Benjamin calls the “snake bishop” — 5…Bd6!? — awaiting its marching orders, the opening produces a taut positional struggle.

After 14. Bg3 (Lee eschews the more provocative 14. Nxg5!? hxg5 15. Bxg5 Re8 16. Qd4 Kg7 17. Rae1, with credible compensation for the sacrificed piece) Bxg3 15. hxg3 Nfxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Nd4, Black has won a pawn but White has good pressure and a target in Tan’s isolated and exposed d-pawn.

Black shows her strategic chops on 21. Nd4 (again resisting a more forceful alternative in 21. Nd6!? Qxb2, which could lead to entertaining lines such as 22. Rb1 Qxa3 23. Qd4 Qa2 24. Rb2 Qd5 25. Qf5 Qxd6 26. Qxh6 f5 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qh6+ with a perpetual check) Bc4 22. Re1 Rfe8 23. Qd2 Kf8! (Black rightly refuses to cede the e-file, and her king turns out to be perfectly safe despite the move toward the center) 24. Nf5?! (Lee’s first real misstep of the game; better was 24. Rad1 Rxe1+ 25. Qxe1 Re8 26. Qc3 d5 27. f3, and the fight goes on) d5! (and not 24…Qxb2?? 25. Qd6+ Kg8 26. Qxh6 Qh8 27. Ne7+! Rxe7 28. Qxg5+ Qg7 29. Qxe7) 25. g4? (and here, 25. Rab1 was indicated) Qxb2 26. Nxh6 — Black’s kingside appears on the verge of collapse, but Tan now neatly picks her way through the tactical minefield.

Thus: 26…Ne4! (guarding the g-pawn and disrupting the flow of White’s attack) 27. Qd1 Nc3 28. Qf3 Ne2+ 29. Kh2 (Rxe2 Qxa1+ 30. Kh2 Qg7 defends) Nf4 30. g3 Be2! (Black repeatedly finds the only defensive idea that preserves her edge) 31. Qb3 (Rxe2 Rxe2 32. gxf4 Rxc2 33. Rf1 Qf6 and Black is winning) Qxb3 32. Bxb3 Nd3 33. Bxd5 Rad8 34. Bxf7 Nxe1 35. Rxe1 Re7, and White must lose material; e.g., 36. Bh5 Bf3 37. Rb1 Re2 38. Rf1 Rdd2 39. Kg1 Re5 40. Nf5 Rxf5 41. gxf5 Bxh5.

After 43. f3 b5 44. Rc3 (fxg4 Rh8 mate) a5, Black is up a full piece for a pawn and the end is in sight. White struggles on, but after 59. Rg2 Kg6, the White g-pawn will soon fall and there will be no reason to play on. Lee resigned.

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Lee improved on that performance with a win over another storied (and higher-rated) veteran three rounds later, taking down Russian-born Swiss former women’s world champ GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in a Petroff’s which featured attacks on both wings against besieged kings.

With the kings castled in opposite directions, Kosteniuk as White gets in the first blow on 11. Ng5 h6 12. Bc4! Be6 (hxg5?! 13. hxg5 Be6 14. Rh2!, and if 14… Bxc4?, White crashes through with 15. Rdh1 f5 16. g6) 13. Nxe6 Nxe6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Kb1 — the first wave of attack has been beaten off, but White still has a clear initiative while it seems Lee’s queenside play is nowhere to be seen.

But now White seems to dawdle as her young opponent rushes to rewrite the narrative: 18. c4 Rb8! (better late than never, Black hustles to open some queenside attacking lines) 19. Be3 b5 20. cxb5?! (giving Black the half-open file without a fight; better was 20. c5 d5 21. g4, returning to her kingside attacking plans) Rxb5 21. c4 Rb4 22. Qc2 c5 23. g4 (several moves too late) Qa6, and now White faces the difficult psychological chore of defending when she had hoped to be on the attack.

Lee conducts the final assault here with impressive precision: 24. b3? (plowing ahead with 24. g5 Qxc4 25. Qxc4 Rxc4 26. gxh6 was indicated, as the game remains unbalanced after 26…gxh6 27. Bxh6 Rxf2 28. Rdg1+) d5! 25. cxd5 c4!, correctly judging that open lines are more important than material considerations in this position.

Black’s army flows to the point of attack with remarkable speed: 27. Rh3?! (trying to enlist the rook in the defense, but it only becomes another target here) Qe6! 28. Rg3 Bd6 29. f4 Rc7 30. gxh6 cxb3 31. Qg6 bxa2+ 32. Ka1 (see diagram); White has ginned up strong pressure on the g-file and offers a queen trade to de-fang the Black attack, but Lee has prepared a knockout blow.

After 32…Be5+! 33. Kxa2 (fxe5 Qxe5+ 34. Bd4 Rxd4 35. Rxd4 Qxd4+ 36. Kxa2 Qd2+ 37. Kc3 Qc1+ and White’s king will soon be run to ground) Rb2+ 34. Ka1 (Ka3 Qe7+) Rd2+ 35. fxe5 Qxe5+, White gave it up as it’s over on 36. Bd4 (Kb1 Qb2 mate) Qxd4+ 37. Rc3 Qxc3+ 38. Kb1 Qb2 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Lee-Tan, 4th Cairns Cup, St. Louis, June 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. a3 e6 5. d5 Bd6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. e4 exd5 8. exd5 c6 9. Be2 cxd5 10. cxd5 Na6 11. O-O Nc7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Bg3 Bxg3 15. hxg3 Nfxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Nd4 Qf6 18. Bd3 Ne6 19. Nf5 Nc5 20. Bc2 Be6 21. Nd4 Bc4 22. Re1 Rfe8 23. Qd2 Kf8 24. Nf5 d5 25. g4 Qxb2 26. Nxh6 Ne4 27. Qd1 Nc3 28. Qf3 Ne2+ 29. Kh2 Nf4 30. g3 Be2 31. Qb3 Qxb3 32. Bxb3 Nd3 33. Bxd5 Rad8 34. Bxf7 Nxe1 35. Rxe1 Re7 36. Nf5 Kxf7 37. Nxe7 Bf3 38. Nf5 Rh8+ 39. Nh4 gxh4 40. Kh3 Rg8 41. Re3 Bxg4+ 42. Kxh4 Kf6 43. f3 b5 44. Rc3 a5 45. Rc6+ Be6 46. g4 Rh8+ 47. Kg3 Rb8 48. f4 Ke7 49. f5 Bd5 50. Rc2 b4 51. axb4 axb4 52. Kf4 b3 53. Rb2 Kd6 54. g5 Rb4+ 55. Ke3 Ke5 56. Kd3 Kxf5 57. Kc3 Rf4 58. Rd2 Bf7 59. Rg2 Kg6 White resigns.

Kosteniuk-Lee, 4th Cairns Cup, St. Louis, June 2024

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. h4 Re8 11. Ng5 h6 12. Bc4 Be6 13. Nxe6 Nxe6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Kb1 Rf8 16. Qe3 Qc8 17. Qe4 Rf7 18. c4 Rb8 19. Be3 b5 20. cxb5 Rxb5 21. c4 Rb4 22. Qc2 c5 23. g4 Qa6 24. b3 d5 25. cxd5 c4 26. g5 exd5 27. Rh3 Qe6 28. Rg3 Bd6 29. f4 Rc7 30. gxh6 cxb3 31. Qg6 bxa2+ 32. Ka1 Be5+ 33. Kxa2 Rb2+ 34. Ka1 Rd2+ 35. fxe5 Qxe5+ White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.