Yip Claims the Cairns Cup

American IMs Carissa Yip and Alice Lee found themselves in a final round showdown to decide the winner of the Cairns Cup. Yip led the tournament at 5.5/8, ahead of Lee in solo second at 5/8, and the pairings aligned to put their destinies in their own hands.

Yip, playing White, thus only needed a draw to win the tournament. Her opening choice, the Scotch Four Knights, tends to have a nagging edge for the first player, but she got even better.

Lee opted for 18. …Bg7? over 18. …Bd6, allowing 19. Bh7+ to pick up the Black queen. 19. …Kxh7 20. Rxd8 Rexd8 leads to the following position.

White logically retreated the rook, 21. Re2?!, though the machine likes leaving it there and safeguarding the queenside with 21. b3!, and turning to 21. …Bxe5 22. Qe4+ and Qxe5. Either way, her advantage is sizeable.

There were only small mistakes made for a long time after that, as they played out the odd material imbalance. Yip held all the winning chances in a queen vs. rook and bishop endgame, and while she did not convert, she did end up with an easy perpetual check, a peaceful game result, and a Cairns Cup victory.

Harika Dronavalli ended in third place at 5/9, and four players were tied at 50% (4.5/9). The games can be viewed on Lichess, and the 9th round livestream on the Saint Louis Chess Club Youtube channel.