In the sixth round of the women's super tournament Cairns Cup-2026, held in St. Louis (USA), Kazakh grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva, playing black, drew her game against American international master Carissa Yip. The encounter ended in a rare outcome for serious chess competitions: only two kings remained on the board, reports infohub.kz.
In the endgame, Assaubayeva made desperate attempts to promote one of her two pawns, but the white bishop and king managed to hold the draw. On move 59, pieces were traded off, and the opponents, left with only kings, agreed to a draw.
Meanwhile, another American participant, international master Alice Lee, scored a win with black over Indian player Humpy Koneru and pulled ahead of the chasing group led by Assaubayeva. Before the final three rounds, the leader is Tan Zhongyi of China, the 16th Women's World Champion (2017–2018).
After two consecutive games with black, the Kazakh player will finally have white in the next round. To contend for a prize, Assaubayeva needs to beat Stavroula Tsolakidou. The Greek international master, like Bibisara, has not lost in St. Louis so far.
The prestigious women's super tournament Cairns Cup, with a prize fund of $250,000, is taking place in the Mecca of American chess, St. Louis, Missouri. The tournament is named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, co-founder of the St. Louis Chess Club and a member of the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Ten players, who received personal invitations from the organizers, compete in a round-robin format. The time control is classical: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes to the end of the game, plus 30 seconds per move starting from move one.
In parallel, the men's tournament, the Sinquefield Cup-2026, also named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, is underway in St. Louis. The competition, with a prize fund of $475,000, features Javokhir Sindarov, a contender for the chess crown and boyfriend of our Assaubayeva. After a rest day, the Uzbek player, playing white, drew with American Fabiano Caruana, the tournament's rating favorite. The draw was recorded on move 42.