In the eighth round of the women's super tournament Cairns Cup-2026, held in St. Louis (USA), Kazakh grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva suffered a defeat at the hands of 16th world champion Tan Zhongyi from China, playing with the black pieces. After this round, Assaubayeva shares third place with American Carissa Yip, reports infohub.kz.
The match between 22-year-old Assaubayeva and the leading Tan Zhongyi was crucial for the distribution of places in the tournament standings. The experience of the 35-year-old Chinese player, who held the chess crown in 2017-2018, played a decisive role.
The Kazakh player conducted a sharp counterplay with the black pieces, trying to catch her eminent opponent off guard. Assaubayeva's passed pawn reached the third rank, but the Chinese player's mating threats on the opposite flank proved more significant. In the end, the native of Chongqing secured victory on move 48.
After the defeat, Assaubayeva conceded second place to American Alice Lee, who with the black pieces defeated Indian player Vaishali Rameshbabu, a contender for the world crown.
Assaubayeva shares third place with another American representative, Carissa Yip, who won with the white pieces against Greek Stavroula Tsolakidou. Earlier, Yip and Assaubayeva in their personal encounter played down to bare kings.
In the ninth round, Assaubayeva will play with the white pieces against Indian grandmaster Humpy Koneru. Tan Zhongyi will face Tsolakidou with the black pieces, while Lee and Yip will clash in an American derby.
The prestigious women's super tournament Cairns Cup with a prize fund of $250,000 is taking place in St. Louis, which is called the Mecca of American chess.
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, compete in a round-robin format. The time control is classical. In case of a tie in points, a playoff in the rapid chess format is provided.
In parallel, the men's Sinquefield Cup-2026 is taking place in St. Louis, also named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield. It features Javokhir Sindarov, Assaubayeva's boyfriend, with a prize fund of $475,000. In the eighth round, the Uzbek grandmaster scored his second consecutive victory, as his opponent Jorden van Foreest from the Netherlands resigned on move 56.