IM Carissa Yip emerged as the winner of the 2025 Cairns Cup, completing a GM norm and taking home $65,000 for her first-place finish.
The fifth edition of the elite women’s super-tournament took place in Saint Louis, at the World Chess Hall of Fame, from June 8–21. The Cairns Cup shares its format with other prestigious events like the illustrious Sinquefield Cup: a ten-player round-robin played with classical time control. This year’s edition featured a $250,000 prize fund—the largest in the event’s history.
As expected, it was a tightly contested competition that came down to the wire. GM Humpy Koneru, IM Harika Dronavalli, and IM Alice Lee started strong and shared the lead through Round 6, when Alice Lee lost to IM Bibisara Assaubayeva and Humpy Koneru defeated Harika to pull ahead.
However, Koneru’s sole lead was short-lived. In the next round, Carissa Yip—who had started the tournament with a loss—scored a crucial win over Koneru to catch up. Meanwhile, Alice Lee outplayed Alina Kashlinskaya to join the leading duo.
In Round 8, Lee drew with Dronavalli, Koneru was defeated by Nino Batsiashvili, and Yip beat Assaubayeva to surge ahead. Heading into the final round as the sole leader with 5.5/8, Yip achieved a winning position against her closest competitor, Lee, but the game eventually ended in a draw, securing Yip the title.
Lee finished second with 5.5/9, while Dronavalli completed the podium with 5/9 after Koneru lost her final-round game against Mariya Muzychuk.
Photos: Saint Louis Chess Club / Crystal Fuller and Lennart Ootes