Lee shines in early Cairns action

The late, great D.C. chess champion Oscar Shapiro, the oldest player ever to earn the master’s title and still a dangerous pairing in local tournaments well into his 90s, once told me he bore down especially hard when playing against promising junior players zooming up the ratings charts.

“You’ve got to beat them when they’re young,” he confided, “because they’re only going to get better.”

That’s definitely the case with Minnesota WGM Alice Lee, who at the tender age of 15 already has two U.S. junior women’s championships, two women’s Olympiad medals and three World Youth titles in her trophy case.

And now Lee is schooling her elders at the 5th Sinquefield Cup tournament underway at the Chess Club of St. Louis, the premier women’s invitational event in the United States. The youngest lowest-rated entrant in the 10-player international field, Lee is setting the early pace, tied for the lead with veteran Indian GM Humpy Koneru at 3½-1½ through the weekend’s play with four rounds to go.

Lee notched a fine win against Ukrainian GM Mariya Muzychuk in Round 2, finding a temporary queen sacrifice that led to a winning ending against the former women’s world titleholder. Lee as Black plays provocatively in this Rossolimo Sicilian, and the engines say White missed a chance for an advantage after 15. Rc2 Qa5 16. a4 Qg5!?, when 17. e5! dxe5 18. Nf3 Qh5 19. Rxe5 Bf5 20. Rd2 gives Muzychuk a strong positional clamp.

The young American proves sharper in the game’s critical passage than her older, vastly more experienced opponent: 20. f4 a5! 21. b5 Nc5 (White’s queenside play is effectively halted and now Black grabs the initiative) 22. Qe3 e5! (a shot that sent White into a half-hour think) 23. Nde2 Bxe4! (coolly calculated — Black would now be better with an extra pawn after 24. Nxe4 exf4 25. Nxf4 Qf5 26. g4 Qxe4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 Nxe4 29. Nd5 Bd4) 24. Ng3 exf4! 25. Qxf4 (see diagram; White likely missed Black’s concept, expecting something like 25…g5?! 26. Nxh5 gxf4 27. Nxe4 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 Nxe4 29. Nxf4, with a relatively equal game) Bxc2!!.

Lee’s point emerges on 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. Nxh5 Re1+ 28. Kh2 (Kf2  Nd3+ 29. Kg3 Nxf4 30. Nxf4 Rxc1 and wins) Be5, winning back the queen and leaving Black up the exchange and a pawn.

Lee’s boxed-in king after 31. Bh6 makes for a little discomfort, and she sidesteps an amusing knight “perpetual” threat after 33. Nc7, with the idea of 34. Nce8 (threatening 35. Bg7 mate) Ne6 35. Nd6! (threatening 36. Nxf7 mate) Nd8 35. Ne8 Nd8 36. Nde8, etc. But once Black untangles her forces, her extra material and White’s locked-in king make the result inevitable.

Muzychuk’s hopes of using her last asset — the passed h-pawn — are efficiently snuffed out on 47. h4 a3 48. h5 gxh5 49. gxh5 a2 50. h6 a1=Q+! 51. Bxa1 Rc1+, and White resigned as it’s hopeless after 52. Kf2 (Kh2 Rxa1 53. h7 e3! 54. h8=Q Rh1+) Rxa1 53. h7 Rh1.

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Koneru, seeded second behind Cairns 2024 champ Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi, had to work hard for the point in a double-edged battle with Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze in the very first round. Both players had their chances in a sharp struggle before the strong Indian veteran found a way to push her attack through to checkmate.

The Semi-Slav Meran is one of the most heavily explored theoretical minefields in the game, but Dzagnidze as Black still finds a way to get herself into early trouble after 15. Ng5 Qc6 14. Be2 Rd8?! (allowing the White queen a route to join the attack; 14…Be7 was safer and stronger) 15. Qe3! b4 16. Nd1 h6 17. Qh3!, forcing the Black king to serve as an awkward defender of the weak e6 square.

But White’s decision to give up a second pawn to fuel the attack may have been overambitious, as after 25. hxg5 hxg5 26. Qg3, Black missed the strong defensive idea 26…Qd6!, when Black enjoys a sizable positional edge after 27. Qxd6+ Kxd6 28. Nxf6 Nxf6 29. Bxa6+ Bd5 30. Nxg5 Kc6.

Still, the battle is not decided until 26…c4?! 27. Nxf6 Nxf6 (White gets good queenside pressure after after 27…cxb3 28. Nxd7 Kxd7 29. Rxd3+ Kc8 30. Rb3 Bc3 31. Rc1) 28. Bxc4! Qxc4? (the proffered piece was not to be touched; Dzagnidze could fight on with 28…Ne4! 29. Ne5 Rxf1+ 30. Rxf1 Nxg3 31. Nxc6+ Bxc6 32. Bc5+ Ke8 33. hxg3, with chances for both sides) 29. Qd6+, and the Black king’s unfortunate position in the center proves fatal.

It’s over on 29…Kf7 (Ke8 30. Bc5 Kf7 31. Nxg5+ Kg6 31. Nxe6 is overwhelming) 30. Ne5+ Bxe5 31. Qxe5 Kg6 (Black prefers a quick execution to a lingering death; she could fight on a bit with 31…Rh6 32. Bxg5 Qe4), and Dzagnidze resigned before Koneru could run down the Black king with 32. Qxg5+ Kf7 33. Qxf6+ Ke8 (Kg7 34. Qg6 is a nice epaulette mate) 34. Rd8 mate.

The event, which comes with a record prize fund for a women’s event of $250,000, continues through Friday, with a rapid playoff set if there is a tie for first.

Muzychuk-Lee, 5th Cairns Cup, St. Louis, June 2025

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Rc8 9. c4 g6 10. Nc3 Bg7 11. b3 Bd7 12. Bb2 Nf6 13. Rc1 O-O 14. h3 Re8 15. Rc2 Qa5 16. a4 Qg5 17. Bc1 Qh5 18. Qd3 Bc6 19. b4 Nd7 20. f4 a5 21. b5 Nc5 22. Qe3 e5 23. Nde2 Bxe4 24. Ng3 exf4 25. Qxf4 Bxc2 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. Nxh5 Re1+ 28. Kh2 Be5 29. Nf6+ Kh8 30. Qxe5 dxe5 31. Bh6 Bd3 32. Ncd5 Bxc4 33. Nc7 Ne4 34. Ng4 f6 35. Ne8 Kg8 36. Nexf6+ Nxf6 37. Nxf6+ Kf7 38. Nxh7 Re2 39. Kg1 Bb3 40. Ng5+ Ke7 41. Kf1 Rc2 42. Bg7 Bxa4 43. b6 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Bc6 45. g4 e4 46. Bd4 a4 47. h4 a3 48. h5 gxh5 49. gxh5 a2 50. h6 a1=Q+ 51. Bxa1 Rc1+ White resigns.

Koneru-Dzagnidze, 5th Cairns Cup, St. Louis, June 2025

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O a6 10. e4 c5 11. d5 Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Ng5 Qc6 14. Be2 Rd8 15. Qd3 b4 16. Nd1 h6 17. Qh3 Ke7 18. f4 g6 19. Nf2 Bg7 20. Nf3 Nxe4 21. Ng4 Rdf8 22. Be3 Bxb2 23. Rad1 g5 24. Bd3 Nef6 25. fxg5 hxg5 26. Qg3 c4 27. Nxf6 Nxf6 28. Bxc4 Qxc4 29. Qd6+ Kf7 30. Ne5+ Bxe5 31. Qxe5 Kg6 and Black resigns.

• Got a game or a chess tidbit to share? David R. Sands can be reached at davidrsands18@gmail.com.