St. Louis, Missouri, is currently hosting the 2020 Cairns Cup chess tournament, which began on February 8th and will conclude on February 18th. During the second day of play, out of the ten competing players, two games ended in a stalemate, while the other matches produced clear winners. The field is composed of a global mix of talent: three Russian players, two from the USA, two from India, and one each from China, Ukraine, and Georgia.
The Cairns Cup 2020 for the chess players has begun from 8th February and will continue until 18th Feb 2020. The tournament takes place at St. Louis, Missouri in the USA. On day 2 of the tournament, the 10 players who had paired scored 2 draws and others scored each 1 point in the game. Two contestants from the USA, three from Russia, two Indian players, one Georgian, Ukrainian and Chinese were performing at the Cairns Cup 2020 chess tournament.
For the second round of the tournament, the players were divided into five pairs. To clarify the setup, the first person mentioned in each pair played with the white pieces and the second with the black. This round saw Valentina Gunina and Alexandra Kosteniuk face off in an all-Russian match, while Harika Dronavalli of India competed against Georgia's Nana Dzagnidze. Other pairings included Ju Wenjun from China against Irina Krush of the USA, Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine against Humpy Koneru, and the teenage American phenom Carissa Yip against Russia's Kateryna Lagno.
The event is structured as a round-robin tournament, ensuring that every player competes against every other participant twice. The winner of this year's Cairns Cup will receive a first-place prize of $180,000, marking a 20% increase over the previous tournament's payout.
Indian Grandmaster Humpy Koneru started strong with a victory over Carissa Yip on the first day. However, on February 9th, during the second round, she faced Grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk while playing with the black pieces. Muzychuk utilized the Petroff Defence to secure the win against the Indian GM. Although Koneru played a strategic game, attempting to pressure the Ukrainian player's king, the tide turned as she struggled to defend her black pieces. Ultimately, a critical mistake on the 28th move compromised Koneru's defense, allowing Muzychuk to capitalize on the opening and claim the round.
In the 2020 Cairns Cup, Harika Dronavalli's second-round encounter with Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk ended in a draw, mirroring her first-round result. Earlier in the tournament, Harika had been paired with Kateryna Lagno before facing Nana Dzagnidze in the second round. Following the conclusion of round two, the standings for the Indian players saw Harika Dronavalli in 5th place, while Humpy Koneru sat in 8th.