In the sixth round of the Cairns Cup-2026 super tournament in the USA, Kazakhstani Bibisara Assaubayeva, playing black, drew with American international master Carissa Yip. At the end of the game, only two bare kings remained on the board — a rare case in serious chess practice. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
In the endgame, Assaubayeva desperately tried to promote one of her two pawns to a queen, but the white bishop and king held the draw. On move 59, both sides ran out of material, and the players, left with only kings, agreed to a draw.
Another American international master, Alice Lee, by defeating India's Humpy Koneru with black, broke away from the group of chasers of the leader, which is headed by Assaubayeva. Ahead, before the final three rounds, is the 16th world champion (2017-2018) Tan Zhongyi from China.
After two consecutive games with black, in the next round the Kazakhstani will finally play with white. To contend for a prize place, Assaubayeva must defeat Stavroula Tsolakidou. The Greek international master, like Bibisara, has not lost in St. Louis yet.
About the tournament
The prestigious women's super tournament Cairns Cup with a prize fund of $250,000 is taking place in St. Louis, Missouri, the Mecca of American chess.
The tournament is named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, co-founder of the St. Louis Chess Club, who is a member of the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Ten chess players who received personal invitations from the organizers play in a single round-robin. The time control is classical — 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes until the end of the game, plus 30 seconds per move starting from the first.
Men's tournament
In parallel, the men's tournament — the Sinquefield Cup-2026 — is taking place in St. Louis, also named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.
In the competition with a prize fund of $475,000, the contender for the chess crown, Javokhir Sindarov, Assaubayeva's boyfriend, is participating. After a rest day, the Uzbek chess player, playing white, drew with American Fabiano Caruana, the tournament's rating favorite. The draw was recorded on move 42.