Kazakh grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva drew with leader Alice Lee of the USA in the third round of the women's chess supertournament Cairns Cup-2026 in St. Louis. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The leadership of 16-year-old Lee is hardly a sensation. Last year, the international master from Minneapolis became vice-champion here, losing only to her compatriot Carissa Yip. Alice has not been lost among the grandmasters this time either, topping the table since the first round.

In the game with Lee, our three-time world champion in blitz, playing black, managed to equalize the position. Having ideally placed the pawns in the center of the board, the opponents agreed to a draw on the 40th move.

Lee and Assaubayeva have not lost in St. Louis yet. As has the experienced 35-year-old Chinese player Tan Zhongyi, who has managed to "get on Lee's wheel". Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk and Stavroula Tsolakidou from Greece also remain undefeated, having scored 1.5 points each, like our chess player.

42-year-old Alexandra Kosteniuk has twice been vice-champion of the Cairns Cup. In 2019 as a grandmaster from Russia and in 2023, having switched to the Swiss flag. The start of the current tournament was clearly unsuccessful for the 12th world champion (2008–2010). Having suffered three defeats, Kosteniuk will undoubtedly try to give battle to Assaubayeva in the fourth round. Bibisara will play white.

The prestigious women's supertournament Cairns Cup with a prize fund of $250,000 is taking place in the Mecca of American chess, St. Louis (Missouri).

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 round-robin format. 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.

In parallel, the men's tournament Sinquefield Cup-2026 is taking place in St. Louis, also named after Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield.

The competition with a prize fund of $475,000 features Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan, a contender for the chess crown. In the third round, Assaubayeva's boyfriend, playing white, failed to achieve a decisive advantage over Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a sharp endgame. A draw on the 44th move.