Chess: Humpy, Harika to lead Indian challenge in 10-player Cairns Cup

Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika will be among the top contenders in the 10-player as Cairns Cup

St Louis (USA): Top Indian female Grandmasters (GM) Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika will be among the top contenders in the 10-player as Cairns Cup, an elite-level female chess tournament hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, returns this June.

The ten-player round-robin tournament will be hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club at the World Chess Hall of Fame from June 3-13, 2023.

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Former FIDE Women’s rapid chess champion Humpy, who has a current rating of 2576, will be the top seed in the lineup while Harika, with a rating of 2511, will be the fourth seed in the tournament which will feature one of the strongest female fields, as they compete for a total prize fund of $180,000.

The other players in the fray are Alexandra Kosteniuk of the United States, Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia, Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan), Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany), Bella Khotenashvili (Georgia), Gunay Mammadzada (Azerbaijan), Irina Krush (USA) and Anna Zatonskih (USA).

“The Saint Louis Chess Club continues to bring new and innovative ways to promote the game of chess,” Tony Rich, Executive Director of the Saint Louis Chess Club was quoted in a release on Thursday.

“The Cairns Cup is exciting to watch because it brings together one of the strongest international fields ever assembled in women’s chess with one of the largest prize funds for an all-female tournament,” he added.