Saint Louis Chess Club Launches New Women’s Initiative to Develop More American Female Grandmaster Chess Players

Tournament favorite Grandmaster (GM) Tan Zhongyi was crowned the winner of the 2024 Cairns Cup on Saturday, June 22, taking home a prize of $50,000. Created and hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the Cairns Cup is one of the world's premier women's tournaments.

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Tournament favorite Grandmaster Tan Zhongyi was crowned the winner of the 2024 Cairns Cup hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Even though it looked smooth for me - the actual process was harder than it looked, but I knew I had a higher chance of winning. From here, I would like to continue playing and improving. I know it will take a lot of time and work but that’s the direction I’m going in”, said Zhongyi.

GM Anna Muzychuk finished on a high note by defeating IM Alice Lee and claimed $40,000 followed by a four-way tie for third among GMs Alexandra Kosteniuk, Harika Dronavalli, Nana Dzagnidze and Mariya Muzychuk. Each will receive a $19,000 payout for third-sixth places.

The Cairns Cup final standings include:

Established in 2019, the Cairns Cup was created by the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide a competitive tournament for elite female players. Aptly named in honor of Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield’s maiden name, the 2024 Cairns Cup featured a ten player field of top women from across the world who competed for a purse of $200,000 during the round robin style tournament held at the World Chess Hall of Fame from June 13-22, 2024.

To rewatch all of the action from the 2024 Cairns Cup broadcast, visit uschesschamps.com. Next up will be the second leg of the Grand Chess Tour, the Superbet Romania Chess Classic, taking place June 25-July 5 in Bucharest, Romania. Tune in for daily live coverage starting at 7:20 AM CDT on the STLChessClub's Twitch and YouTube channels.

Breaking Gender Barriers: New Award Created to Develop More American Female Grandmasters

During the Cairns Cup, Saint Louis Chess Club co-founder Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield announced a new women’s chess initiative, the Cairns Chess Queens Award, a new initiative created to encourage more U.S. female chess players to become GMs. Beginning July 4, 2024, the Saint Louis Chess Club will award $100,000 for up to five players over the next five years who earn the title of GM.

Approximately only two percent of the more than 2,000 chess GMs globally are female and there is only one American female chess player to ever earn the title of GM.

“Worldwide there are only 42 female GMs, while there are currently more than 2,000 male GMs. Only 16 counties have developed a female GM and the United States only has one active female GM,” said Dr. Cairns. “We can do better! We challenge the rest of the world to consider creating similar programs to develop their players so we can create the next generation of competitive female players and leaders in chess.”

Retroactively, the Saint Louis Chess Club awarded the first Cairns Chess Queens Award for exceptional achievement to GM Irina Krush from Brooklyn, who became the first and only female player to earn the rank of GM while playing for the U.S. Krush is an eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion.

“I am happy to see the creation of the Cairns Chess Queens Award”, said GM Maurice Ashley, who first proposed the idea for the initiative. “The award will serve as an important tool to continue developing and incentivizing America's most talented female chess players to be steadfast in the pursuit of reaching the GM title.”

For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.

About the Saint Louis Chess Club

The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures.

Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.

About the World Chess Hall of Fame

The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building awareness of the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business in Saint Louis' Central West End neighborhood, the WCHOF features World Chess Hall of Fame inductees, United States Chess Hall of Fame inductees selected by the U.S. Chess Trust, artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The WCHOF partners with the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. For more information, visit worldchesshof.org - and on social: Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube channels.

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