Contingency plan

Regardless of how her Women’s World Chess Championship match will end, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) will take part, from February 6–17, in the invitational 2nd Cairns Cup, the all-female chess super-tournament hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club and named after co-founder Jeanne Sinquefield (nee Cairns). Even this year, ten of the best female players in the world will compete in a nine-round classical tournament to share a record prize fund of $180,000. The participants are (in alphabetic order): Nana Dzagnidze, Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina, Dronavalli Harika, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), Humpy Koneru, Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk, Irina Borisivna Krush, Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno, Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk, and 叶诗雯 (Carissa Yip).