NEW YORK — Grandmaster Koneru Humpy capped a wonderful year for Indian chess,
defeating Irene Sukandar of Indonesia to emerge the FIDE Women’s World Rapid
Chess champion here on Sunday.
Humpy had won the event back in 2019 at Georgia and the
Indian No. 1 is only the second player after China’s Ju Wenjun to clinch the
title more than once.
Humpy’s achievement laced a sensational year for the chess
fraternity after D Gukesh defeated China’s Ding Liren to emerge champion in the
classical format World Championship recently in Singapore.
In September, India had also won its first-ever gold medals
in Open and Women's categories in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
The Indian, who started the tournament here with a
first-round defeat, was the lone winner in the 11th and final round, helping
her to top the tables with 8.5 points, half a point clear of six others
including compatriot D Harika.
“I’m very excited and happy. In fact, I expected it to be a
very tough day, like some sort of tie-break. But when I finished the game, the
arbitrator told me (about winning), and it was a tense moment for me,” said
Humpy, who began with black pieces, after her victory.
“So, this is quite unexpected because the whole year I have
been struggling and I had very bad tournaments where I just ended up in last
place. So, this came as a surprise,” she added.
Ju Wenjun of China finished second as the tie-break was
resolved while Kateryna Lagno of Russia ended third. Harika, who had eight
points, had to be content with a fifth-place finish.
Humpy credited her family for the success.
“I think it was possible because of the support from my
family. My husband and my parents…they support me a lot. My parents look after
my daughter when I travel.
“It's not easy to become a World Champion at 37. It's quite
difficult when you get older to keep that motivation and stay sharp when
required. I'm glad that I made it,” she said.
The seasoned player said she was motivated to do well after
her first round defeat, which saw her eventually slipping to 2.5 points after
four rounds.
“I started with a loss. I was 2.5/4, then on the second day
I won four games,” she added.
Humpy said her victory will now prompt other Indians to take
up chess.
“I think it's high time for India. We also have Gukesh as
world champion and now I got the second world title in the rapid event. So, I
think this will motivate a lot of youngsters to take up chess professionally,”
she noted.
Meanwhile in the open section, young 18-year-old Russian
Grandmaster Volodar Murzin won the gold medal ahead of a star studded field
showing tremendous nerves.
The defining point for Murzin was his penultimate round game
against R Praggnanandhaa wherein the latter had a winning position that slipped
out through a one-move blunder.
Turning the tables quickly, Murzin shot into sole lead after
the 12th and penultimate round and then defended a slightly worse endgame to
seal the victory with 10 points in all.
It was an all-Russian show in the open section as Alexander
Grischuk finished second while the third place went to former world
championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi who both ended with 9.5 points.
Arjun Erigaisi scored 9 points and tied for the fourth spot
with five others while Praggnanandhaa ended on 8.5 points. Among other Indians,
Aravindh Chithambaram was the next best performer on 8 points.
Final Standings: Women: 1. K Humpy 8.5; 2-7: Wenjun Ju
(Chn), Kateryna Lagno (Fid), Zhongyi Tan (Chn), D Harika (Ind), Alexandra
Kosteniuk (Sui), Afruja Khadamova (Uzb) 8 each.
Result of Indians: Divya Deshmukh (7); Padmini Rout (6.5); R
Vaishali (5.5); Vantika Agarwal, Priyanka Nuttaki, Sahiti Varshini 5 each.
Men: 1. Volodar Murzin (FID, 10); 2-3. Alexander Grishchuk,
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Both Fid) 9.5 each.
Result of Indians: Arjun Erigaisi (9); R Praggnanandhaa
(8.5); Aravindh Chithamabaram (8); V Pranav (7.5); Raunak Saadhwani (7); V
Karthik (7); Sandipan Chanda (6.5) Harsha Bharthakoti (6.5); Diptayan Ghosh
(6).
