Koneru Humpy created a new history for Indian chess by surprising everyone by winning the FIDE World Rapid Championship in New York on Saturday evening. For Humpy, India’s top female chess player, it was her second World Rapid title and the fourth time she finished in the top three of the event.
In the tournament’s last round, Humpy used the black pieces to defeat Indonesia’s Irene Sukandar, winning the title with a final score of 8.5/11. After Ju Wenjun of China, she became the second player to win multiple women’s world rapid titles.
Hampi had earlier also won this title in 2019, apart from finishing third in 2012 and second in 2023. This title added to a stellar 2024 for Indian chess, which also included wins in both the Open and Women’s categories of the Chess Olympiad. And De Gukesh became world champion by defeating Ding Liren in Singapore earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Russian Volodar Murzin, 18, won the title in the open section after defeating highly regarded players including R Praggnanandhaa, Jan-Kryzstof Duda, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana. After the 17-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Murzin became the second-youngest player to win the world rapid title in the open section.
India’s Arjun Erigaysi finished 5th, one point behind Murzin. Errigassi was part of the group of players who led the event at the start of the third day of four rounds. But Arjun Erigaysi could only score two points out of four, winning against Abdussaturov, and finished with 9 points out of 13.
Humpy scores clutch last-round win to secure title
Along with a few other players, including fellow Indian Harika Dronavalli, Humpy entered the final round with a joint lead. That remained the case until the 11th and final round began, when Harika faced Tan Zhongyi of China and Humpy faced Sukandar. Harika was just able to draw, but Humpy wasn’t content with that.
She defeated Sukandar in an incredible endgame and ultimately won. Sukandar lost with the white pieces, but he was among the joint leaders prior to the start of the last round. In the end, Harika and six other players finished half a point behind Humpy.
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