Koneru Humpy Wins FIDE Women's World Rapid Championship, Defeats Indonesia's Irene Sukandar

The Indian chess woman grandmaster Koneru Humpy on Sunday won the FIDE Women's World Rapid Championship in New York after beating Indonesia's Irene Sukandar with the black pieces in the final round of the tournament.

According to ESPN, it was Humpy's second world rapid title and the fourth time she has finished in the top three of the event. Previously, the Indian chess player won the title back in 2019.

Humpy sealed the title after finishing with a score of 8.5/11 in the final round of the tournament. As per ESPN, the Indian chess player achieved the milestone of becoming the second player to win multiple women's world rapid titles after China's Ju Wenjun.

Back in 2023, Humpy came second at the FIDE World Rapid Championship. While, in 2012, she secured second place at the tournament.
Humpy came into the final round of the tournament with a joint lead alongside her compatriot, Harika Dronavalli.

In the final round, Humpy took on Sukandar, while, Harika locked horns against China's Tan Zhongyi.Harika ended her final round with a draw. Meanwhile, Humpy displayed a stunning performance and clinched the win. Speaking after the win, Humpy said that it's high time for India in chess. The 2024 FIDE World Rapid Championship winner added that she didn't expect to win the title.

"It's high time for India - we have Gukesh as the World Champion and now I got the second world title in the Rapid event. I feel very happy for winning for the second time. In fact, I didn't expect it at all because I lost my first-round game and I never imagined that I could finish the tournament as a World Champion," Humpy was quoted by FIDE's X handle as saying.

She added that this victory will help her to boost confidence and work on chess again. "This victory is very special. When I am on my lower side I think this gave me the boost to fight and to again work on chess," she added.

Published on: Sunday, December 29, 2024, 03:23 PM IST