Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy's feat of winning the FIDE Women's World Rapid Chess championship title twice in her career.
Humpy capped a wonderful year for Indian chess, defeating Irene Sukandar of Indonesia to emerge champion in New York on Sunday. She had won the event back in 2019 at Georgia, and the India No. 1 is only the second player after China's Ju Wenjun to clinch the title more than once.
"Congratulations to @humpy_koneru on winning the 2024 FIDE Women's World Rapid Championship! Her grit and brilliance continues to inspire millions," wrote Modi on 'X'.
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.
"This victory is even more historic because it is her second world rapid championship title, thereby making her the only Indian to achieve this incredible feat," noted the PM. Humpy said her victory will inspire other Indians to take up chess.
"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 said.
