Koneru Humpy Wears Chess Crown with Rapid Win

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Chess Mom Wins World Rapid Championship for Double Pride

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, December 29: Grand Master Koneru Humpy brought a year-end delight to fans in India by winning the Women’s Rapid World Championship 2024. She triumphed over Indonesian Irene Sukandar in the finals of the championship.

The chess bodies described Humpy’s win as “dramatic”. They stated that Sukandar committed a blunder in the final moments of the championship to allow Koneru a victory. The Indian chess player is now the only woman to have won the championship twice.

Humpy in the round outmanoeuvred Sukandar to jump ahead of the competition and earn the women’s rapid world champion title for a second time, said the International Chess Federation in a post on X.

Seven players had entered the final round of the championship. “World Rapid Women’s Championship tied for first, but after three draws on the top 4 boards, GM Humpy Koneru (India) has claimed the title with 8½/11 after squeezing water from stone against IM Irene Sukandar,” added the International Chess Federation.

Later Humpy, while addressing the post-tournament media briefing, said: “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.” Gukesh a few days ago won the World Championship to bring laurels for the country.

“Chess Mom GM Humpy Koneru wins 2024 Women’s World Rapid Championship. After losing the first round, she scored a remarkable 8.5 points in the next 10 rounds to win clear first,” said Susan Polgar, a US chess player, in a post on X.

Humpy while commenting on the blunder committed by her rival said that she hoped that “these miracles never stop happening and you keep competing on the highest level”. “Congratulations to Humpy Koneru for winning Women’s World Rapid Championship. See the position before Sukandar’s blunder in the last game,” wrote Chess expert Mehmet Ismail while sharing an image of the game position which had both the players locked in a keen battle on the chessboard.

“India is in the hands of Koneru Humpy, one of the best female players the world has ever seen,” commented David Llada, a chess player. Indian chess giant and icon Vishwanathan Anand also congratulated Humpy. “Congratulations to Koneru Humpy for a stellar performance. She showed her class in the last round to clinch the title,” said Anand.

Compliments poured for Humpy after her victory in the championship. “Another bright day for Indian chess. She scored the all-important win with the black pieces in the last round,” said Judit Polgar, chess GM, in a post on X.

She stated that “Humpy won a dramatic final round against Sukandar and scored 8.5/11 points to win her 2nd Women’s World Rapid title after her win in 2019”. Humpy was also a runners up in the 2011 and 2023 World Championship Runner-up. She was also part of the Olympiad Champion Team.

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