Exclusive | ‘Having three of us in Candidates out of eight a remarkable performance’: Veteran Indian GM Koneru Humpy

If 2024 was a landmark year for Indian chess across the ‘Open’ and ‘Women’ categories, then 2025 certainly has belonged to the ladies.

The highlight of the year, after all, was the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi, Georgia in July, where half of the quarter-finalists were Indian, and the tournament concluded with a  historic all-Indian final . It certainly was a massive leap in an event which had just one Indian – Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli – in the quarter-finals across the first two editions.

Veteran GM Koneru Humpy, India’s top-rated player across formats, had gone the full distance at the tournament and squared off against young star Divya Deshmukh in the final.

She had scripted history at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York last December, and was on the verge of winning a second global event in a space of seven months when Divya halted her on her tracks with a 2.5-1.5 victory in the final .

In an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, Humpy heaped praise on Divya – who achieved her GM title by winning the World Cup without having to collect the three norms – for her “tremendous improvement” over the last two years.

“I think she had shown a tremendous improvement from the past couple of years. Initially, when she got the rating, she was about 24 at one point, but then she went up and slowly she started improving,” Humpy told this website.

“Also she did very well in the Grand Swiss as well in the men’s circuit. And also recently she did well in the European Club Cup. So, right now, like she’s ranked number 11 in the world. I think she’s quite talented and it’s good that her achievements are also well recognised by the government. And that way, I think it’s very encouraging for her as well,” she added.

A watershed in Indian women’s chess

Buoyed by her Women’s World Cup success, Divya would go on to compete in the ‘Open’ category at the FIDE Grand Swiss as well as the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Goa, holding reigning world champion D Gukesh to a draw in the former.

The success story of Indian women’s chess this year, however, isn’t limited to the World Cup – in which the two finalists qualified for next year’s Candidates along with the third-placed Tan Zhongyi.

GM R Vaishali would go on to win the women’s title at the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand just two months later, winning the prestigious event for the second consecutive time. With her victory, three of the eight competitors at the 2026 Women’s Candidates are Indian, marking another major leap for the cricket-mad nation in chess.

“I think this is the best performance for the women’s chess like in the whole year from the past one, two years. Because if you see like they had already won the Chess Olympiad as well. And also Vaishali winning both the Grand Swiss consecutively for the second time. Having three of us in the Candidates out of eight players is a remarkable performance,” Humpy continued, reflecting on India’s growth in the women’s game this year after the remarkable journey in 2024.

“I think we as a nation, I think chess has become much more stronger in a couple of years. In the men’s circuit, we already knew that they are already in the top 10 rankings – Arjun and Pragg, having Gukesh as a world champion. And I think especially from the time of Pandemic, comparing with the circumstances from the earlier times, I think these online chess and the training, also the corporate support combined with everything, that has really helped these youngsters to grow up faster,” she added.

‘Experience has helped me to turn things around’

The historic all-Indian Women’s World Cup final, however, nearly did not happen. Humpy, after all, was trailing Chinese Grandmaster Lie Tingjie, currently ranked third in the world, 2-3 in the tie-breaks and faced a must-win situation. Humpy, however, exhibited and determination to not only catch up with her opponent, but sail into the final with a hat-trick of victories , resulting in a 5-3 victory in the end.

Both Humpy and Lei are among the top players in the world, with the Chinese GM currently ahead in the FIDE Ratings. The one decisive advantage that the veteran Indian GM had over her opponent, though, was experience, which ultimately helped her prevail when things got tense in the semi-final tie-breaks.

Though Humpy maintains that younger players have an advantage of their own in terms of energy, one can never take experience out of the equation in chess, regardless of how much the game evolves with the advancement of technology.

“Of course, experience also helps at certain point if you’re in good shape and if you are full of energy. Definitely, experience is an additional factor when you have all these things. But sometimes with age, it could also be like, you know, if you don’t show the same energy, that will also affect your play. So, it has both ups and downs when you grow up.

“Yes, in the match, definitely that experience has helped me to turn things around. But it was a very tough match and it could have went either way as well. She’s quite a strong opponent but just things just worked out for me. Alright,” Humpy said in response.

Humpy, meanwhile, has opted for a break since the conclusion of the World Cup, having had a hectic summer that began with her triumph in the Pune FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in April and concluded with her runner-up finish at the World Cup in July.

Between those two events, Humpy had competed at the Norway Chess in June, finishing third in women’s standings, and travelled immediately afterwards to the United States for the Cairns Cup.

Humpy looks forward to GCL’s India debut

She will be returning to action at the Global Chess League, a franchise-based competition that could be viewed as chess’ answer to cricket’s lucrative Indian Premier League, and enters its third season this year. After Dubai and London hosted the first and second seasons, respectively, the third GCL season will be taking place on Indian soil this year with Mumbai’s Royal Opera House hosting the event from 13 to 24 December.

Humpy, who represents upGrad Mumba Masters, feels hosting it in India could prove a game-changer for GCL as well as for Indian chess.

“GCL always attracted more attention from the spectators. Well, whether it’s coming to the format of the tournament or also the players, like they always take the best possible players into the teams and we even had Magnus in the earlier seasons as well, playing in the format and Hikaru Nakamura as well,” Humpy continued.

“Hosting it in India, I think it’s even going to get more and more enthusiasm in the chess circle and I really hope that this will attract younger players to take up the sport as well,” she added.

Competing in a team event like GCL is a unique experience for players, wherein team strategy becomes just as crucial a factor as individual skill when it comes to the bigger picture.

“I have been playing for the Mumba Masters from the past two year, but now we have different players in the team and every team here is strong. Like, we cannot say this team is a favourite one because everyone has their own star players and they are capable of beating them at any point of time, but it all matters whether in how good form they will be during the tournament.

“We also need to consider the team factors and we should also estimate on which boards to take the risk depending on the opponents and all. At the same time, it’s a shorter time format, right? Like, you also need to prepare according to that. I think here, players don’t like to sit. Obviously, everybody wants to take those small risks and try their best and do well,” she added.

‘I really don’t think about medals’

And once she’s done and dusted with GCL Season 3, Humpy will be signing off from 2025 by competing at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships later in December in Doha, Qatar.

She had made history in the previous edition of the tournament in New York last year by becoming only the second player after China’s Ju Wenjun to win the women’s rapid world title more than once .

Humpy, however, will not be obsessing over her title defence when she heads to Doha from Mumbai next month, and will instead follow the mantra that has helped her remain the Indian women’s No 1 to this day – focus on giving her best.

“I’m playing the World Rapid and Blitz immediately after GCL, but actually, I’m not thinking about, you know, title or something. I wanted to do my best in the sport. I think it’s not easy to, you know, target something and ensure it for my age. That’s what I feel,” Humpy said.

“It’s more important to do the sport and do whatever best I think. Only if things start working well, that’s when probably towards the last two, three rounds, when I feel there is a situation or a scope for that opportunity, that’s when I take those risks.

“But before the start of tournament, I really don’t think about these medals or victory or something,” she continued.

Veteran GM reveals how second rapid world title extended her career

Even if she doesn’t care about medals or titles – at least until the business end of the tournament – Humpy cannot deny the fact that her historic triumph in last year’s Rapid World Championship has revitalised her career. Especially taking into account the fact that she was considering retirement from the professional game after a string of disappointing results.

“I’ve already mentioned in several interviews, like there were many times where I wanted to quit professional chess, because I was playing too badly in the classical format. Before the World Rapid, I had disastrous tournaments in Norway, then Tata Steel. I think almost three, four tournaments, I had very bad failures,” Humpy revealed.

“That’s when like, you know, I was kind of, you know, very depressed with my results. And like, I’m not happy that I’m travelling, missing my home, missing my daughter, and I’m not even able to achieve something.

“But then somewhere I felt like, you know, I wanted to, even though if I have to quit, I just wanted to prove myself one second, like, you know, I’m still capable of doing, you know, better. So somewhere that fire really helped me to win that world title.

“It gave me the motivation to, you know, still continue on playing. Probably, if I had had that event, also in a bad remark, I don’t know what would be the situation. But definitely that victory has motivated me again,” she signed off.