 "Koneru Humpy wins historic Rapid World Championship to cap off extraordinary year for Indian chess")
Grandmaster Koneru Humpy capped off what was a stunning year for Indian chess by winning the rapid world title in New York City on Sunday. Humpy, who was tied for the first spot with China’s Wenjun Ju and compatriot Harika Dronavalli on Friday, defeated Indonesia’s Irine Sukandar while playing with black pieces on Day 3 to clinch the title that she had previously won in 2019 in Georgia.
The 37-year-old GM had drawn her other games on Saturday, the final day of the Women’s Rapid Champion, against Ju and Russian GM Kateryna Lagno. Ju and Harika were among six players who finished tied for the second spot with a total of 8 points, the latter drawing all three games on Saturday. Among the other Indians in action in the women’s section, Divya Deshmukh finished with seven points.
With her triumph, Humpy becomes the first Indian and only the second player after Ju to win the women’s rapid world title more than once. Her feat is the latest in a series of extraordinary results for Indian chess players this year — from D Gukesh winning the Candidates in April and defeating Ding Liren in the World Championship earlier this month to India winning gold in the ‘Open’ and ‘Women’ sections in the Olympiad in September.
Humpy later added that her victory came as a surprise, but was much-needed after her poor run throughout the year.
“I’m very excited and happy. In fact, I expected it to be a very tough day, like some sort of tie-break. But when I finished the game, the arbitrator told me (about winning), and it was a tense moment for me,” said Humpy, who began with black pieces, after her victory.
“So, this is quite unexpected because the whole year I have been struggling and I had very bad tournaments where I just ended up in last place. So, this came as a surprise,” she added.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts👏 Congratulations to 🇮🇳 Humpy Koneru, the 2024 FIDE Women’s World Rapid Champion! 🏆#RapidBlitz #WomenInChess pic.twitter.com/CCg3nrtZAV
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 28, 2024
Humpy credited her family for her success, and added that her achievement along with those by the likes of Gukesh will only inspire more youngsters to play chess and even take it up as a career.
“I think it was possible because of the support from my family. My husband and my parents…they support me a lot. My parents look after my daughter when I travel," said Humpy, who had become the second female player after Susan Polgar to achieve an ELO rating of 2600 in 2006.
“It’s not easy to become a World Champion at 37. It’s quite difficult when you get older to keep that motivation and stay sharp when required. I’m glad that I made it.
“I think 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 noted.
Murzin wins as Russians dominate ‘Open’ Rapid Championship
The ‘Open’ section of the Rapid Championship witnessed Russians occupy the top three spots with Volodar Murzin, Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi finishing first, second and third respectively.
Murzin collected two wins and as many draws on the final day of the Rapid Championship – defeating Polish Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda and India’s R Praggnanandhaa while holding Grischuk and Armenia’s Karen Grigoryan to a draw.
His victory over Praggnanandhaa proved particularly decisive as the 19-year-old Indian GM was leading in the penultimate round, only to surrender the advantage with a blunder.
Murzin surged into the sole lead with his victory over Pragg in the penultimate round and finished with 10 points after holding Grigoryan to a draw to end the tournament as the undisputed champion. His compatriots Grischuk and Nepomniachtchi finished with 9.5 points each.
👏 Congratulations to Volodar Murzin, the 2024 FIDE World Rapid Champion! 🏆
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 29, 2024
📹 Final moments from the final round. #RapidBlitz pic.twitter.com/HNCDEbeE71
India’s Arjun Erigaisi began the final day of the Rapid event with a defeat against Grischuk but bounced back immediately after with a victory over Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
The World No 4, however, was held to a draw by American GM Leinier Dominguez Perez and Iranian-French GM Alireza Firouzja, missing out on an Indian sweep in the Rapid Championship after Humpy’s victory in the women’s section.
Praggnanandhaa finished marginally behind Erigaisi, and was among 12 players finishing level on 8.5 points.
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