India’s young woman Grandmaster Koneru Humpy won the World Rapid Championship 2019 title in Moscow on Saturday. Hampy earned the feat by defeating China’s Lei Tingji in the Blitz playoffs. Among men, Magnus Karlsson of Norway captured this title for the third time.
Humpy, won the FIDE World Rapid Championship on Saturday night by defeating 22-year-old Lei Tingji of China in the VIP zone of Moscow’s Luzhniqi Stadium. She is the first female world champion in chess in India. The 32-year-old Humpy won 7 rounds in a 12-round rapid event.
Another Grand Master Dronavalli Harika of India stood 13th in the competition. Humpy is the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the Rapid World Title. Anand had won the prestigious championship in 2017.
Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the open section scoring 11.5 points out of a possible fifteen rounds. Iranian star Firouza Alireza, who played under Fide flag, won the silver ahead of American Hikaru Nakamura.
India’s youngest female Grandmaster Humpy decided to stop chess in 2016, which disappointed Indian chess lovers. Humpy’s break from chess continued was extended to another two years as she became a mother. However, when she returned to chess in 2018, everyone was skeptical about her performance. People suspected that she would not be able to perform as before.
However, Humpy did not pay attention to anyone’s words and kept working hard, which paid dividents in the year 2019. She scored nearly 30 Elo points, won the Skolovo Women’s GP and now holds the World Rapid Championship title.
The talented Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy stayed in the hunt for a second title at the women’s World Rapid and Blitz Championships after being placed second along with three others in the blitz competition in Moscow.
Humpy, who was the first Indian female player to win the National Boys Title, won the Under-14 Boys Title at the National Children’s Championship at the age of 13. She was the first Indian woman player to win the National Boys Title.
