Koneru Humpy crowned a fine comeback to the chess scene in 2019 by clinching the 2019 Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship in Russia. She becomes only the second Indian to win the rapid world title after Vishwanathan Anand won it in 2017.
The final round of the women’s rapid started with Lei Tingjie alone at the top with 9/11, followed by Tan Zhongyi on 8.5 and no fewer than five players, including Humpy, on eight points.
Humpy needed luck to go her way to help her catch up with Tingjie and then she needed to take advantage of the good fortune. The 32-year-old did that with a gambler’s instinct coming to the fore.
The Rapid format isn’t her favourite but maybe that will change after this.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to her triumph:
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