Doha, Dec 29: Indian chess stalwart Koneru Humpy suffered a massive heartbreak in her bid for a third world rapid title, finishing with a bronze in the women’s section of the FIDE World Rapid Championships after being cruelly done in by the tie-break rule, here on Sunday.
Humpy, the winner of the world rapid title in 2019 and 2024, tied for the top spot with China’s Zhu Jiner and Russian Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina at 8.5 points, after the 11th and final round.
However, as per the the international chess federation’s (FIDE) tie-breaker rules to rank players with the same score — namely Buchholz Cut 1, Buchholz and Average Rapid Rating of the Opponents — Humpy fell behind Zhu and Goryachkina to settle for the third spot after coming so close to clinching her third world rapid title.
Humpy had scores of 69, 74 and 2335 on the above-mentioned parameters, while Zhu (72.5, 77.5 and 2410) and Goryachkina (71.5, 77 and 2360) finished higher to contest for the top spot.
Goryachkina, the highest-rated Russian woman in chess history and the winner of the Women’s Chess World Cup in 2023, defeated Zhu 1.5/0.5 in the tie-breaker to clinch her maiden world rapid title and 40,000 Euro prize purse.
It was her compatriot and former World Rapid bronze medallist, young B Savitha Shri who gave a spirited fight to Humpy in the 11th and final round to split a point.
Had Humpy secured a full point, she would have finished on nine points and made history by winning her third world rapid title, something no woman player has achieved so far.
Humpy missed a winning line and the 18-year-old Chennai chess prodigy, playing with white pieces, took the game to a draw after 64 moves.
Savitha (8 points) finished fourth while R. Vaishali (8) came in fifth. The Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh (7.5) was eighth and D. Harika (7) was 19th.
Magnus Carlsen reigns supreme
The world No.1 Magnus Carlsen showcased his supremacy by clinching his sixth World Rapid title in the ‘Open’ category, adding to the titles he won in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. He got 70,000 Euros for the win.
The Norwegian, who had not taken his seventh-round loss to Vladislav Artemiev lightly, won three consecutive games on the final day to take a one-point lead and then drew the 13th and last game against Dutch GM ANish Giri to finish on 10.5 points.
Russian GM Artemiev (9.5) was second, while Arjun Erigaisi earned a win against Russian GM Aleksandr Shimanov to jump to 9.5 points and secure a bronze ahead of American Hans Niemann (9.5) and Cuban-American Leinier Domínguez (9.5).
The world champion in classical chess, D. Gukesh (8.5 points) finished 20th, while Nihal Sarin (8.5) was 19th. R. Praggnanandhaa, also on 8.5, was 27th.
The World Blitz Championships will commence on Monday with eight-time champion Carlsen favourite in the event. (PTI)
