On Saturday evening, Koneru Humpy concluded an outstanding year for Indian chess by winning the FIDE World Rapid Championship title in New York. Humpy achieved an important victory over Indonesia's Irene Sukandar with the black pieces in the tournament's final round. She concluded with a score of 8.5/11 and won the title.
Koneru Humpy became the second chess player after China's Ju Wenjun to win multiple women's world rapid titles. This was her second world rapid title, boasting an impressive record of four top-three finishes in the event.
Humpy’s achievement capped a sensational year for Indian chess after D Gukesh defeated China’s Ding Liren to emerge champion in the classical format World Championship recently in Singapore. In September, India had won its first-ever gold medals in in Open and Women's categories in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Volodar Murzin from Russia won the men's championship. He managed to win against prominent players including Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and R Praggnanandhaa. Murzin is now the second youngest player to win the world rapid title in the open category.
India's Arjun Erigaisi achieved 5th place, finishing one point behind Murzin. Starting day 3, which included four rounds, Erigaisi was one of the event leaders. However, he secured just two points out of four, including a victory over Abdusattorov, ending with a total of 9 points out of 13.