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On Saturday, December 28, Indian GM Koneru Humpy became a two-time Women’s World Rapid Champion after scoring 8.5 points in 11 rounds, only the second woman to achieve the same feat after GM Ju Wenjun from China. In the 11th and final round of the World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York City, Koneru Humpy defeated Irene Sukandar with the black pieces, to ensure that there weren’t no tiebreakers needed to decide the winner of the tournament.
Notably, Koneru Humpy finished the Rapid edition of the Women’s World Championship tournament ahead of some of the top players in the game, namely Ju Wenjun, Kateryna Lagno, Zhongyi Tan, Harika Dronavalli, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Afruza Khamdamova by half a point. She managed to win seven, draw three, and lose only one out of 11 matches in the Rapid section of the tournament, to clinch the title for the second time in her illustrious career.
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I didn't expect it at all because I lost my first round game: Koneru Humpy
In the press conference, Koneru Humpy was quite surprised at herself after she won the Women’s World Rapid Championship in New York City following a loss in the first round match. Before discussing her year of tough breaks in the world of chess, she was quoted as saying by Chess.com, “I didn't expect it at all because I lost my first round game and I never imagined that I could finish the tournament as a world champion.”
The 37-year-old also spoke about her low state of mind going into the World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York City. She said, “In reality I was in a very low state, like I was even thinking to myself whether I deserved to continue playing or not, whether it's time to retire or something like that.... This victory is very special, like when I'm on my lowest, this gave me the boost again to fight, again to work on chess.”
Moreover, in the open section of the World Rapid Championship, GM Volodar Murzin of Russia became the second youngest champion at 18 years of age after staying undefeated with a score of 10/13.
