Humpy Koneru of India is the winner of the 2019 World rapid chess championship which ended on Saturday evening in Moscow.
The winner of the women’s rapid was determined in a playoff that ended with Humpy Koneru beating Lei Tingjie in the Armageddon.
Humpy had stopped playing chess for nearly two years from 2016 to 2018 because she became a mother. But within a year of returning to the game, she has won a prestigious title.
The FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship was a 12-round Swiss tournament taking place from December 26-28 in Moscow, Russia. Players received 15 minutes for the entire game, plus a 10-second increment starting from move one. The playoff for first place consisted of two 3+2 games followed, if necessary, by Armageddon, where White has 5 minutes to Black’s 4.
In an interview after winning in the tie-break, Humpy Koneru said that the result was beyond her expectations from the day: “When I started my first game on Day Three I did not imagine I would be at the top. My hope was to reach the top three. I didn’t expect to play the tie-break games. I lost the first game on time, but came back in the second game. It was a gambling game, but I won. In the final game, a better position and it was a comfortable win.”
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