Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy clinched the silver medal in the women’s individual event at the World Rapid Chess Championship 2023, hosted in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The 36-year-old Indian lost to International Master Anastasia Bodnaruk of Russia in a tie-break sudden death on time to concede the title. After winning her last-round game against Kateryna Lagno, Humpy was tied with Anastasia for the title triumph.
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By winning the silver medal, Humpy completed a set of medals at the women’s World Rapid Chess Championship. Humpy had already won the bronze medal in 2012 in Moscow, Russia, and was crowned the world champion in the 2019 edition at Batumi, Georgia. In a tie-breaker against Anastasia, Humpy started well with a win in the first round, but she faltered in the second game, which allowed Anastasia to force sudden death.
Meanwhile, in the open section, Vidit Gujrathi finished fourth with nine points in 13 rounds. On the other hand, Magnus Carlsen successfully defended his title in the tournament. Bronze medal winner Yu Yangi also bagged nine points but was placed above the Indian due to a better tie-break score. Vidit was early sitting in second position and was hoping for a podium finish. However, the Indian created a blunder in the penultimate round clash against Vladimir Fedoseev.
Gujarati then played a draw against Maxime Vachire-Lagrave in his final round match. Another Indian R Praggnanandhaa finished eighth as he drew his final round game against eventual champion Magnus Carlsen. In the women’s round, FM Sahithi Varshini and WGM Divya Deshmukh scored an impressive 7.5/11 and 7/11 and were positioned 13th and 22nd, respectively.