Chess: Koneru Humpy fights retirement thoughts, lack of sleep to win 2024 Women’s World Rapid

As the seven women, occupying the top boards, indulged in a dogfight for the prestigious Women’s World Rapid Chess Title, only Koneru Humpy emerged unscathed.

Ju drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva, Lagno and Khamdamova played out a draw among themselves, and the other Indian in contention Dronvalli was held to a draw by China’s Tan.

Humpy, who was paired with Sukandar for the final round, had the black pieces. She grinded out a completely drawn position and Sukandar erred under pressure.

After a long tussle, there was no way to stop Humpy’s pawn on the d-file from promoting to a queen and Sukandar promptly resigned.

With that Koneru Humpy was the Women’s World Rapid Chess Champion. She had gone from 7.5 points in 10 rounds to 8.5 in 11. Sukandar finished with 7.5, while the others in contention reached 8 points.

Humpy had reclaimed her world title by half a point. A second Indian world chess champion within a fortnight in the sport.

“I expected it to be a very tough day,” a visibly elated Humpy told FIDE right after her win. “I expected it to be some sort of tiebreak.

“But when I finished the game, I only got to know [I had won the title] when the arbiter told me. It was tense [the match],” she added.

In fact, Humpy’s match was the last to finish among the top boards vying for the title. It was indeed the longest with 67 moves, while the other three matches ended in less than 30 moves.

What makes it even more extraordinary is the fact that Humpy, 37, was the oldest among the seven players in contention.

She had also started the tournament with a first-round loss, playing with the white pieces. At the end of Day 1 of play, Humpy was placed 38^th with just 2.5 points in four rounds.

However, things turned around for the Indian veteran on Day 2, where she won all four games, including with the black pieces against the 2024 Chess Olympiad star Vantika Agrawal.

All of a sudden, Humpy found herself tied for the lead with Ju and Dronavalli at 6.5 points in eight rounds.

With a second world title in sight – she had won the same title in 2019 – Humpy started cautiously on the final day. She settled for two quick draws in the first two games of the day against Ju and Lagno in 26 and 19 moves respectively.

But when it mattered and others settled for draws in the final round, Humpy pushed hard for a win. She knew the heartbreak of tiebreaks all too well to settle for a draw and rely on that.

Humpy had finished in a three-way tie for the lead at the 2023 Women’s World Rapid Championships and had then lost it out to Anastasia Bodnurak in the tie-breaks.

She was desperate for a win in New York. It paid off.

“This [the title win] came as a surprise,” smiled Humpy.

Struggles on and off the board

It indeed did. After her tie-break loss to Bodnurak last December, Humpy never really got going. She struggled at the 2024 Candidates and had a below-par year in general, finishing bottom of the pile in quite a few tournaments.

She was even missing in action due to “personal reasons” as the Indian women’s team lifted a historic gold at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest earlier this year.

“In reality, I was in a very low state,” revealed Humpy in the press conference soon after. “I was thinking if I deserved to continue playing or not and whether it was time to retire.

“When I saw the World Championships was going to be held in New York, I wasn’t sure because of the time difference. But then I decided to give it a try and I am happy that I took the right decision,” she said.

Her mental state aside, Humpy’s struggles were also compounded by a lack of sleep during the tournament.

“Off the board, it was really difficult for me,” she said. “I was lacking sleep. I haven’t slept after coming here [New York]. So it wasn’t easy to play restlessly.”

Humpy also reflected on the lack of motivation as you get older to keep playing continuously and maintaining a work-life balance with a young family.

“My parents look after my daughter when I travel,” she said. “It’s not easy to become a world champion when you are 37.

“It’s quite difficult when you are older to keep that motivation and to stay sharp when required. I am glad that I made it,” she added.

Having not had a day off since she landed in the city, Humpy now hopes to spend the rest day walking around the city of New York with her cousin before going to the battle again at the 2024 Women’s World Blitz Championships – a title which remains elusive to Indians.

In a year where Indian chess took the world by storm with the emergence of super-strong youngsters, Humpy’s triumph in New York is a timely indicator that the old guard has not thrown in their towel yet.

If Gukesh Dommaraju’s thrilling win over Ding Liren had a youthful exuberance of constantly taking risks and being ambitious, Humpy’s victory remains a testament to fighting back mental demons with single-minded focus and determination.