Monaco Women’s Grand Prix: Humpy finishes 2nd behind Goryachkina

India’s Koneru Humpy secured a second-place finish at the Monaco Women’s Grand Prix on Thursday.

Aleksandra Goryachkina clinched the title ahead of Humpy and Batkhuyag Munguntuul, thanks to the superior Sonneborn-Berger tiebreak.

After nine gruelling rounds Goryachkina, Humpy and Batkhuyag were tied at the top place with 5.5 points each.

In the ninth and final round, the Russian grandmaster drew against Batkhuyag to emerge triumphant. This was her second Grand Prix leg victory.

The final round delivered high-stakes drama, with Munguntuul and Goryachkina drawing their encounter, allowing Humpy to join them at the top after defeating Bibisara Assaubayeva.

Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk bounced back with a victory over Elisabeth Paehtz whereas Tan Zhongyi and Harika Dronavalli drew.

In a shocking twist, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh defeated Kateryna Lagno, who had led the tournament all through but fell at the final hurdle, dashing her hopes for the title.

Earlier in the eighth round, Harika, who struggled throughout the competition, had an outstanding game against Alexandra Kosteniuk of Switzerland as she notched up her first win of the tournament.

In the ninth and final round, grandmaster Harika Dronavalli put up a strong defensive show to hold GM Tan Zhongyi to a draw. Lagno and Zhongyi shared the fourth spot, while Harika made a joint seventh-place finish with Sarasadat with four points.