FIDE Women's Grand Prix-Pune: Humpy clinches title with last gasp win

India no.1, GM Koneru Humpy, clinched the FIDE Women's Grand Prix Pune title, with a commanding victory in the final game against Nurgyul Salimova of Bulgaria in Pune on Wednesday.

Humpy remained unbeaten in the tournament and finished in tied top position with Zhu Jiner of China with 7/9 points. However, because of a better record with black pieces, Humpy was crowned champion.

Per the tie break guidelines should a tied top position ensue, the player that played the most number of matches with black pieces is awarded the title. This favoured Humpy, who had played five games with black when compared to Jiner's 4.

Incidentally, this was also the second consecutive tied top place finish for Humpy at the 2024-25 Grand Prix circuit, after a three-way tie at the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year.

With this victory, Humpy collected 117.5 points from the Pune leg and has now jumped up to the second position on the grand prix circuit, with 279.17 Grand Prix points in her kitty.

The top two-ranked players at the end of the six-legged Grand Prix circuit will qualify for the 2026 Candidates. However, Humpy's season is now over as she has completed her three designated tournaments.

Hence, Humpy qualification chances for the candidates will now depend on the results of final Grand Prix leg in Austria next month.

Divya Deshmukh wins bronze

On the other hand, Divya Deshmukh ended her maiden Grand Prix tour with a bronze medal on home turf.

She finished the tournament in third position with 5.5/9 points.

In the final round, she played out a solid draw against Alina Kashlinskaya of Poland to confirm a bronze medal from the competition.

Meanwhile, Harika Dronavalli (4.5/9) and Vaishali Rameshbabu (4/9) finished in 4th and sixth positions respectively.