Chess
Chess: Koneru Humpy starts her Candidates campaign with a win
Koneru Humpy started her 2022-23 Women's Candidates campaign with an outright win over Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk.
Koneru Humpy and Anna Muzychuk (Source: FIDE)
Indian chess Grandmaster Koneru Humpy started her 2022-23 Women's Candidates campaign with an outright win over Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk, on Tuesday. The 35-year-old raced to victory in mere 24 moves.
Playing with the white pieces, Humpy admitted that she was surprised that her opponent decided to play the Queen's Gambit accepted in the first game of their quarterfinal clash.
"Today it was a big surprise for me, I did not expect Queen's Gambit accepted from her," Humpy told FIDE after her win.
The World number 3, however, seemed very comfortable throughout the duration of their first game and eventually outplayed Muzychuk in just 24 moves.
"I did not really panic when she played the Queen's Gambit accepted variation. Playing with white it was quite pleasant for me," Humpy added.
The quarterfinal of women's candidates is a four-game match, and a win in the first game has handed Humpy the much-required early lead in the contest.
Humpy and Muzychuk will play their second game of the quarterfinal on Wednesday.
