R Vaishali to replace Koneru Humpy in Women's Chess Grand Prix first leg

The young R Vaishali will replace the Indian veteran GM Koneru Humpy in the first leg of the 2022-23 Women's Grand Prix (WGP). The 21-year-old IM will now be seen playing the WGP in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan from 17th to 30th September 2022.

The first Indian woman to win the title of Grandmaster, Humpy, has withdrawn from the tournament due to medical reasons, as per the world chess body, FIDE.

"IM Vaishali R will replace GM Humpy Koneru in the first WGP tournament in Nur-Sultan. Koneru withdrew from the event for medical reasons," FIDE tweeted on Friday.

The Women's FIDE Chess Grand Prix is a four-tournament series, with 16 players in action. All the 16 players are allowed to play in 3 tournaments each, with a slot at the Women's World Chess Championship match at stake.

Starting from 2009, a total of four editions of Women's FIDE Chess Grand Prix have been held so far with Koneru Humpy finishing as the second-best player in each of the four editions.