The Hindu : Sport : Humpy elated at rare feat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Humpy elated at rare feat

V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD: For 20-year-old Koneru Humpy, becoming a super Grandmaster is a high point of her career which should only spur her in future.

She became the second woman after Judith Polgar to do so in women’s section.

Speaking to The Hindu on her return from the Dubai international tournament, the former World junior champion said that after a shaky start where she won just 2.5 points from the first five rounds, she never thought of achieving any thing special.

“Especially after the loss to Tejas Bakre I was terribly disappointed. But later things moved dramatically in my favour and a win over top seed GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij of Ukraine (ELO 2761) helped me in winning those crucial ELO points which gave me this rare privilege,” Humpy, the first Indian woman to achieve this feat, said.

How significant is this achievement in the long-term perspective of her career? “Now obviously, it is difficult to sustain this high-level of rating. I have to be consistently brilliant. If you consider the fact that after V. Anand and K. Sasikiran, I am the only other Indian to achieve this feat, you can understand the pressure on me,” she said.

“Honestly, I never thought I would become a Super GM in the Dubai event itself and I dedicate this to my parents — Ashok and Lata,” she said.

Perfect platform

Humpy feels that the European Club championship from October 2 to 10 and Macau Asian Indoor Games from October 26, where five gold medals in chess are at stake, should be a perfect platform for her preparations for the next year’s World championship.

“Essentially, I will be looking to improve my opening repertoire and also be a much better player in rapid chess which is likely to be the format for the World championship. And my father Ashok will continue to be my coach,” Humpy said.

“This Super GM title, coming close on the heels of the Padma Shri and my father being nominated for the Dronacharya Award, should only make us try for much bigger things in future,” Humpy said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport