Humpy eyeing men's GM title

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, OCT. 3. World junior chess champion, Koneru Humpy, created history of sorts by becoming the first Indian girl to top the rankings in the World youth category (under-20). According to the latest FIDE ratings released on Tuesday, the 14-year-old chess prodigy from Vijayawada is the highest-rated player in this category with an Elo rating of 2464.

Incidentally, Humpy, who is only the second Woman Grandmaster from India after Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi, is the highest-ranked woman player from India and 16th in the world rankings in the same category. This was disclosed by her father- cum-coach Koneru Ashok in an exclusive chat before leaving for Hungary and Yugoslavia today.

Humpy is hungry for more glory as she is leaving for Hungary looking for another rare record - to become the first Indian girl to be the Grandmaster in men's section also.

In the two International Grandmasters tournaments in Hungary and Yugoslavia later this month, Humpy will be trying to get the 13- game norm to achieve her objective. If not, try for at least two nine-game norms. For the record, the above two tournaments are 13-game affairs and on her current form, she is confident of setting history.

Chance to emulate Polgar

In a way, the Bank of Baroda-sponsored girl will try to emulate her childhood idol Judith Polgar to become a Grandmaster in both men's and women's sections. And, if she achieves that, she will be the youngest to set that record.

On these tournaments, she said, ``Basically, I will try to keep my reputation of World junior champion in tact. Is there any area which she still feels she can improve? ``Certainly, I don't consider myself a complete player. There is a big scope for improvement in my all-round game,'' was her modest replay.

Obviously, she doesn't want to be carried away by the sweet taste of success. ``Well, I am comfortable in the middle- game. And the two, very competitive tournaments in Europe should help me in improving in the other areas,'' she explained to a query. She revealed that she learnt quite a lot on some new openings and was hopeful of producing better results. In fact, it was in Hungary that she became the Woman Grandmaster a couple of months ago. And, Humpy has an answer to her critics who point out that she doesn't play too many tournaments in India and for the country. ``If the AICF picks me to represent the country in Olympiad, I will be more than happy,'' she remarked.

Importantly, the teenage sensation from Andhra is also keenly awaiting the response for an entry into the Moscow World Championships next month as she is banking on the FIDE president's quota. With Mr. P.T.Ummer Koya, secretary of AICF also being the vice-president of FIDE, it may not be an impossible task if only he shows the required interest.

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