Humpy wins FIDE Women's Grand Prix chess meet, Divya third

Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy won the Pune leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix on the basis of her superior tiebreaks over Zhu Jiner of China after the two players were tied for the top spot here on Wednesday.

Humpy, who regained the women's World Rapid Chess Championship after a gap of five years in New York in December, beat Bulgarian player Nurgyul Salimova in the ninth and final round to end on seven points, the same as Zhu who beat Russia's Polina Shuvalova.

"Humpy Koneru and Zhu Jiner both won their final round games and ended the FIDE Women's Grand Prix tied for first, but it's Humpy who takes the top spot

thanks to superior tiebreaks!" FIDE posted online.

The 37-year-old Humpy will, however, get the same prize and Grand Prix points — 117.5 — as Zhu from the fifth leg of the tournament.

"After a long time, I have achieved a good result in classical chess and I am also gaining rating points. I have always believed that luck always favours the best player. I will be participating in a few events this year," said Humpy.

Wildcard entrant Divya Deshmukh logged 5.5 points to finish third. The 19-year-old Indian scored four victories, three draws and lost two games — to Humpy and Zhu.

Nurgyul adopted the Slav Defence against Humpy who appeared in an attacking mood. A rook move on the 16th move by Nurgyul did not help her cause and Humpy intensified the pressure on the King side to hold advantage from the 19th move. Nurgyul tried to defend but Humpy, a two-time Asian Games gold medallist, pressed on to win after 84 moves.