'Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan were exceptions': Koneru Humpy urges women chess players to play more 'open' tournaments

PUNE: Koneru Humpy, India’s top-rated woman chess player, said that besides China’s Zhu Jiner she doesn’t see any woman player having the potential to reach an Elo rating of 2600 and break into the top-100 in Open world rankings.

Humpy, who is set to play Norway elite chess meet from May 25 in Oslo, told TOI from Vijayawada, “When we have separate women and men tournaments, I don’t see a major breakthrough happening for women. Playing in the same circle of players won’t help.





“There would not be any great opportunity for improvement unless women start playing continuously in an open section. And you need to work tremendously well to improve by playing in those Open tournaments. I did it for some time before the priorities changed. Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan were exceptions,” she added.

Though the reigning women’s world champion Ju Wenjun had attained a peak Elo rating of Elo 2604 in March 2017, she is currently at 2559. R Vaishali, her challenger, is at 2496.

The 39-year-old Humpy, first Indian woman to get a GM title, was one of the favourites to win the Candidates tournament in Cyprus in March-April but withdrew due to safety concerns amid the uncertainty arising out of the war in West Asia. “It’s more important that I should love the sport when I play a tournament. I shouldn’t feel like I’m keeping my family or my near and dear ones under pressure when I am travelling somewhere,” Humpy said, “I have no regrets of not playing in that tournament because the scenarios when I withdrew were entirely different.”

Humpy said she took some time to take the decision only because it had a direct impact on qualifying for the World title match. But she felt it was not right to withdraw quietly without explaining her feelings — indirectly suggesting that FIDE were insensitive about her withdrawal and players’ safety should have been a top priority.

Humpy preferred to call the chess upsurge in the country as the “Tamil Nadu boom” and felt that more players should come up from other states. She chose not to comment much on the slip in form of world champ D Gukesh or Vaishali qualifying for the women’s title match.

Humpy said, “I don’t want to comment on any other player or any other situation because I have also experienced many things. I have seen the silence from the world when I’m having a tough situation. Maybe, sometimes, it’s better to be silent.”

Stay updated with the latest IPL Live Score Score, IPL news on Times of India. Follow the IPL Schedule, check the IPL Points Table, and track the race for the IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple Cap.