The New York Times on 2012 Women's GP Ankara

From The New York Times

Chess
Women’s Champion Cements Her Status at Grand Prix
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: September 29, 2012

[Excerpted] There is no off-season in chess, but the past week was unusually busy, with three world-class events being held at the same time.

One was the sixth and final tournament of the 2011-12 Women’s Grand Prix series. The tournament, in Ankara, Turkey, wrapped up on Friday and was won by Humpy Koneru of India.

 

The Grand Prix’s top player was supposed to win the honor of playing for the world title next year. That turned out to be Hou Yifan of China, who is currently the champion but first has to defend her title at another tournament this year. If she does that, she would face Koneru, who was the Grand Prix runner-up. If she does not win the tournament, she would have to play the winner of the event.

Coverage on Chess Star GM Koneru Humpy

Another FIDE Women's Grand Prix is taking place - this one in Jermuk (site of a prior Grand Prix).  Here's coverage on Indian star GM Koneru Humpy:

The Times of India

Setback for Koneru Humpy in Jermuk Grand Prix

Jul 24, 2012, 09.34PM IST

CHENNAI: Koneru Humpy suffered a major setback on Tuesday in her attempt to catch up with the leaders in the FIDEWomen's Grand Prix chess tournament at Jermuk.

Humpy lost her seventh-round game to Nadezhda Kosintseva of Russia and stayed in the third position with four points.

The Indian had a chance to catch up with sole leader Ju Wenjun of China, who could not make much progress and drew her game against Kateryna Lahno of Ukraine to move up to five points.

The other games that had a bearing on the lead positions, Hou Yifan vs Zhao Xue and Lufei Ruan vs Elina Danielian, also ended in draws. Yifan and Ruan shared the second position with 4.5 points each.

In Ruy Lopez, Nadezhda positionally out played Humpy and won a pawn in a queen and minor pieces ending on move 30 and later won two more pawns in a queen ending. By move 39, Humpy had nothing left on the board other than her queen.

Nino Khurtsidze of Georgia provided the upset of the day when she beat Ekaterina Kovalevskaya of Russia with black pieces. Khurtsidze won an exchange in English opening and squeezed the Russian in 46 moves.

FIDE Top 100 Women Chessplayers and Growing Ranks of Female GMs

The Top 100 FIDE Ratings Lists are out for September, 2010.

GM Judit Polgar

GM Judit Polgar is #56 on the list at ELO 2682.  How many times now is this in a row she has been in the top 100?

On the Women's List, Judit is again #1.  Other GMs are in bold - the GM title is not the same as the WGM title, which is Woman Grandmaster and a worthy goal in its own right.  In the hierarchy of chess titles, GM is the highest:

Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Polgar, Judit g HUN 2682 0 1976
2 Koneru, Humpy g IND 2593 11 1987
3 Hou, Yifan g CHN 2578 25 1994
4 Kosintseva, Tatiana g RUS 2573 22 1986
5 Kosintseva, Nadezhda m RUS 2565 16 1985
6 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2551 28 1979
7 Lahno, Kateryna g UKR 2539 9 1989
8 Muzychuk, Anna m SLO 2535 15 1990
9 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2534 11 1987
10 Kosteniuk, Alexandra g RUS 2524 9 1984
11 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2516 8 1991
12 Harika, Dronavalli m IND 2515 18 1991
13 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2513 16 1983
14 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2509 11 1963
15 Chiburdanidze, Maia g GEO 2500 22 1961
16 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2499 11 1986
17 Zhukova, Natalia g UKR 2499 0 1979
18 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2491 14 1985
19 Krush, Irina m USA 2490 9 1983
20 Socko, Monika g POL 2486 27 1978
21 Mkrtchian, Lilit m ARM 2484 18 1982
22 Hoang Thanh Trang g HUN 2482 11 1980
23 Galliamova, Alisa m RUS 2482 0 1972
24 Zhu, Chen g QAT 2480 20 1976
25 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2480 9 1978
26 Ruan, Lufei wg CHN 2480 0 1987
27 Xu, Yuhua g CHN 2475 23 1976
28 Gaponenko, Inna m UKR 2469 31 1976
29 Zhao, Xue g CHN 2469 14 1985
30 Paehtz, Elisabeth m GER 2467 3 1985
31 Danielian, Elina m ARM 2466 29 1978
32 Ushenina, Anna m UKR 2466 13 1985
33 Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman m IND 2466 0 1979
34 Gunina, Valentina wg RUS 2465 5 1989
35 Khotenashvili, Bela m GEO 2464 23 1988
36 Skripchenko, Almira m FRA 2464 10 1976
37 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2464 8 1992
38 Tan, Zhongyi wg CHN 2461 16 1991
39 Hunt, Harriet V m ENG 2454 0 1978
40 Dembo, Yelena m GRE 2452 9 1983
41 Javakhishvili, Lela m GEO 2451 9 1984
42 Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan g SCO 2451 0 1968
43 Polgar, Sofia m HUN 2450 0 1974
44 Atalik, Ekaterina m TUR 2447 31 1982
45 Repkova, Eva m SVK 2447 9 1975
46 Kovalevskaya, Ekaterina m RUS 2447 0 1974
47 Rajlich, Iweta m POL 2446 0 1981
48 Shen, Yang wg CHN 2443 33 1989
49 Melia, Salome m GEO 2439 29 1987
50 Moser, Eva m AUT 2436 18 1982
51 Huang, Qian wg CHN 2436 16 1986
52 Khurtsidze, Nino m GEO 2435 18 1975
53 Turova, Irina m RUS 2433 43 1979
54 Matnadze, Ana m GEO 2428 18 1983
55 Houska, Jovanka m ENG 2426 11 1980
56 Khukhashvili, Sopiko m GEO 2422 9 1985
57 Girya, Olga wg RUS 2414 22 1991
58 Munguntuul, Batkhuyag m MGL 2412 11 1987
59 Peptan, Corina-Isabela m ROU 2412 11 1978
60 Romanko, Marina m RUS 2411 0 1986
61 Zawadzka, Jolanta wg POL 2410 18 1987
62 Zaiatz, Elena m RUS 2407 9 1969
63 Savina, Anastasia wg RUS 2404 9 1992
64 Jackova, Jana m CZE 2402 0 1982
65 Ovod, Evgenija m RUS 2401 0 1982
66 Peng, Zhaoqin g NED 2400 8 1968
67 Stockova, Zuzana m SVK 2400 0 1977
68 Michna, Marta wg GER 2399 16 1978
69 Bodnaruk, Anastasia m RUS 2399 5 1992
70 Vasilevich, Tatjana m UKR 2399 0 1977
71 Madl, Ildiko m HUN 2397 10 1969
72 Foisor, Cristina-Adela m ROU 2395 16 1967
73 Wang, Yu A. m CHN 2394 14 1982
74 Batsiashvili, Nino wg GEO 2390 26 1987
75 Milliet, Sophie m FRA 2388 29 1983
76 Maric, Alisa m SRB 2387 0 1970
77 Kononenko, Tatiana m UKR 2384 10 1978
78 Tsereteli, Tamar wg GEO 2384 0 1985
79 Tania, Sachdev m IND 2382 18 1986
80 Gara, Anita m HUN 2382 0 1983
81 Alexandrova, Olga m ESP 2381 0 1978
82 Shadrina, Tatiana wg RUS 2379 9 1974
83 Ding, Yixin wf CHN 2379 8 1991
84 Matveeva, Svetlana m RUS 2379 0 1969
85 Molchanova, Tatjana wg RUS 2378 9 1980
86 Paikidze, Nazi wg GEO 2376 20 1993
87 Mikadze, Miranda wm GEO 2375 9 1989
88 Charkhalashvili, Inga wg GEO 2375 8 1983
89 Stepovaia, Tatiana wg RUS 2375 0 1965
90 Galojan, Lilit m ARM 2373 10 1983
91 Sukandar, Irine Kharisma wg INA 2372 18
92 Gu, Xiaobing wg CHN 2371 6 1985
93 Kovanova, Baira wg RUS 2370 11 1987
94 Pokorna, Regina wg SVK 2370 6 1982
95 Cori T., Deysi wg PER 2368 46 1993
96 Fierro Baquero, Martha L. m ECU 2368 29 1977
97 Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina wg ESP 2368 18 1987
98 Bojkovic, Natasa m SRB 2368 0 1971
99 Djingarova, Emilia wg BUL 2368 0 1978
100 Rudolf, Anna wg HUN 2366 18 1987
101 Goletiani, Rusudan m USA 2366 0 1980

GM Koneru Humpy, Second
Ranked Female Chessplayer
in the World

I count 20 GMs on the list of active players. The list does not include GM Susan Polgar or GM Xie Jun, who are retired from active play.  I may have missed some other retired players - . 

Susan Polgar was the first female chessplayer to earn the GM title in the traditional way.  A few months later her sister, Judit, also earned the GM title in the traditional way and at the time was the youngest player EVER to do so, beating American Bobby Fischer by a few months.  Shortly therafter, Pia Cramling of Norway earned a GM title also in the traditional way.  They were the groundbreakers, but we must not forget the great female players who came before them, who were awarded GM titles for their outstanding play over several years  in chess events. 

Less than five years ago, there were only 11 female GMs on the world list of GMs.  Now there are at least 22.  Check out this list from 2006 - so we can see that great progress has been made by female chessplayers as more of them have entered into the competitive ranks of pro chess and play on a sustained basis, earning the title in the tradition way or by winning tough championship events that qualify them for a GM title. 
2006:
Grandmaster/Country/Birth Date/Date of Title/How Earned/WWC/Highest Rating (as of Nov. 2006)/Notes
1. Nona Gaprindashvili Georgia 1941 1978 Won WWC 1962-78 2381
1st woman to get Grandmaster title
2. Maia Chiburdanidze Georgia 17 Jan 1961 ? Won WWC 1978-91 2560

3. Susan Polgar Hungary 19 Apr 1969 Jan. 1991 Traditional way 1996-99 2577?
First woman to earn Grandmaster title the same way as men
4. Judit Polgar Hungary 23 Jul 1976 Dec. 1991 Traditional way - 2735
At age 15, youngest person of either gender to become a GM at the time, beating Bobby Fischer's record by just over a month, held for over 30 years

5. Pia Cramling Sweden 23 Apr 1963 1992 Traditional way - 2528?

6. Xie Jun China 30 Oct 1970 1995 Traditional way 91-96, 99-01 2557

7. Zhu Chen China 16 Mar 1976 2001 Traditional way 2001-04 2538

8. Humpy Koneru India 31 Mar 1987 2002 Traditional way 2539
Became the youngest GM in history, beating J. Polgar's record by 3 mos.

9. Antoaneta Stefanova Bulgaria 19 Apr 1979 2003 Traditional way 2004-06 2520

10. Alexandra Kosteniuk Russia 23 Apr 1984 2004 Won EWC 2004-06 2540

11. Zhaoqin Peng Holland 8 May 1968 Oct. 2004 Won EWC 2004 2460
WWC=Women's World Champion(ship) • EWC = European Women's Championship • Most birthdates from rec.games.chess
These are exciting times for female chessplayers.  As you can see from the above information, the number of GM titled females has doubled between 2006 and now.  That is just an incredible statistic, if you think about it, particularly since the ranks of female players has not doubled during the same time. 

Koneru Wins!

WOW! Way to go, Humpy, yeah! From the official website: In the last round of İstanbul Women Grand Prix, Humpy Koneru won against Marie Sebag while Hou Yifan faltered against Shen Yang. Elina Danielian scored an important victory and outplayed Xue Zhao to take the second spot. Martha Fierro won against Maia Chiburdanidze while Pia Cramling closed the tournament with a win against Antoaneta Stefanova. Zeinab Mamedyarova and Betül Cemre Yıldız drew. The leader changed for the third time and Humpy Koneru won İş Bank Atatürk FIDE Women Grand Prix with 8.5 out of 11. Elina Danielian took the second place with better tie-break having 8 points while Hou Yifan took the third place. Here are the final standings: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts Res. SB. Koya 1 12 GM KONERU Humpy 2621 IND 8½ 0 43,50 4½ 2 7 IM DANIELIAN Elina 2496 ARM 8 ½ 40,25 4 3 4 GM HOU Yifan 2571 CHN 8 ½ 39,75 4 4 5 GM ZHAO Xue 2508 CHN 7½ 0 35,25 3½ 5 6 GM SEBAG Marie 2529 FRA 6 0 28,00 3 6 3 IM FIERRO Baquero Martha L. 2403 ECU 5½ 1 20,00 1 7 1 GM CRAMLING Pia 2548 SWE 5½ 0 22,75 1 8 11 GM STEFANOVA Antoaneta 2557 BUL 5 ½ 20,75 2 9 9 GM CHIBURDANIDZE Maia 2516 GEO 5 ½ 20,25 1½ 10 10 WGM MAMEDJAROVA Zeinab 2362 AZE 2½ 1 10,25 1 11 8 WGM SHEN Yang 2448 CHN 2½ 0 17,75 2 12 2 WIM YILDIZ Betul Cemre 2214 TUR 2 0 8,00 ½ See also the spare but insightful comments by GM Susan Polgar at her blog. Some interesting stories here - among them the failure of Stefanova, Cramling and Chiburdanidze. What happened? Stefanova can usually be counted upon to be among the front runners, but she lagged behind in this event from the start and never got any better. I can say pretty much the same for Pia Cramling, who earned her GM stripes around the same time that GM Susan Polgar earned hers! And what happened to Marie Sebag, who won her GM title playing in the 2008 European Individual Chess Championship ("Open")? She was lackluster in this event. Who lit that fire under Elina Danielian? GOOD to see her charging ahead in this tournament, wow. I've been covering women's chess for eight years and have seen her in tournament after tournament - sometimes the only woman playing. Always steady, usually out of the lime-light. Not this time! I'd be tempted to say this tournament represents the passing of the "old guard" (relatively speaking), but Danielian gives the lie to that theory! She has been playing very good chess but has been mostly under the radar. I consider Marie Sebag one of the "new guard" but she just didn't have it at this event. Who will be the top female player once Judit Polgar retires? The battle seems to be between Koneru Humpy and Hou Yifan - maybe. Who knows what new female chess star will jump to the fore in the next couple of years?

2009 Isbanc Ataturk Women's Masters Tournament

High drama! Can you tell the Indian press is upset with Humpy's current standing at the Ataturk? Koneru Humpy draws second chess tournament March 11, 2009 Top seed women grandmaster Koneru Humpy of India again settled for her second draw against Shen Yang of China and on the trot to slip to the joint third place in the IS Bank Ataturk Women Grand Prix chess tournament. Now Humpy and Zhao Xue of China share the third place with three points apiece. Humpy will now have to work harder in the remaining seven rounds of this 12-players round robin tournament which is a part of the next world championship cycle.

Koneru Humpy to Play in Women's Grand Prix Event

From The Hindu February 28, 2009 Online Edition Humpy for Turkey event HYDERABAD: World No. 2 Koneru Humpy will take part in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix chess championship to be held in Istanbul (Turkey) from March 6 to 20, according to her father-cum-coach Koneru Ashok. The Turkish event featuring three former world champions, is going to be held as the first one of the Woman Grand Prix series 2009-2010 organised by the FIDE and Global Chess BV. The FIDE Women Grand Prix is a new series of elite tournaments that will have six legs in various countries around the world with three tournaments every year. The next tournament is planned to be held in Nanjing (China) at the end of September. The introduction of the Grand Prix series also means that there will be a World Championship contest annually from 2010. In that year, the champion will be determined from the World Championship knock-out which will also be held in Turkey. In the following year, 2011, the world champion will face the winner of the Grand Prix series 2009-10 in a match for the title. — Principal Correspondent

Koneru Humpy - I Want to Be World Champion

‘Winning the World championship is my dream’ Story from The Hindu January 4, 2009 HYDERABAD: World No. 2 Koneru Humpy has decided to compete in more men’s events in 2009 with the specific objective of breaking the ELO 2650 barrier (her current rating is ELO 2621) and for that she is also planning extensive preparations to master some of the complicated lines in the middle-game. Talking to The Hindu during her visit to Hyderabad for the ONGC inter-active coaching camp, in which Super GM Krishnan Sasikiran, Sandeepan Chanda, Neelotpal Das and Konguvel are also involved, the 21-year-old Humpy said the semifinal defeat in the last World championship [that is, Women's World Chess Championship] still haunts her as she had lost that contest from a seemingly comfortable position. “I don’t think I had a moderate year in 2008 given the fact that I won a bronze in the World championship, helped my club Monaco finish second in the European Club championship, finished second after tying for the first place in the Mumbai International event and good rating points in the Spanish Ruy Lopez championship,” she said. Consistent About five years ago, Viswanathan Anand rated Humpy and Pentyala Harikrishna as the potential world champions. Does it hurt her that she is still to win the big title? “Certainly not. The fact that I have been the World No. 2 for more than three years, and considering the fact that Judith Polgar is the No. 1 despite not playing in the women’s circuit for a long time now, is proof that I am consistent at the highest level. But, no doubt, winning the World championship is the dream I am chasing now,” she said. Humpy said she needs to improve her openings repertoire and look for complicated lines especially in the middle-game. “There is no need for a ‘second’ even now. My father (Koneru Ashok) will continue to be my coach and he is capable of helping me realise my dream of becoming a world champion one day,” she asserted. “Yes, it is a pity that not many international Grandmasters tournaments are being held in India compared to countries like China. This is a major handicap for all Indians as playing abroad is a pretty expensive affair and it will be worse given the economic recession now prevailing,” she said. High expectations “I am aware that having won the 2001 World junior championship, expectations on me are naturally high. There is no doubt that I badly need a really big win to silence some of the critics,” Humpy said. “Definitely, the standard of chess has improved a lot in India in recent times. There are many more brilliant players now analysing the positions with a high level of excellence and the game is really getting competitive which is good.” For the first time in her international career, Humpy will be taking a three-month break before competing in an international event.

Koneru Out of 2008 Women's World Chess Championship: The Aftermath

From dnaindia.com Humpy Dumpty had a big fall… Rajesh Pansare Monday, September 15, 2008 04:16 IST MUMBAI: During an interview last year, Grand Master Koneru Humpy tipped Chinese sensation Yifan Hou to match the heights reached by Judith Polgar, the first women’s Grand Master and the highest-rated women’s player. At the Women’s World Championship in Nalchik, Russia, we came to know why Humpy spoke so highly of the 14-year-old Hou. The Chinese denied the top-rated Indian player a place in the final. Humpy has never won the World championship and this time it was Hou who came in the way. Humpy is the best thing going around in women’s chess. She has an ELO rating of 2,622 but Hou is not a walkover. Hou has the fourth-best rating among women (2,557). But what titled the game in favour of the Chinese? Experts believe Humpy has the tendency to choke under pressure, especially when she is a favourite at a tournament. Grand Master Abhijit Kunte said, “Humpy puts a lot of pressure on herself to win the World championship and though she won the early rounds with ease, she buckled under pressure against her Chinese opponent in the first game. Though she won the second game, she never played her normal game from there on.” After being knocked out in 2004 in the semis and 2006 in the second round, Humpy had trained all her energies towards clinching the World title, the only trophy missing from her cabinet. But like in the previous editions, she failed to deliver. She even withdrew her name from the Indian squad to take part in the Olympiad, to can concentrate on this event. And though, she had achieved her peak rating in July this year, she was not in the best of form going in this tournament. Dronacharya awardee and chess coach Raghunandan Gokhale has an interesting take. “Humpy likes to take part in the men’s tournament because she is an underdog with no pressure on herself. But that’s not the case in the women’s tournament, where everyone expects her to win. Being the highest rated women’s player automatically puts a lot of pressure on her. As a result she doesn’t perform to the best of her ability.” Humpy’s loss means India were denied the distinction of having reigning champions in all the major categories. She could have joined the list of other champions like men’s world champion in Viswanathan Anand, men’s world junior champion in Abhijeet Gupta and the women’s U-20 champion in Dronavalli Harika. So how can Humpy crack the code? “Maybe change her coach,” Gokhale felt. “She has been coached by her father (Koneru Ashok) for a long time, who is a good coach, but if she has to improve her game further, she has to train with a foreign coach, maybe a Russian. She has to change her outlook towards the game.” But Abhijit Kunte has a complete different take on Humpy’s game. “She is a pretty strong player and will bounce back from this loss. It’s just a one-off game. She doesn’t have to make any drastic change. She just has to be mentally more strong,” Kunte said.

A Disappointing Loss for Koneru

There was plenty of game by game coverage in the Indian press during the Women's World Chess Championship as several Indian players participated in the knock-out event. The highest rated player at the WWCC and the second highest-rated female player in the world (behind only Judit Polgar), GM Koneru Humpy, lost during a second round of play-off games to 14 year old GM-elect Hou Yifan of China:

• Humpy out of world championship (9/12/08) - Grandmaster Koneru Humpy bowed out of the World Women Chess Championship succumbing to 14-year old Yifan Hao of China in the blitz tiebreak games of the semi-finals
• Yifan in final (9/13/08) - Chinese prodigy Hou Yifan inflicted a heart-breaking twin-defeat on second seed K. Humpy in the two five-minute blitz games for a 4-2 victory in the semifinals of the Women’s World chess championship...

It seems probable at this point that Hou will overtake Koneru on the women's ratings list by the end of 2008 and will storm toward 2700, much as another teen "prodigy" has - Magnus Carlsen (now storming toward 2800). Will Hou be unstoppable? If she wins the women's title, will she gun for the "men's" title? Hey Topalov, Aronian, Carlsen, Anand, et al., watch out boys!

Well, okay, maybe not. I don't think Hou is the best female player in the world - she's still extremely unseasoned and she hasn't had enough experience playing against higher-rated male players. Her results over the past couple of years have been highly inconsistent. Let's see what happens over the next three years or so.

An Interview with GM Koneru Humpy

She is such a centered, focused young woman, and I admire her (and her chess accomplishments) tremendously. This is one of my favorite photographs of Koneru, receiving the Padma Shri award from A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, in 2007. She looks lovely - serene, comfortable and confident.

Here is an interview I missed from December 11, 2007 at Latest Chess (there are many photographs too):

Grandmaster Koneru Humpy holds the record for the youngest woman ever to become a Grandmaster, she achieved the GM title when she was 15 years, beating Judit Polgar's previous record by 3 months! She crossed 2600 ELO rating in October 2007 FIDE rating list, presently she is at number two in the world for women (behind Judit Polgar), breaking the record of 2577 set by Susan Polgar for the second highest ranked female player in Chess history.

In this interview with Konery Humpy, she tells us about her recent performances, her views on Indian women's Olympiad chess team, women-only chess events, importance of physical fitness. She also talks about the importance of encouragement and support from family, role of parents. She considers Hou Youifan of China as the best upcoming player who can possibly match with Judith Polgar...We hope our readers would enjoy reading the interview with interesting snaps and famous games of Grandmaster Koneru Humpy.

LatestChess:- Hello Humpy, We are glad to have you on LatestChess. Congratulations for crossing 2600+ ELO rating, you performed very well in European Team Championships and Asian indoor games as well. You must be very happy with your performances.
Koneru Humpy:- Thank you, I'm happy with my performance in European Club Cup. I scored 5.5 out of 6 games with a performance rating of 2800. However, I had mixed results in Asian Indoor Games. I知 not satisfied with my performance in rapid & classical. But, winning against Zhu Chen in the finals and taking Gold Medal in Blitz is satisfactory.

LatestChess:- You almost got selected in the last years India men's chess team for Olympiad, this year if you qualify, would you prefer to play in men's team or considering your need for the women's team, you would play in women's team?
Koneru Humpy:- In case, I get a chance to play in men's team, I'd prefer to play in men's chess only. There is no point in expecting to win a medal in Women Olympiad unless we have players with 2500+ rating.

LatestChess:- According to a study done in London, women chess players play worse against their male counterparts. The survey suggests that Women feel inferior when they play chess against men. We are sure you wont agree with this survey, what are your views on this?
Koneru Humpy:- As you said, I definitely won't agree with this survey. Number of players in women's section is insignificant when compared to men. This number should increase, so that there will be more competition that will enable to strengthen women's chess. As you can observe, now there are more women players with rating around 2500. Earlier we barely had one or two players at that rating level. I'm sure, we can find more women players at 2600 level in future.

LatestChess:- Do you think our culture will be able to make it more conducive for girls to stay in chess as they get older? What's needed to accomplish this?
Koneru Humpy:- In my opinion chess game is more advantageous than outdoor games for girls. Excessive physical fitness is not required in chess as in case of other games. So, girls will be more comfortable to play irrespective of their age. Encouragement and support from family is necessary to continue their career.

LatestChess:- Judit Polgar is famously known for avoiding women-only chess tournaments. Have you ever thought of doing likewise?
Koneru Humpy:- My concentration will be more on men's events. However, I'll continue to play selectively in some official events in the Women's section. Probably Women world Championship will be my next tourney in women's arena.

LatestChess:- What are your views on women-only chess events? Are they useful for encouraging more women to participate?
Koneru Humpy:- Now-a-days, women's events are also gaining popularity. In the recent times, more invitation tournaments like North Urals Cup are being organized in the women's section. Women-only events help a lot. They will encourage more young girls to play chess.

LatestChess:- In India, Many young chess players are ready to take a break in the education and they are fully focused on chess preparations. What are your views?
Koneru Humpy:- I don't think that taking up chess as a career and completely neglecting studies will be necessary at earlier stage. After getting certain level in the game, they themselves should decide their preferences i.e. whether to play seriously or not.

LatestChess:- What big DO or DON'T advice would you offer parents of enthusiastic and talented chess children?
Koneru Humpy:- Parents shouldn't compel children to play chess. If children are genuinely interested in the game, they should encourage them. But, they shouldn't hurry to get results.

LatestChess:- How often do you exercise? Do you think daily physical exercise can help a chess player to cope with pressure and increase brain's ability to concentrate?
Koneru Humpy:- I spend around one hour per day on physical exercise. Exercise is a must for every chess player. As the proverb says, "a sound mind in a sound body", exercise shows a lot of impact on brain.

LatestChess:- Who do you consider the best up coming young female players in the world, aside from yourself? Do you think, any of the current young crop can match with Judith Polgar?
Koneru Humpy:- I consider Hou Youifan of China as the best upcoming player. She is performing outstandingly for her age. If she improves further and shows stability, she can possibly match with Judith Polgar.

LatestChess:- You are the only one who is much closer to the strongest female chess player in the world. What feeling do you get when you are described as one of the best female chess players of all time?
Koneru Humpy:- Being a woman I'm enjoying my status as one of the best female players. But I'll be happy if I am successful among men.

LatestChess:- Could you tell us a few words about you most important career achievements?
Koneru Humpy:- Winning World Junior in 2001 at the age of fourteen and becoming Grandmaster in 2002 at the age of fifteen are important achievements. I consider winning two International Open tournaments in Europe as my best performance so far.

LatestChess:- Where do you see yourself in next one year? What are your expectations?
Koneru Humpy:- My next target is to win Women world Championship. As far as rating is concerned I want to cross 2650.

More Press on Humpy

From Sportstar Weekly From the publishers of THE HINDU VOL.30 :: NO.31 :: Aug. 04, 2007 CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR By the high standards she has set for herself, 2006 wasn’t a great year for Koneru Humpy. “My game didn’t progress the way I wanted it to, and the main reason for that was that I didn’t play in as many tournaments as I would have liked to, because I didn’t have a sponsor,” says the Vijayawada-based World No. 2 in women’s chess. “After joining ONGC as a personnel administrative officer, I can now play in all the tournaments I want to.” She could as well have said that she could win all the tournaments she wanted to. The 20-year-old won two open tournaments in Europe, back to back, recently. And in both of those events — the HSG Open in Hilversum (Netherlands) and the Kaupthing Open in Differdange (Luxembourg) — most of her rivals were men. She has always relished her battles with the stronger sex. She had won the Asian (under-12) boys’ title in 1999. She has won men’s events before this twin triumph in Europe, too. Humpy says she didn’t anticipate her two latest victories, though. “My aim was to gain some Elo points so that I could improve my rating, which hasn’t changed much for a year. I had actually wanted to cross the 2600 mark last year.” She is inching close to that mark now, having collected 25 points from the two European events. Her July rating is 2572, so she should be able to go past the 2600 mark in the next rating list, to be released in October. In the history of women’s chess, only one player — Judit Polgar of Hungary — has been there before. Humpy is looking forward to gain more Elo points from her forthcoming tournaments so that she could go beyond 2600. “My next event is the Abu Dhabi Open from August 12. Then I will be playing for Monaco Chess Club in the European Club Championship in Turkey — my teammates are Zhu Chen, Pia Cramling, Almira Skripchenko and Monica Socko — and the Asian Indoor Games in Macau,” she says.

Breaking Into the Top

From Dylan McClain's chess column at the New York Times:

Polgar May Get Some Company as a Woman in the Elite Ranks

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: July 22, 2007

A nagging question over the years has been: Why aren’t there more good players who are women?

Since the World Chess Federation began ranking players more than 40 years ago, only one, Judit Polgar of Hungary, has been in the top 100.

Some men, notably Garry Kasparov, the former champion, have suggested that women do not have the psychological makeup (meaning aggressiveness) or intellectual capacity to play high-level chess.

Late last year, a study in Psychological Science concluded that that was not necessarily true. It said a likely reason for the dearth of good women players was that not enough of them played competitive chess.

The study was by Christopher F. Chabris, a research associate in the psychology department at Harvard, and Mark E. Glickman, an associate professor of health policy and management at Boston University.

“If you look at boys and girls who started at roughly the same playing strength,” Professor Glickman said, “if you look at them at the start and follow them over time, there tends not to be a difference.”

Still, it is puzzling that Polgar has stood alone for so long. At long last, however, she may be about to get some help in the battle of the sexes. Humpy Koneru, a 20-year-old from India, may be poised to break into the elite ranks. She is now the No. 2 woman in the world, one of just 10 to earn the title of grandmaster, which she did at 15 years 2 months, three months younger than Polgar was when she earned the title. Over the last 18 months, she has played a number of strong tournaments against men, including the second section of the elite Corus tournament in 2006, with good results.

Two weeks ago, in a field with 13 grandmasters, she tied for first at the Kaupthing Open in Luxembourg with Hannes Stefansson of Iceland. Going into the last round, she was in a six-way tie for first, but beat Sebastian Siebrecht of Germany. How’s that for lack of aggression?

After 3 Nf3, Siebrecht had a few options as Black, but steered the game into a Benoni opening, showing he was spoiling for a fight.

Koneru and Siebrecht showed that they knew recent theory, playing more than 20 moves that followed the course of recent games, in particular a 2001 encounter between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, which ended in a draw.

Siebrecht should have removed his king from in front of Koneru’s rook with 22 ... Kh8. Koneru’s 29 Rf1 was not the most accurate, as Siebrecht could have played 29 ... Qb2. Instead, 29 ... Qd5 opened the critical a2/g8 diagonal for White’s bishop.

Still, the position was not fatal. After 30 f5, Siebrecht could play 30 ... c4, when 31 Bc4 is met by 31 ... Rf5.

But 30 ... Ref7 was a critical error. Even after 31 ... Rf5 32 Rh4 Kg8 33 Rg1 Qb7 34 Bc3, Black is losing.

Siebrecht fell on his sword with 33... Be4 rather than play out a most likely hopeless position with 34 ... Qg2 35 Kg2 Bc2.