chess olympiad

Koneru Humpy wasn’t there when the Indian women won the historic gold at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in 2024. She will be there though to lead India’s title defence at Samarkand next month.

The presence of two-time World rapid champion has no doubt further strengthened the Indian team. Humpy, one of the strongest female players in history, is looking forward to her return to the Olympiad, after being part of the bronze-medal winning team in the 2022 event, which India had hosted, at Mamallapuram, near Chennai.

“I am really glad to be part of such a strong team at this year’s Olympiad, though I know it is not going to be easy to defend the title,” Humpy told The Hindu over the phone from Vijayawada on Tuesday. “More than winning something for the first time, winning for the second time is usually more difficult.”

Humpy’s teammates in Uzbekistan are Divya Deshmukh, R. Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri. So India will definitely start as one of the favourites for the title.

“But we could expect to face strong challenges from countries like Russia, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan and the United States,” she said.

“I have had to miss quite a few Olympiads in the past, but I was determined to play in this one, as I am not sure how active as a player I would be when the next one comes after two years.”

Humpy is going to be pretty active over the next couple of months, though. “I am flying to the US tomorrow for the Cairns Cup at Saint Louis,” she said.

“From there, I will be going to Saint-Tropez in France for the WR Women’s Chess Tour. And then, after spending a few days at home, I will be playing at the Global Chess League in Bengaluru.”

Though the GCL hadn’t gone that well for her last year, the experience helped her to perform well at the World rapid championship at Doha, where she had won the bronze after being involved in a three-way tie for the title.

“I was playing at the GCL after a fairly long break, so I wasn’t at my best, but the format of the league proved an excellent preparation for the World rapid championship,” Humpy said.

“The GCL’s rule of having no increment can be tough for the players as we are used to playing with increments in all other tournaments.”