World Blitz C’ship: Humpy wins silver

ALMATY (KAZAKHSTAN): India’s Koneru Humpy came up with a superb performance after a modest run in the initial phase, clinching the silver medal in the women’s section of the FIDE World Blitz Championship here on Friday.

Humpy ended with 12.5 points, just half-a-point behind the winner Bibisara Balabayeva of Kazakhstan. She finished strongly, beating Zhongyi Tan of China, who won the World Rapid title a few days ago, in the 17th and final round.

After posting only four wins from the first nine rounds on Thursday and being placed in the mid-40s, the 35-year-old Humpy was in top form on day two of the competition, registering seven victories and drawing with compatriot D Harika in the 14th round.

One of the highlights of Humpy’s performance on the day was the defeat of Zhongyi to dent her opponent’s chances of earning the gold medal. “It was a perfect day for me with 7.5 points out of 8 games, fetching the first-ever silver medal in the women world Blitz chess championship!” Humpy wrote on Twitter.

Humpy had finished sixth in the Rapid championship, which preceded the Blitz competition.