New York: India's Koneru Humpy on Sunday defeated Indonesia's Irene Sukandar to win a historic second World Rapid Chess Championship title.

Humpy won the event in Georgia in 2019 and is the second Indian woman to win the title more than once after China's Ju Wenjun, the number one female player. Thirty-seven-year-old Humpy finished the tournament with 8.5 points out of a possible 11.

After registering victory, Humpy said, 'I am very excited and I am very happy. I was expecting it to be a very tough day, like some kind of tie-break. But when I finished the game, I came to know when the arbiter told me and it was a stressful moment for me.' The Indian player, who plays with black pieces, said, 'This is quite unexpected because I have been struggling throughout the year and the performance was very poor in many tournaments where I finished last. So this is like a surprise for me.'

2024 was a great year for Indian chess

Humpy's achievement caps a glorious year for Indian chess. Earlier, D Gukesh had recently become champion in the classical format World Championship in Singapore by defeating China's Ding Liren. In September, India created history by winning gold medals in the open and women's categories for the first time at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.

Gave credit for success to family

Humpy credited her family for this success. She said, 'I think this was possible because of the support of my family. My husband and my parents...they support me a lot. My parents take care of my daughter when I travel. It is not easy to become a world champion at the age of 37. As you grow older, it becomes very difficult to maintain that motivation and stay agile when needed. I am happy that I was able to do this.'

After the first round defeat, the title was not in my mind

Veteran Humpy admitted that she was not thinking about the title after the first round defeat. She said, 'I think I was not thinking about the title after the first round defeat but things went well, especially winning four games in a row yesterday helped me.' However, Humpy also faced some challenges outside the game due to the huge time difference between India and the US. She said, 'Yes, outside the board, it was very difficult for me due to the time difference. There was a lack of sleep. I have not been able to sleep properly since coming here. So it was not easy to play but I am happy that I was able to do so.'

Humpy's performance has been excellent in the World Rapid Championship

Humpy has always excelled in the World Rapid Championship. She won bronze in this competition in Moscow in 2012 and silver in Samarkand, Uzbekistan last year. Humpy said that her victory will now inspire other Indians to play chess. She said, 'I think this is the right time for India. We have Gukesh as the world champion and now I have got my second world title in the rapid competition. So I think this will inspire a lot of youngsters to play chess professionally.

18-year-old Volodar Murzin of Russia won the men's title. Murzin is the second-youngest FIDE World Rapid Champion after Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who won the title at the age of 17.