Humpy leads at women`s chess meet

Koneru Humpy kept her unbeaten record intact after day two and six rounds of play at the 2012 women`s World Chess Rapid and Blitz Championships.

Batumi (Georgia): Koneru Humpy of India and Stefanova Antoaneta from Bulgaria kept their unbeaten record intact after day two and six rounds of play at the 2012 women`s World Chess Rapid and Blitz Championships here.

Both Grandmasters (GM) of FIDE merits, scored four wins against two draws for five points from two days of competition Friday. The Indian GM was slightly ahead thanks to detailed calculations, Xinhua reported. Russia`s Alexandra Kosteniuk, another GM, scored two wins against one defeat, at the hands of Stefanova Antoaneta to rank third among 50 players from 18 countries. Hosts Georgia are fielding two of their old-timers, Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze. The duo, at 71 and 51 years of age, respectively, kept the women`s world championship title to themselves for the former Soviet Union and Georgia between 1962 and 1991. After six rounds of play, the younger Chiburdanidze still garnered 3.5 points to rank at a temporary 17th position while the older Gaprindashvili netted one point to stay at the 48th place -- clear from the absolute bottom of the 50-player pack. Three more rounds were scheduled to be played out Saturday, to be followed by two more rounds Sunday before the rapid chess world championship title is decided. IANS