Humpy, Harika in second round of World Women Chess
Top rated Indian player Koneru Humpy made it to the second round of the World Women`s chess championship at the expense of Melissa Greeff of South Africa on Tuesday.
|Last Updated: Dec 06, 2010, 09:10 PM IST|Source: Bureau
Hatay (Turkey): Top rated Indian player Koneru Humpy made it to the second round of the World Women`s chess championship at the expense of Melissa Greeff of South Africa on Tuesday.
Grandmaster norm holder and former world Junior Girls` champion D Harika came back strongly in the return game to beat compatriot Kruttika Nadig and also eased her way to the next stage in this knockout event based on two-games mini-matches followed by tiebreak games in case of a deadlock.
The 450000 USD championship saw the early elimination of other two Indians ? Souymya Swaminathan and S Meenakshi.
Soumya fought hard but could not do much against Monika Socko of Poland and had to sign peace, while Meenakshi suffered her second defeat in as many rounds at the hands of former world women`s champion Maia Chiburdanidze of Georgia.
At the end of the Classical games of the first round as many as 25 players, including Jovanka Houska of England and Ju Wenjun of China who got Walkovers, made it the second round in this 64-players` event.
The remaining seven matches will be decided in the tiebreaker.
In major surprises of the first round, highly regarded Natalia Pogonian of Russia and Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine were eliminated by Baira Komanova of Marina Romanko (both Russia) respectively.
Local hopeful Yildiz Betul Cemre also came with a fantastic result defeating GM Pia Cramling of Sweden when the latter lost on time and was shown the ouster door.
For the second day running, Humpy displayed fine form to beat Melissa again. It was a queen pawn game that was constructed by the Indian in the style of former world champion Capablanca wherein Humpy increased pressure in the middle game and won a couple of pawns to force matters.
Melissa hung in the game for quite some time, hoping for a miracle that never happened.
Another Indian Harika was in for a surprise yet again against Kruttika as the former, rated around 300 points below than her highly acclaimed compatriot, came up with another inspired performance.
However, the experience of playing in top level events came in handy for Harika as she kept her nerves to steer a wild middle game to her advantage. Once on top, Harika was merciless and won a nice game.
In other top matches of the first round, defending Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia and Yifan Hao of China made merry and will meet a tougher opponent in the next round like Humpy and Harika.
Important results round 1: Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) beat Amina Mezioud (Alg) 2-0; Koneru Humpy (Ind) beat Melissa Greeff (Rsa) 2-0; Carla Heredia Serrano (Ecu) lost to Yifan Hao (Chn); Soumya Swaminatha (Ind) lost to Monika Socko (Pol) 0.5-1.5; S Meenakshi (Ind) lost to Maia Chiburdanidze (Geo) 0-2.
PTI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.