HYDERABAD: “I’m ready for the battle against Hou Yifan. I’m on my way to realise my dream and am motivated to work harder when I face her in September this year,’’ said Koneru Humpy on her return from Doha where she earned the right to challenge the reigning women’s world champion Hou Yifan of China. The venue is yet to be announced.
Humpy, who began badly losing to Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia in the first game, staged a brilliant rally –– collecting 5.5 points in the last six games –– to triumph in the Women’s GP in Doha, the sixth and final leg. She finished the tournament with 8 points (six wins, 4 draws and one loss) and tied for top spot with Elina Danielian. But the Indian pipped the Armenian because of better tie-break score. Humpy had a score of 41.75 while Danielian had 40.25.
The 23-year-old became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to fight for world title. “It is an important win of my career and a huge moment for me. I have been close to reaching the final twice but I lost in the semifinals, both times to Hou,” said Humpy. But coach and father Koneru Ashok said Humpy was unfortunate that the last two times when she met Hou, she had to play with the black pieces. “There is always a luck factor. But I’m happy my daughter has made it to the final finally. It is a tribute to her hard work and sincerity,’’ he said.
Humpy, who was the youngest woman ever to become a GM at that point, bettering Judit Polgar’s mark by three months at the age of 15 years, said she was looking forward to the biggest challenge of her career. “I have got the opportunity to play Hou in the 10-game match now when I can play five games with white and five games with black. It is a classical format, which I prefer,’’ she said.
Ashok and Humpy said they will be working on various strategies for the final match. “We will hire a trainer, possibly a foreigner, and a second (who could be an Indian) for the world title match. We will be working on various strategies, particularly on finishing the game,’’ said Ashok, who is also a Dronacharya awardee.
Talking about Doha tournament, Humpy admitted she had a sluggish start before recovering superbly in the second half. “I lost my first game to Nana but after that I played strongly. I started preparing for each player. It worked out and my best win was versus Maia Chiburdanidze. I played a good attacking game against her,” said Humpy.