PUNE: Koneru Humpy, India's highest-rated woman chess player, has stated that aside from China's Zhu Jiner, she does not foresee any female player achieving an Elo rating of 2600 or breaking into the top-100 in the Open world rankings. Humpy, who is scheduled to compete in the Norway elite chess tournament starting May 25 in Oslo, shared her views with TOI from Vijayawada.
Women's Chess Progress Stalled
Humpy commented, "When we have separate women and men tournaments, I don't see a major breakthrough happening for women. Playing in the same circle of players won't help." She emphasized that without continuous participation in open sections, women would not have significant opportunities for improvement. "You need to work tremendously well to improve by playing in those Open tournaments. I did it for some time before my priorities changed. Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan were exceptions," she added.
Although reigning women's world champion Ju Wenjun reached a peak Elo of 2604 in March 2017, her current rating stands at 2559. Challenger R Vaishali is at 2496.
Humpy's Decision to Withdraw from Candidates
The 39-year-old Humpy, the first Indian woman to earn a Grandmaster title, was one of the favorites to win the Candidates tournament in Cyprus in March-April but withdrew due to safety concerns amid the war in West Asia. "It's more important that I should love the sport when I play a tournament. I shouldn't feel like I'm keeping my family or my near and dear ones under pressure when I am traveling somewhere," Humpy said. "I have no regrets of not playing in that tournament because the scenarios when I withdrew were entirely different."
Humpy noted that she took time to decide only because it directly impacted her qualification for the World title match. However, she felt it was wrong to withdraw quietly without explaining her feelings, indirectly suggesting that FIDE was insensitive about her withdrawal and that player safety should be a top priority.
Chess Boom in India
Humpy referred to the chess upsurge in India as the "Tamil Nadu boom" and expressed a desire for more players to emerge from other states. She chose not to comment extensively on the form slump of world champion D Gukesh or Vaishali's qualification for the women's title match. "I don't want to comment on any other player or any other situation because I have also experienced many things. I have seen the silence from the world when I'm having a tough situation. Maybe, sometimes, it's better to be silent," she stated.
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