Humpy crashes out of World C’ship
16 Nov 2012 8:13 AM IST
Grandmaster and highest rated in the fray, Koneru Humpy crashed out of the World Women’s Chess Championship after failing to capitalise on her chances against Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine in the second game of the second round that concluded on Wednesday.
After losing the first game of the two-game mini-match, the Indian faced a daunting task of winning with black in the return game and when the chance came to turn the battle in her favour, Humpy stumbled and went on to lose her second game in a row against Zhukova. The other remaining Indian in the event - D Harika - however kept herself in contention with some smart work against Elina Danielian of Armenia that saw her through to the pre-quarterfinal stage of this knock-out championship.
Sitting with a cushion of a full point lead having won the first game, Harika played solidly and took a draw in a better position which was enough to secure her entry to the next round. Humpy was the only one to lose by a 0-2 margin. The reason for that was simply that the Indian wanted to win at any cost. It was a King’s Indian vide transposition and though the position looked optically favourably for Zhukova in the middle game it was not easy to find plans.
After losing the first game of the two-game mini-match, the Indian faced a daunting task of winning with black in the return game and when the chance came to turn the battle in her favour, Humpy stumbled and went on to lose her second game in a row against Zhukova. The other remaining Indian in the event - D Harika - however kept herself in contention with some smart work against Elina Danielian of Armenia that saw her through to the pre-quarterfinal stage of this knock-out championship.
Sitting with a cushion of a full point lead having won the first game, Harika played solidly and took a draw in a better position which was enough to secure her entry to the next round. Humpy was the only one to lose by a 0-2 margin. The reason for that was simply that the Indian wanted to win at any cost. It was a King’s Indian vide transposition and though the position looked optically favourably for Zhukova in the middle game it was not easy to find plans.
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