Dec 30, 2024 08:15 PM IST
This year, chess quietly emerged as the sport that consistently perched the country on top of the world
In a year when India’s cricket team lifted the T20 World Cup after 17 years, sparking a reception in Mumbai befitting the occasion, and shooter Manu Bhaker brought back unprecedented twin bronze medals from the Paris Olympics, chess quietly emerged as the sport that consistently perched the country on top of the world. And Koneru Humpy winning the Women’s World Rapid title in New York on Saturday capped that golden year for Indian chess. Humpy won her final-round game against Indonesia’s Irene Sukandar with Black to edge out China’s Ju Wenjun and Russia’s Kateryna Lagno, who finished second and third, respectively. This was Humpy’s second World Rapid crown and she is tied with Ju as the only player to have won the title twice. She was the runner-up last year.
India’s victory march in chess began with 18-year-old D Gukesh when, against all odds, he became India’s first Candidates champion since five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand. That earned him the ticket to challenge then-world champion, China’s Ding Liren. Just five months after that, in September, India won the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in both the Open and the Women’s categories. Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and P Harikrishna were the heroes of the Open team, while D Harika, R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev led the women’s team to the title. And on December 13, came the icing on the cake: Gukesh erased Garry Kasparov’s record to become the youngest-ever chess world champion defeating Liren over 14 classical games.
“It’s time for India. We have Gukesh as the world champion. Now I’ve got my second world title in the Rapid event. I think this will motivate youngsters,” Humpy said after her victory. Indeed, the tribe grows, as does India’s stature in the chess world.
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