Koneru Humpy wins Kaupthing GM Open

Differdange, Luxembourg, July 15 (UNI) Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy did justice to her 'Super-GM in the making' status by staving off stiff challenge from German International Master Sebastia Siebrecht to win the Kaupthing Chess Championship here.

Although Humpy finished level with Israeli Grandmaster Hannes Stefansson at seven points but won the title by virtue of her better overall performance.

After three draws on a trot and sharing a six-way lead at the end of the penultimate round, Humpy capped off a dream run to lift the coveted title.

At the end of the eighth round there were six players who staked their claim for the Trophy but Humpy kept the Indian flag fluttering by beating Sebastia Siebrecht in the final round.

At 20, Humpy is the second-highest ranked female player (after Judit Polgar) in the FIDE rating lists.

The Indian GM took home a prize money of 3,000 euro along with a special prize of 1500 euro, which was set aside for a woman winner.

Humpy and Stefansson were half a point clear of their nearest rivals. Overnight joint leaders GM Erdos Viktor of Hungary and his Czech counterpart Petr Velicka were among the five tied at 6.5 points.

While Viktor drew his final game against French International Master Gharamian Tigran, Velicka suffered a loss to Stefansson.

In 2002 she set a world record by becoming the youngest-ever woman to earn the men's GM title, at the age of 15 years, 1 month and 27 days. Now she has won the Kaupthing GM Open, which pushes her rating to 2600.

Humpy showed nerves of steel in Differdange, a sleepy township south west of Luxembourg, known as the city of Steel.

The Andhra girl's victory is all the more creditable as altogether 177 chess players from all over the world graced the championship, played as an Open Meet.

Besides Humpy, a number of Grandmasters like Antoaneta Stefanova, Vadim Malakatko, Petr Velicka, Viktor Erdos Tigran Gharamian, Kritz Leonid, Inna Goponenko and the oldest Grandmaster from Czech Republic, Vlastimil Jansa, were there to compete for the 3000 Euro first prize.

Final standings : (6.0/9 or higher) Ratings Points 1. Koneru Humpy 2572 7.0 2. Stefansson Hannes 2568 7.0 3. Erdos Viktor 2523 6.5 4. Gharamian Tigran 2517 6.5 5. Kritz Leonid 2571 6.5 6. Steingrimsson Hed 2470 6.5 7. Feller Sebastien 2478 6.5 UNI XC SAM RN2049