In the women's division of the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship on Friday up Almaty, Kazakhstan, Indian ace Koneru Humpy turned in an outstanding performance after a slow start in the first round. In the 17th and final round, she defeated Zhongyi Tan, who had just won the World Rapid title a few days prior. The 35-year-old Humpy was in excellent form on day two of the competition, compiling seven outstanding wins and drew with fellow countryman Dronavalli Harika in the 14th round. On Thursday, he had only four wins from the first nine rounds and was ranked in the mid-40s.
She came in second place with 12.5 points, barely 0.5 points behind Kazakhstan's Bibisara Balabayeva.
One of the high points of Humpy's performance that day was her victory over Zhongyi Tan of China in the 17th and final round, which prevented her rival from winning a second gold medal in the World Rapid competition.
Prior to the Blitz competition, the Rapid championship saw Humpy place sixth. She had previously won the World Rapid title.
"It was a perfect day for me with 7.5 points out 8 games ,fetching the first ever silver medal in the women world Blitz chess championship!" Humpy wrote on Twitter.
Harika, who earned 10.5 points overall, was forced to settle for 13th place, while Padmini Rout took 17th.
In a competitive field, Tania Sachdev placed 21st while B Savitha Shri, who took home a bronze in the Rapid championship, was ranked 33rd with 9.5 points.
No Indian player could attain a top-10 finish in the Open competition, which was won by world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway with 16 points.
The top Indian in the Open division was the seasoned P Harikrishna, who finished in 17th place with 13 points and was followed by Nihal Sarin, who had an identical number of points.
Fast-rising The top-seeded Indian here, Arjun Erigaisi, finished 42nd after a disjointed performance in which he dropped games 16, 17, and 18. Compatriot Vidit Santosh Gujrathi's performance was inconsistent, placing him in a dismal 90th place.
In addition to the world quick championship Carlsen won on Wednesday, he also won the Blitz crown.
The Norwegian defeated Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Aleksandr Shimanov in the 20th and 21st rounds, respectively, to finish a point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura after suffering defeats at the hands of Russian players Ian Nepomniatchi and Alexey Sarana in the 15th and 21st rounds, respectively (15 points).
Indian athletes competed in the World Blitz tournament: Women: Koneru Humpy finished in second place with 12.5 points; Harika came in at 10.5 points; Padmini Rout finished at 10.5 points; Tania Sachdev finished at 10 points; B Savitha Shri (9.5, 33rd).
