Koneru Humpy bags Skolkovo Fide Women's Grand Prix title

Indian Chess GM Koneru Humpy held her closest competitor - Chinese Wenjun Ju - to a quick draw in the final round to clinch the Fide World Grand Prix title in Skolkovo with eight points from 11 rounds. In the last round, she had the advantage of playing white against Wenjun who is the current World Champion. A few players still need to finish their final games but Humpy was out of reach.

Humpy had won four games in a row before the final round which meant that she only needed a draw to clinch the title. The other Indian Harika Dronavalli finished sixth with five points from 11 rounds.

The Grand Prix is a series of four tournaments, with the first one won by Humpy in Skolkovo, the other three will be held in Monaco (December 2 to 15), Lausanne (March 1 to 14) and Sardinia (May 2 to 15). A player will get to play three Grand Prix tournaments. The top two finishers from the series will qualify for the Candidates match, which will determine the challenger for the World champion, to be held in 2021.

The top 6:

1. Koneru Humpy (India) 8/11; 2. Ju Wenjun (China) 7.5/11; 3. Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) 6.5/10; 4. Kateryna Lagno (Russia) 6.5/11; 5. Valentina Gunina (Russia) 5.5/10; 6. D. Harika 5/11 (India)