A true champion is someone who rises every time they fall. Meet Koneru Humpy. She has overcome criticism, prejudice, and life’s pauses, returning stronger to win world titles, defy age, and break barriers.
At 15, she became the youngest woman Grandmaster in the world, often the only girl in a sea of men. Early victories stunned opponents. Some barely shook her hand, but each win chipped away at prejudice.
At one national championship, she won seven games in a row against top male players, letting her moves speak. For nearly a decade, she stood alone at the top of Indian women’s chess.
In her early 20s, she crossed the 2600 Elo rating barrier, becoming only the second woman after Judit Polgár to achieve this feat.
Despite her talent, public scrutiny grew heavier with each near miss at world titles. To compete internationally, she had to secure private sponsorships while taking on the world’s best.
Marriage and motherhood marked her first break from competition. In 2017, for the first time, the board went silent, and many assumed her career was over. She paused but did not stop.
Humpy returned at the 2018 Chess Olympiad, feeling like a stranger in familiar surroundings. The board and concentration remained the same, but many faces had changed.
In 2019, Humpy entered the World Rapid Championship in Moscow as an underdog. In tense tie breaks, her nerves and calculations held steady, earning her first Women’s World Rapid title at 32.
Five years later, at 37, she reclaimed the 2024 FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship, becoming only the second woman to win the title twice.
Now, with a bronze at the 2025 World Rapid Championship, she holds five World Rapid medals, a record no woman has achieved. Still competing. Still rising.
Humpy is racing against her younger self, refusing to slide into mediocrity. She aims to improve her classical chess ranking and face every new challenge with the same courage and focus that have defined her career.