| |
The queen of substance
Hari Hara Nandanan
Koneru Humpy, the 10-year-old school girl from Vijayawada, has carved a niche for herself in Indian chess this year with her under-10 world title at Cannes (France). A world title in chess is nothing special in Indian chess as Vishy Anand had won the coveted World junior in 1987 and Harikrishna the world under-10 boys last year. Humpy's triumph is significant because it is the first for an Indian female. India produced Asian champions in Rohini Khadilkar, Anupama Gokhale, Bhagyashree Thipsay and Vijayalakshmi Subburaman but none of them could make an impact at the world level.Not that they were not talented enough to match their wits with the world stars but they simply got not many chances. Humpy has a matured head on her young shoulders as she has shown in many serious games in Cannes. Her technique is said to be sound for her age which is again a promising sign as India has of late produced many stars who are good in opening theory but grope in the dark when they finally get to winning positions.
Humpy should be able to capitalise on her strengths and it is a positive sign that her parents, Koneru Ashok and Latha, have recognised their daughter's needs and brought her a computer. Humpy's road to stardom Fourth in National U-8 girls at Madurai in 1995 SIxth in U-10 nationals in Delhi, 1995 Ninth in U-12 girls in Kozhikode in 1996 Champion in U-9 girls in Mumbai in 1996, which gave her the ticket to Cannes. Winner of World U-10 in Cannes in 1997
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
|
 |
