Indian chess player Koneru Humpy is aiming for another big win at the FIDE World Blitz Championship after recently winning the World Rapid Chess title for the second time. Humpy defeated Irene Sukandar from Indonesia to become the FIDE Women’s World Rapid Chess champion. Now, she is focused on the upcoming Blitz chess event that will start on Tuesday.

Humpy's historic win and the prize money

Humpy's win on Sunday was a proud moment for Indian chess because she became only the second player, after China’s Ju Wenjun, to win the World Rapid Chess title two times. Humpy had first won this title in 2019 in Georgia. Now, in the upcoming FIDE World Blitz Championship, she hopes to win the title again and has the chance to earn a big prize of USD 60,000 (around Rs 50 lakhs), which is the same amount she won in the Rapid event.

Other Indian players and tough competition

Along with Humpy, India’s Dronavalli Harika is also a strong player in the Blitz championship. Fans hope R. Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh, who didn't do well in the rapid event, will perform better this time. In the Open section, Magnus Carlsen is the favourite to win, but he was disqualified from the Rapid event because of a dress code issue. Other talented players, like India’s R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, Alireza Froujza from France, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan, will challenge Carlsen for the top spot. Erigaisi, who missed the Rapid title, will try hard to secure a place in the 2026 Candidates tournament.