(Pooja Dubey, Intern journalist) India’s top player Humpy Koneru made it to the semi-finals of the fourth and final leg of the Women’s Speed Chess Championship by defeating Valentina Gunina on Thursday but D Harika was eliminated from the tournament after losing in the quarter-finals.
World Rapid Chess champion Humpy defeated the Russian player 6-5. In the semi-finals, Humpy will face world number one Chinese Hou Yifan of China who continued his superb form to win an easy 7.5–3.5 win against Zhansaiah Abdulmalik of Kazakhstan.
The world number two Indian player made a good start, but Gunina managed to make a comeback. However, Humpy won with patience. However, Harika lost 3-9 against former world champion Alexandra Kostenuk of Russia. Iran’s Sarasadat Khadem Alshariya defeated former World Rapid Champion Anna Muzhichuk 7.5-3.5 to advance to the last four.
Kosteniuk and Sarasadat will face each other in the semi-finals. This is the final stage of the Grand Prix in which 21 players are participating. Each player had to take part in three of the four stages. Each stage was played on a knockout basis among 16 players.
Players will determine their position in the final score table by adding the points received from each stage. The two players who get the most points based on the total will qualify for the Super Final on July 20.
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