Koneru Humpy reached the semifinals of the fourth Grand Prix leg of the FIDE Chess.com women’s speed chess championship, beating Russia’s Valentina Gunina 6-5 on Thursday. The World No. 2 from Vijayawada showed plenty of character after going 0-2 down against a player who has been in top form.
Once Humpy overcame the poor start and moved ahead, she maintained the momentum till the end.
For Dronavalli Harika, it was a forgettable day as she was beaten 3-8 by Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia.
Earlier, World No. 1 Hou Yifan of China stormed into the semifinals with a 7.5-3.5 victory against Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan. Iran’s Sarasadat Khademalsharieh shocked Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine 7.5-3.5.
