'It's not easy to surprise Viswanathan Anand'
Chennai: Indian GM Koneru Humpy will miss the live action of November's world chess championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. But she is keen on following the high-profile contest online.
Vijayawada-based Humpy, who will be playing a series of international tournaments starting with the Women's Fide Grand Prix at Tashkent from September 17, says the encounter between the Indian and Norwegian has all the ingredients to match the famous duels of Fisher-Spassky and Karpov-Kasparov.
“It's a great match for Indian chess because it would definitely attract many children to the game. Personally, I am looking forward to it as I get to learn new strategies,“ said l Humpy adding that her style of play is completely different from Anand and Carlsen.
Anand, Humpy says, is known for his meticulous preparations and strong tactics. “Having said that, the Norwegian too thinks deeply and can adapt to any positions. In most of his games, Carlsen tries to surprise his opponents, while Anand is too experienced to be surprised. So, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the match. One thing is assured, it will be an entertaining match,” said Humpy, who has modelled her game after former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia.
The 26-year-old Humpy has made three semi-final appearances in the five world women championships organised in the knockout format. In the match format, she qualified as a challenger to world champion Hou Yifan of China from the Fide Women’s Grand Prix 2009–2011. However, she missed the opportunity to be crowned champion after losing to her younger Chinese opponent 2.5-5.5 in 2011.
Humpy, known as India’s answer to Judit Polgar (the Hungarian GM is the lone woman to find her feet in men’s circuit), is not ready to give up on her quest to win the elusive world title.
She has been striving hard to improve her game and achieve success in open tournaments. “There are a lot of tournaments coming up and I am looking forward to the World Mind Games in China in December,” said Humpy.
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