Koneru Humpy at peace with Candidates boycott, open to playing at Chess Olympiad

While confirming her intent to represent India, the 39-year-old said she was awaiting the All India Chess Federation’s selection criteria for the team.

“There’s a lot of time for the Olympiad, but I’m very positive about playing it,” Humpy tells The Indian Express ahead of her appearance at the Norway Chess tournament.

Koneru Humpy on the podium during the awards ceremony for the FIDE Women’s World Cup in Batumi. (PHOTO: FIDE via Anna Shtourman)

It’s been two months since Humpy announced her decision to pull out of the Women’s Candidates tournament citing safety concerns. Since the tournament was being played in Cyprus, close to Lebanon, and the Iran war was at its peak, she made the difficult decision to skip one of the most important tournaments on the chess calendar.

Despite the tournament concluding without a hitch or a safety scare for the 16 players involved, Humpy is at peace with her decision.

“Today, people might talk about how everything went smoothly and nothing happened. But the scenario was different when I took the decision, and I can only take the decisions which are in my control. Once something happens, none of the calculations work or nobody will be around! Everybody will be looking after themselves. I think it’s a player’s right and also a responsibility,” she reasoned.

“When you are 10, you think in a different way. When you grow up, your decision also evolves depending on the situations around you and your circumstances. I think I have done what any mother would do. So I don’t see any point in thinking that if I had played, maybe things would have been different. Of course, the Candidates is an important tournament, but I don’t think I will be interested in playing under such scenarios in future as well.”

Strong challenge

Her boycott of the Candidates meant that she had a lean start to the year in terms of tournaments, but the second half is as packed as it can get, starting with the Norway Chess tournament at the end of this month. Humpy believes that given the calibre of the six-player women’s section at Norway Chess, it is the strongest tournament field ever assembled in women’s chess.

“Strength-wise, if I look at Norway Chess, this might be the strongest-ever tournament considering the average rating of the opponents. It’s important to stay alert in the classical format. Because every player here has the potential of winning it,” says Humpy.

Koneru Humpy reacts after defeating China’s Lei Tingjie in the tiebreaks of the FIDE Women’s World Cup semi-finals at Batumi. (PHOTO: FIDE via Anna Shtourman)

“Norway Chess is a bit different from other classical tournaments since we play in a double round robin format. When the classical games end in a draw, we have to play this Armageddon. So it’s a bit tricky. One must be prepared to play the shorter formats as well. And it’s important to switch immediately from the classical to Armageddon. I think that was one of my setbacks in the previous edition where I had a very decent classical score, but didn’t have good wins.”

Norway Chess will be the start of a ‘hectic’ phase of tournaments for her, including the Global Chess League, the Olympiad and the World Rapid and Blitz Teams Championship in Hong Kong. But Humpy doesn’t mind having a whirlwind calendar.

“I’ve anyway been idle for the first half of the year,” she says with a smile.