Bengaluru: Koneru Humpy arrived for the final round of the Pune Grand Prix on Wednesday with the White pieces and a win on her mind. China’s Zhu Jiner, who was tied on points with the Indian, had similar ambitions. Both ended up winning their respective Round 9 games, finishing the tournament on 7/9 and splitting the Grand Prix points and prize money.

Humpy, however, was declared Pune GP winner on superior tiebreak of most games with Black and took home the gold medal. Jiner, took silver and the third place went to 19-year-old Indian IM Divya Deshmukh, who drew her final round game against Poland’s Alina Kashlinskaya.

This is Humpy’s record eighth Grand Prix title, surpassing Hou Yifan’s count of titles.

With this win, Humpy moved to second place in the 2024-2025 Fide Women’s Grand Prix standings. Both Humpy and Zhu were awarded 117.5 points each. Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina currently leads the Grand Prix standings with 308.34 points, Humpy is at 279.17 and Zhu at 235.

The Fide Women’s Grand Prix is a series of six tournaments which will determine two players who qualify for the 2026 Women’s Candidates tournament. The Pune Grand Prix was the fifth leg of the series and the sixth and final leg will be played in Vienna, Austria between May 5-16. Humpy has already completed her stipulated three tournaments (that players are required to play out of six) and her path to the Candidates through the Grand Prix route will now hinge on the results of Zhu, Anna Muzychuk and Tan Zhongyi. As things stand, 22-year-old Zhu holds a good chance at qualification.

The 38-year-old Humpy – who won the women’s world rapid title last year and was never quite in trouble against Bulgarian IM Nurgyul Salimova in the final round, took down Zhu in Round 7 before she salvaged a draw from the jaws of defeat against Alina in the penultimate round which proved to be crucial in her being able to finish on top in Pune.

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