India's Koneru Humpy clinched the top spot at the FIDE Women's World Rapid Chess Championships on Saturday in Moscow. She made an impressive comeback to beat China's Lei Tingjie in an Armageddon game.
Tingjie finished with a silver, while Turkey's Ekaterina Atalik won bronze.
"This is my first world title, so I'm very happy and excited with this victory," Humpy told FIDE (International Chess Federation) after her win.
Humpy Koneru 🇮🇳 is the 2019 Women's World Rapid Champion. 🏆
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 28, 2019
Tied for first with 9/12, she defeated Lei Tingjie in a playoff for the first place. Congratulations!👏https://t.co/gHBnFGa1e5 #rapidblitz #chess #India pic.twitter.com/tbHjCk8kUM
In the playoff to decide the winner, Humpy had initially lost the opening round against Tingjie. However, she recovered in the second round with a win to take the game to a decider.
Earlier, there was a three-way tie between Humpy, Tingjie and Atalik with a score of 9/12. As per the rules of FIDE, however, only the top-two finishers of the tiebreak could make it to the final playoff -- making way for a showdown between the 32-year-old Indian and Tingjie.
"When I started my first game in the morning, I didn't expect to finish first," Humpy said. "I thought if I could finish in the top three, that would be a great result."
In the men's event, reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen won his third rapid title after going undefeated in the event. He had previously won the title in 2014 and 2015. Iran's Alireza Firouzja won the silver medal, while Japan's Hikaru Nakamura won bronze.