Having won her maiden National women's 'A' chess title with a round to spare yesterday, top seed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy proved she is a cut above the rest as she finished unbeaten in the 17-round tournament, which concluded in Kozikhode on Thursday.
The 16-year-old Andhra girl, who could only finish sixth in the 1999 edition of the championship held at the sawe venue, proved to good for all her 17 opponents.
That the reigning Asian champion emerged the sole leader from the third round itself spoke volumes about her incredible performance which also visiting coach Grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan by surprise.
Overwhelmed by Humpy's remarkable run, Vladimirov, who also provided live commentary of the tournament's proceedings on the web site, commented that Humpy's "fighting spirits" could win her many more laurels in the international arena.
S Vijayalakshmi of Indian Airlines, whose splendid show went unnoticed in the wake of Humpy's severe onslaught, took the runners-up berth with 14.5 points. She was followed by Woman Grandmaster Nisha Mohota (LIC) and Dronavalli Harika (AP), both of whom garnered 11 points each.
The top four from the tournament will now represent the country in the Spain Olympiad in October next.
In her final engagement today, Humpy, who aggregated 16 points, settled for a draw with Vijyalakshmi in a King's Indian defence involving classical variation in only eight moves.
Results: 17th and final round:
Bagyashree Thipsay (IDBI) 7.5 drew with Tania Sachdev(DEL) 9; Anupama Gokhale (BP) 8 drew with Sai Meera (IB) 6; D Harika (AP) 11 drew with Eesha Karvade (MAH) 10; Aarthie Ramaswamy (TN) 8 drew with Y Prathiba (TN) 7; M R Sangeetha (TN) 4 drew with C V Rajalakshmi (TN) 3; Nisha Mohota (LIC) 11 drew with Koneru Chandrahawsa (AP) 6; Kruttika Nadig (MAH) 8 drew with S Meenakshi (IA) 10; S Vijayalakshmi (IA) 14.5 drew with Koneru Humpy (AP) 16; Swati Ghate (LIC) 8 beat Saheli Nath (BEN) 6.
