Humpy enters Women's Speed Chess semis

India's top player Koneru Humpy defeated Valentina Gunina to reach the semi-finals of the fourth and final leg of the Women's Speed Chess Championships on Thursday.

The world rapid champion Humpy got the better of Russian 6-5 to set up a last four clash with world No.1 Hou Yifan of China.

The Indian, ranked number 2 in the world, started well and established an early lead before Gunina fought back. However, Humpy held her nerve to advance.

Harika, on the other hand, went down 3-9 to former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia in an encounter which the latter dominated.

Yifan, meanwhile, continued her good form, to post an easy 7.5-3.5 win over Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan in the quarter-final.

This is the final leg of the Grand Prix, with a total of 21 participants. Each of the 21 players participates in three out of four Grand Prix legs. Each GP is a 16-player knockout event.

In each Grand Prix leg, every player scores cumulative grand prix points according to the position in the final standings.

The two players who score the highest number of cumulative grand prix points in all three Grand Prix legs qualify for the Super Final to be held on July 20.