I was feeling low, but didn't want to quit like a loser

KONERU HUMPY | WORLD RAPID CHESS CHAMPION

- Susan Ninan

BENGALURU: After a brutal, barren run for months, the newly-crowned women's world rapid champion from India, 37-year-old Koneru Humpy, has reason to fall back in love with the grind. In an interview with HT, the world No. 6 spoke about struggling with motivation, training without engines for the tournament and her seven-year-old daughter winning a gold medal the same day.

Excerpts:

You started off by losing in the first round. How would you explain the remarkable turnaround?

For the past 8-9 months, whatever tournament I played in, was a failure. I was feeling very low and even considered quitting. Then I told myself that even if I quit, I should not quit like a loser. I wanted to prove what I could achieve. So, I was very ambitious before the tournament and trained hard for the entire month.

What is your approach towards rapid chess, how much does the preparation differ?