Express Exclusive: Koneru Humpy talks of challenges of motherhood and why she’s too cool for social media

The last couple of years have seen the march of jet-setting Indian chess teenagers who flit from one tournament to another, almost apparating from one country to next in the blink of an eye. They usually are accompanied by their parents, who act as chaperones and managers, helping them iron every wrinkle that comes their way. Humpy doesn’t have that luxury. Since her daughter is just six years old, she usually has to make the tough decision to leave her back in India when she competes in events.

“Until 2017, I was completely focussed on chess. I played whatever I could. But once my daughter was born, I restricted myself. I only played in events that were very important. I’m very choosy in the events that I play in now. I also make sure that I don’t play events back to back, so that I can come back home, spend some time with my daughter and then fly back for another event. I’m very happy (with the balance I’ve struck). Last year, I played in 9-10 tournaments. Since the pandemic, there have also been plenty of rapid and blitz events coming up, so those also are plenty of fun to play in,” says the 5th ranked woman chess player in the world who will be seen in the prestigious Norway Chess event starting later this month.

Since her daughter is just six years old, Humpy usually has to make the tough decision to leave her back in India when she competes in events. (Michal Walusza via FIDE)

Humpy says her six-year-old daughter understands the basics of the sport, but is starting to show a leaning towards art.

“She can draw for hours without disturbing me,” smiles Humpy about a world not confined to black and white. “Balancing personal and professional lives is not at all easy. Usually when I compete in round robin tournaments, they last 14 to 15 days. There are shorter events that last just a week or 10 days. But the recent Candidates was a 25-day trip to Canada for me. After 10-15 days, my daughter was already waiting for me to get back. It was not easy emotionally to stay away from her. She missed me a lot. But taking her with me to Canada was also not possible because she’s just six years old. I needed to concentrate. These were tough times as a mother,” says Humpy.

While Humpy is now selective about the events she plays in due to her family, back in the day when she had become the country’s first woman to become a grandmaster, her reasons for playing in select events was completely different.

“The difference I see now (compared to when she started out) is that Indian players who perform well or show potential get corporate support almost immediately. That way this generation is quite lucky. When I became the youngest grandmaster in 2002 (India’s seventh overall), I was struggling for sponsorships. For some years I held a job with Bank of Baroda but even after I became a grandmaster, I had no sponsors at all! For three or four years after that, my family struggled a lot with financial conditions. We used to be very selective with tournaments due to budget. Finally, when I got an offer to work with ONGC, things got better. Now the situation is entirely different. Now when you win a tournament, because of social media like Twitter, Insta, you get plenty of focus. Back in our days when we won a tournament, no one would notice it.

While Humpy is now selective about the events she plays in due to her family, back in the day when she had become the country’s first woman to become a grandmaster, her reasons for playing in select events was completely different. (Michal Walusza via FIDE)

One of the biggest changes that the sport is seeing is the prize pool for women’s events getting bigger. The Norway Chess event will feature a Norway Chess Women’s Tournament that will run parallely with the open event with the same format and, more importantly, an equivalent prize fund. Besides Humpy, also in action will be World Champion Ju Wenjun, last year’s challenger Lei Tingjie, former world rapid and blitz champion Anna Muzychuk, and India’s R Vaishali.

“Back when I was starting out, we didn’t have so many opportunities. The tournaments were limited. Even the Grand Prix started in 2009. I’ve been playing in the FIDE World Cup since 2004. The events with decent prize funds started very late, maybe in the last four or five years. But it’s a good sign for women’s chess,” she says.

With teenage stars popping up at a frequent pace in the sport, many established grandmasters are starting to feel that the opportunities that they get are starting to dry up — in terms of invitations for world-class, closed events. In such a situation, having an active social media presence certainly helps with recall value.

“Now-a-days having a social media presence is also equally important. It’s required now. Unless you showcase your achievement nobody will be able to notice you,” Humpy says before breaking into a chuckle as she adds: “But I’m not a social media person. I always believe in my strength (chess). For me, these days it’s more important that I balance my family and profession. I need to spend an equally good amount of time with my daughter. So that’s more important for me than grabbing attention (on social media).”