Koneru Humpy secures highest ELO rating

World Junior chess champion Koneru Humpy has been ranked No. I among the top 20 girls released by the FIDE, the world chess governing body, according to Essel Software Services, the official sponsors of Humpy's website (www.koneruhumpy.com).

Incidentally, Humpy is also the first Indian girl to have an Elo rating of 2,464.

The FIDE released the latest rankings on October 1. She is the first Indian girl to emerge as the numero uno in the world in her category.

Essel Software pointed out that the chess prodigy from Andhra Pradesh has simultaneously become the world No. 16 in the women's rankings, a feat unprecedented in Indian chess history.

Meanwhile, Humpy has left for Hungary to play in the Grandmasters' Chess Championship, from October 6 to 19. She will also take part in another Grandmasters tournament in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) from October 20 to November 1 to improve her Elo rating.

PTI adds: World champion Vishwanathan Anand, ranked third in the world, is the only Indian in the top 100 in the men's list.

GM Judit Polgar of Hungary heads the women's list.

Woman Grandmaster S Vijayalakshmi is the only other Indian to figure in the women's list. She is ranked 43rd with 2405 Elo points.

Twenty-year-old Grandmaster K Sasikiran is the lone Indian to find a place in the top-20 boys' list. He is ranked seventh, with 2569 Elo points.

Anand, who will be defending his crown next month, has 2770 Elo rating points behind Russians Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

Braingames winner Kramnik is closing the gap with Kasparov and is now 29 points adrift of the leader. Kramnik has 2809 points while Kasparov has 2838.

Twenty-two-year old Hungarian GM Peter Leko is the youngest in the top ten. Leko is fifth with 2733 points.

In the women's list too Humpy is the youngest among the top-50.

Former World champion, 50-year-old Anatoly Karpov is ranked 16 with 2692 points.