{"id":14900,"date":"2026-02-12T10:59:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/?p=14900"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:02:52","slug":"a-tournament-ive-always-enjoyed-humpy-koneru-returns-to-norway-chess-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/2026\/02\/12\/a-tournament-ive-always-enjoyed-humpy-koneru-returns-to-norway-chess-women\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Tournament I\u2019ve Always Enjoyed\u201d \u2013 Humpy Koneru Returns to Norway Chess Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m really happy to be part of Norway Chess Women. It\u2019s a tournament I\u2019ve always enjoyed, not only because of the high level of competition but also the warm atmosphere and excellent organization. I\u2019m looking forward to playing in Oslo and competing against some of the world\u2019s strongest players.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

With those words, Humpy Koneru confirms her return to Norway Chess Women 2026, marking her third appearance in the tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Humpy<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/strong>\u00a0Norway Chess \/ Tor Nilssen & Kjetil V. Tveito<\/span><\/p>\n

A former challenger for the Women\u2019s World Championship title, Koneru is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished female players of her generation. She made history in 2002 when, at just 15 years old, she became the first Indian woman to earn the Grandmaster title, and at the time, the youngest female grandmaster in history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her rise continued in 2007 when she became only the second woman ever to cross the 2600 Elo rating mark, a milestone that underlined her place among the world\u2019s elite.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, Koneru has remained firmly in the global spotlight. She is a two-time Women\u2019s World Rapid Champion (2019, 2024), and in 2025 she finished runner-up at the FIDE Women\u2019s World Cup, securing qualification for the 2026 Women\u2019s Candidates Tournament and keeping her ambitions for the world title very much alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benedicte Westre Skog, COO of Norway Chess, looks forward to welcoming the Indian star back to Oslo:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHumpy has been at the very top for a long time, and that says a lot. Very few players manage to stay at that level while still pushing for the biggest titles year after year. She adds real strength to the field, and we\u2019re very happy to welcome her back to Norway Chess Women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo:<\/strong> Michal Walusza<\/span><\/p>\n

Norway Chess Women \u2013 Setting a New Standard for Women in Chess<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Launched in 2024, Norway Chess Women is the world\u2019s first fully equal super tournament for women in chess, staged in parallel with the main Norway Chess event. The tournament features the same format, number of players, playing conditions and prize fund as the open event, setting a new benchmark for gender equality in professional chess.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now entering its third edition, Norway Chess Women has quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious platforms for elite women\u2019s chess, bringing together the world\u2019s strongest female players in a highly competitive and internationally visible setting.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m really happy to be part of Norway Chess Women. It\u2019s a tournament I\u2019ve always enjoyed, not only because of the high level of competition but also the warm atmosphere and excellent organization. I\u2019m looking forward to playing in Oslo and competing against some of the world\u2019s strongest players.\u201d With those words, Humpy Koneru confirms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14900"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14911,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14900\/revisions\/14911"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwaychess.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}