St Louis (USA): World rapid champion Koneru Humpy claimed her second title in the last two months by emerging triumphant at the Cairns Cup chess tournament following a draw against compatriot Dronavalli Harika in the ninth and final round here. Humpy, who was crowned world champion in the last week of December 2019, finished the tournament with 6 points. The icing on the cake is that Humpy would be gaining five ELO rating points (the basis for international rankings) and moving to No. 2 in the world list.

"I am very happy to have won such a strong tournament. It also reminds me that winning the world rapid title was no flash in the pan," said Humpy. Humpy, 32, needed only a draw in the last round to at least tie for the first place and be in contention for the top prize. She secured the draw late on Sunday without much difficulty by playing a solid line of Four knights opening against Harika. Humpy received USD 45,000 for winning the title in what is considered one of the strongest tournaments ever. World champion Wenjun Ju finished second with 5.5 points after winning her final round game against Russia's Alexandra Kosteniuk (5 points).