K Humpy calls for girls to play men’s events to gain skills and experience | Chess News
Panaji : Only a spot in the top 10 in the women’s world rankings makes it sustainable for girls to be chess-playing professionals, feels India’s top-ranked woman player K Humpy. “That bracket makes it sustainable to be professionals. But for the rest, it’s still not comfortable even though the situation has improved,” she said on Saturday after getting the honour of making a ceremonial move in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Cup on Saturday. “I have always mentioned that young girls need to participate in the men’s circuit so that they can gain experience and also get the opportunity to improve their rating and learn more skills from the strongest players,” said the 38-year-old reigning World Rapid champion who has made it to the Women’s Candidates again. “I have done it myself as a youngster,” she said. On the strongest players being knocked out from the men’s World Cup here, the Women’s World Cup finalist said: “This format is so tricky that youngsters will always have that advantage because you need to have lots of energy and you have to adjust from classical to rapid and from rapid to blitz within a shorter span of time. So all these factors benefit youngsters and underdogs. Energy also matters a lot in this format.”
