Koneru Humpy, India’s first female chess grandmaster, has a height of 5 feet 8 inches (1.72 m). Aside from her prominence in chess and accolades, her down-to-earth attitude and humbleness are her other attractive traits.
The 2020 Chess Olympiad gold medalist is a supportive wife and a doting mom of a daughter, whom she shares with her business executive husband, Anvesh Dasari.
Trained by her father, Humpy went from World Youth Chess champion to the then-youngest female chess grandmaster in 2002 at 15 years, one month, and 27 days. She is an Arjuna and Padmashree awardee.
In 2006, she joined OMGC to cover her expenses for chess tournaments after failing to attract sponsors despite being a noted player. Yet that bitter moment didn’t diminish her dedication to the game, and she went on to win titles in the British Women’s Championship, Asian Chess Championship, and World Rapid Chess Championship.
Get detailed insights on Koneru Humpy’s early life, career achievements, married life, and family in this article.
- How Old Is Koneru Humpy In 2024? Age And Zodiac Sign
- Where Is Humpy From? Nationality, Ethnicity And Religion
- Koneru Humpy’s Height, Weight, And Other Physical Attributes
- Koneru Humpy’s Parents: Father Left His Job To Coach Her
- Humpy Has A Younger Sister, Who Is She?
- Who Is Koneru Humpy’s Husband?
- Humpy And Anvesh Got Married In 2014
- Koneru Humpy’s Chess Journey: India’s First Female Grandmaster
- How Much Is Koneru Humpy’s Net Worth In 2024?
- Is Koneru Humpy Active On Instagram?
- Conclusion
| Name | Koneru Humpy |
| Nickname | Humpy |
| Profession | Chess Player (grandmaster) |
| Gender | Female |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Career Active | 1993- Present |
| Social Media |
How Old Is Koneru Humpy In 2024? Age And Zodiac Sign
Humpy was born on March 31, 1987, which makes her [age dob=”03/31/1987″] years old now. She will celebrate her 37th birthday in March this year.
Her zodiac sign is Aries, and the people of this sun sign are energetic, strong-willed, and passionate, which describes Koneru’s personality pretty well. According to the Chinese Lunar calendar, she was born in the year of Rabbit.
Where Is Humpy From? Nationality, Ethnicity And Religion
Humpy comes from a Telugu family; she was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. So her nationality is Indian, and she is of Indo-Aryan ethnic background, which generally belongs to South Asian heritage.
The Indian female chess champion follows Hinduism as her religion.
Some note about the use of her last name, “Koneru,” ahead of her name, “Humpy.” It’s because she has a Telugu background where the last name is preferred ahead of the given name.
Many might not know, but the chess grandmaster’s parents named her “Hampi,” which translates to “champion.” However, they later changed the spelling to “Humpy” as it resembled the Russian name.
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Koneru Humpy’s Height, Weight, And Other Physical Attributes
The 2021 BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year, Humpy, has a height of 5 feet 8 inches (1.72 m) and weighs 56 Kg (123 lbs). She has an endomorph body type with curly black hair and brown eyes. Koneru prefers to have casuals as her apparel, which includes sari and kurthas.
Simplicity, a down-to-earth attitude, and a genius chess mind make her a standout in the international chess platforms.
| Height in feet and inches | 5 feet 8 inches |
| Height in cm | 172 cm |
| Height in m | 1.72 m |
| Weight in kg | 56 Kg |
| Weight in pounds | 123 lbs |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eyes Color | Brown |
Koneru Humpy’s Parents: Father Left His Job To Coach Her
Humpy is the eldest of two children of Koneru Ashok and Koneru Latha. Her father, Ashok, who played B-level national chess in India, was her coach in the early days, which she often mentions in her interviews.
When she started to showcase her potential to become the World’s No.1, her dad gambled his job to ensure he was there for her full-time. As reported, after Koneru won the youth national girl’s championship in 1995, her father left his job as a chemistry lecturer to become a chess coach/trainer to mentor her.
While the exacts of her mother’s profession are not out, she equally poured her support to ensure an uplift in Humpy’s chess career.
In an interview with India Today in November 1998, Koneru Ashok spoke about his alchemy with his daughter, and they would train for six days a week.
He added that he and his wife didn’t intend to have another chess coach for her and would never push her for long academic hours.
“A hired coach or instructor pushes a child very hard. As a teacher, I know that only too well. We want our girl to be a great achiever but without pressurizing her so that she grows up like any normal child.”
No doubt, the gamble paid off!
| Father | Koneru Ashok |
| Mother | Koneru Latha |
| Siblings | Koneru Chandra Hawsa (sister) |
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Humpy Has A Younger Sister, Who Is She?
Koneru Humpy has a younger sister, Chandra Hawsa Koneru. Born in July 1988, she is only one year younger than her chess grandmaster sister, Humpy, and is currently [age dob=”07/00/1988″].
As reported, Chandra was not fond of chess initially, but she got gradual interest upon seeing Humpy playing.
However, she doesn’t play chess now; she played until 2006 and had her career-best ranking of #2224 globally in April 2004. According to FIDE, the younger sister has an Elo rating of 2217 and ranks #395 in India, #4786 in Asia, and #17488 worldwide.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Chandra is the director of business control at Volvo Group (April 2022- present) in Bangalore, India. Before her promotion, she was the senior manager in the business control department (2014-22).
She worked for three years at Schneider Electric as senior executive of costing (2011-13) and assistant finance manager (2013-14).
She has quite an impressive portfolio of academics:
| University/College | Degree/Course | Completion Year |
| Acharya Nagarjuna University | B.Com in Taxation | 2009 |
| Institute of Cost Accountants of India | ACMA, Cost and Management Accountancy | 2009 |
| The Institute of Company Secretaries of India | CS, Inter, Company Law and Securities Law | 2011 |
| The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants | CGMA, Accounting and Business/Management | 2016 |
| CPA Australia | Associate degree | 2021 |
Humpy’s younger sister, Chandra, lives in Bangalore, India, with her husband, Dilip Venkatesh, and shares two children with him. They married on May 10, 2015.
Who Is Koneru Humpy’s Husband?
Koneru’s husband is Anvesh Dasari, the son of Ramakrishna Rao Dasari, the founding CEO of Efftronics System Pvt Ltd in Vijayawada, India. Anvesh has been a Vice President at his father’s company since June 2019.
Dasari joined Efftronics in 2009 as a project manager and worked there through 2012. He then saw a promotion to R&D project manager, which he assumed until 2020.
From 2015 to 2020, he also served as the executive manager at the company.
Humpy’s spouse, Anvesh, graduated from Purdue in 2008 with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Economics.
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Humpy And Anvesh Got Married In 2014
The Indian chess player and her business executive husband, Anvesh, married on August 13, 2014. The wedding ceremony occurred at the A Convention Centre in their hometown of Vijaywada.
Among the attendees were many high-profile personalities, including Minister for Irrigation Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and Central MLA Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao.
The two married in a traditional Indian ceremony that included haldi, Gauri puja, applying sindoor (a red-orange colored powder on the bride’s forehead), and tying mangala sutra (a sacred necklace).
On August 17, a reception was held at the Seshasai Kalyan Mandapam, where more than 5,000 guests were in attendance.
As reported, a common relative of Humpy and Anvesh initiated the talk about an arranged marriage (which is quite common in India) in early 2014. Both families had a synergy, while the two talked to each other a few times on the phone before everything got set!
They got engaged on May 22, 2014, and only three months later, they tied the knot.
| Marital Status | Married |
| Children | 1 |
| Husband Name | Anvesh Dasari |
| Daughter’s Name | Ahana Dasari |
| Daughter’s age (in 2024) | 7 Years Old |
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Do They Share Children?
With her husband, Anvesh, she is the mother of a daughter, Ahana, born in 2017. Following the birth of her child, the 2020 Chess Olympiad gold medalist took a two-year maternity leave from chess tournaments.
In 2019, Humpy made her comeback with the victory in the Skolkovo Women’s Grand Prix and then became the 2019 Women’s World Rapid Chess Champion. It followed with a gold medal in the 2020 Cairns Cup.
In September 2020, during an interview with The Daily Guardian, when asked about her time management amid family responsibilities, she said,
“Fortunately, I live near my parents’ house. Every morning, I send my daughter to my parents to make time for practice. My husband is also very supportive and he likes to promote and motivate me.”
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Koneru Humpy’s Chess Journey: India’s First Female Grandmaster
Humpy developed a fascination with chess at six years old, so her father, who was once a state champ, taught her. It didn’t take her long to grasp the gameplay, and she won a district chess championship in 1993.
She then went to win four Indian national youth championships: in 1995 (U-8), and three in 1996 (U-10, U-12, and U-15). Subsequently, she won three gold medals at the World Youth Chess Championships (1997, 1998 and 2000).
In 1999, Koneru achieved the title of Woman International Master, making her Asia’s youngest to accomplish the feat. Then, in 2002, she became the first Indian female to become a Grandmaster (GM).
With this, she also broke Judit Polgar‘s record by three months and became the youngest woman ever to achieve the GM title at 15 years, 1 month, 27 days. (Later, Chinese chess player Hou Yifan broke the record in 2008 after becoming a GM at 14 years and 6 months.)
Chess Championship Victories And Medals
Throughout her career, Koneru competed in numerous tournaments, but here we list her achievements with wins.
- British Women’s Championship (2000 and 2002)
- 2003 Asian Chess Championship (gold medal)
- 2003 Indian Women’s Championship
- 2006 Asian Games (two gold medals- in individual and mixed team)
- 2019 World Rapid Chess Championship
- Online Olympiad 2020 (gold medalist- in mixed team)
- 2020 Cairns Cup (gold medalist)
- 8-time FIDE Women’s Grand Prix gold medalist (in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2019)
Awards
Thanks to her impressive chess prowess, she earned many honors and was listed in many magazines among influential figures. But here, we list Humpy’s most notably remarkable accolades.
- 2003 Arjuna Award recipient
- 2007 Padma Shri recipient
- 2021 BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year
How Much Is Koneru Humpy’s Net Worth In 2024?
According to online sources, Humpy’s net worth could be anywhere between $500K to $1 million in 2024. The exact figure of her earnings is not out, but as many online tabloids mention, a chess grandmaster’s average salary can range up to $3,500 per month.
Many chess GMs like Koneru Humpy earn from the tournament’s prize money or coaching. On the other, sponsors cover their expenses for travel and accommodation.
As the recipient of the 2002 Arjuna Award, the Indian female chess GM got a cash prize of $3,800.
Here is the list of her earnings from the FIDE Grand Prix over the years:
(Note: Conversion rates to USD are applied as of February 2024)
| FIDE Grand Prix (Year) | Medal | Earnings |
| 2009 (in Istanbul) | Gold | €6,500 ($7,000) |
| 2009 (in Ulaanbaatar) | Bronze | €4,000 ($4,310) |
| 2011 (in Doha) | Gold | €6,500 ($7,000) |
| 2012 (in Kazan, Russia) | Gold | €6,500 ($7,000) |
| 2012 (in Ankara, Turkey) | Gold | €6,500 ($7,000) |
| 2013 (in Dilijan, Armenia) | Gold | €10,000 ($10,777) |
| 2013 (in Tashkent, Uzbekistan) | Gold | €10,000 ($10,777) |
| 2015 (in Monte Carlo, Monaco) | Bronze | €6,750 ($7,274) |
| 2016 (in Chengdu, China) | Silver | €8,250 ($8,891) |
From her victory in the 2019 World Rapid Chess Championship, she earned the prize money of $40,000.
She was a part of the Indian team, which won a bronze medal at the 2022 Chess Olympiad. Then, Koneru competed in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23 and obtained a silver medal.
In 2023, Koneru finished second in the 2023 World Rapid Chess Championship and earned $30,000.
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Is Koneru Humpy Active On Instagram?
Humpy goes on Instagram under the handle @koneruhumpy, where she has over 4.8K followers. Also, she is active on Twitter (@humpy_koneru), joined in September 2020, with over 12.1K followers.
While many fans query if she is active on Facebook, she doesn’t have a Facebook account.
Conclusion
Koneru Humpy’s interest in chess sought a professional route after her father left his job to train her. From recognition at the junior level to the national championship and now as India’s first female grandmaster, she has come a long way.
At one point in her life, then 19-year-old Humpy had to join ONGC as an administrative officer in 2006 to cover her travel expenses after failing to attract sponsors. However, the scenario changed in the coming years- thanks to her wins in notable prize money and support from her family.
Aside from her recognition as a chess champion, she is a proud mother of a daughter and an exemplary wife.
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