New Delhi, Dec. 29 -- Koneru Humpy has been the flag-bearer of Indian women's chess for two decades and on Sunday almost crowned herself the FIDE Women's World Rapid champion for a third time, by defending the title in Doha, Qatar. However, it was heartbreak for the 38-year-old grandmaster as a final round draw pushed her to the bronze medal, after Humpy was tied on 8.5 points with Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia and Zhu Jiner of China at the end of the 11 rounds in the Swiss format tournament. All three had six wins and five draws in an unbeaten campaign until then. As per FIDE rules to rank players with the same score - Buchholz Cut 1, Buchholz and Average Rapid Rating of the opponents - Humpy had scores of 69, 74 and 2335, while Zhu (72.5, 77.5 and 2410) and Aleksandra (71.5, 77 and 2360) were better. Alexandra, 27, won the title, beating Zhu, 23 in the tie-breaks. She won the first game with white in 45 moves. The second ended in a 65-move draw. Magnus Carlsen though didn't leave room for any late hiccups as he won the Open title for the sixth time. The Norwegian five-time classical world champion took a full-point lead into his 13th and final round, against Dutch GM Anish Giri, sealing the title with a draw. It was a sense of deja vu for Humpy. The 2019 and 2024 champion - she was runner-up in 2023 - has been a picture of consistency in Rapid. But for the second time this year, her victory hope came undone against teenaged compatriots. Earlier this year, Humpy went into the Women's World Cup final as the favourite only for 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh to win via the second tie-break game. That Humpy, sealed a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament in Batumi, Georgia was little consolation. On Sunday in Doha, Humpy went into her final 11th round in joint lead and faced 18-year-old compatriot Savitha Shri Baskar, a familiar foe though it would have raised her hopes of winning and sealing the title. But the Chennai teenager played brilliantly to hold Humpy to a draining 64-move draw....