<p>Top-rated Grandmaster Koneru Humpy suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine in the first game of the second round of world women’s chess championship here on Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>It turned out to be a bad day in office for the highest rated girl in the fray as she could not find her rhythm and now finds herself in a must-win situation with black pieces in the return game to stay in the knockout championship.<br /><br />While Humpy faces ouster threat, the other remaining Indian Grandmaster D Harika made early inroads to the pre-quarters, defeating Elina Danielian of Armenia in her first game of the second round.<br /><br />At the top of the tables, defending champion Yifan Hou of China remained on course for third round appearance with an easy victory over experienced Monika Socko of Poland. The 18-year old Chinese was a picture of confidence as she thwarted the attempts for complications by Socko and recorded a smooth victory with black pieces.</p>
<p>Top-rated Grandmaster Koneru Humpy suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine in the first game of the second round of world women’s chess championship here on Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>It turned out to be a bad day in office for the highest rated girl in the fray as she could not find her rhythm and now finds herself in a must-win situation with black pieces in the return game to stay in the knockout championship.<br /><br />While Humpy faces ouster threat, the other remaining Indian Grandmaster D Harika made early inroads to the pre-quarters, defeating Elina Danielian of Armenia in her first game of the second round.<br /><br />At the top of the tables, defending champion Yifan Hou of China remained on course for third round appearance with an easy victory over experienced Monika Socko of Poland. The 18-year old Chinese was a picture of confidence as she thwarted the attempts for complications by Socko and recorded a smooth victory with black pieces.</p>