Born on March 31, 1987, in Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh (India), Koneru Humpy has a current FIDE rating of 2595. Her top rating was achieved in July 2009 and reached 2623, making Humpy the second female player in history to cross the 2600 rating mark (she had been rated 2600+ since April 2008). These are the September 2009 world rankings – Humpy had just lost 28 points and for the first time in over a year dipped below the 2600 mark.
From 2002 through 2008, Humpy held the record as the youngest woman ever to become a grandmaster (not merely a Woman Grandmaster), which she achieved at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgar's previous mark by three months. However, this has since been surpassed by Hou Yifan. In 2001 she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship. In 2006 she participated in the Women's World Chess Championship, but was eliminated in the second round. In the Women's World Chess Championship 2008 she made it to the semi-finals, but was beaten by Hou Yifan.
Humpy was originally named Hampi, (after the ancient city) by her parents, but her father later changed it to Humpy, a more Russian-sounding name. She writes her family name (Koneru) before her given name, as is the convention with Telugu speaking people.