The Indian record held jointly by the Khadilkar sisters, who one after the other became National champion at 13 either by chance or by design, was in safe lockers for more than two decades but Humpy's astonishing performances in the last 12 months make her the best bet to eclipse the Khadilkar sisters' feat.

Vasanthi, Jayashree and Rohini were crowned champions of India in 1974, '75 and '76 respectively at a time when women's chess was the family property of the Khadilkars'. But times have changed since then, first with Bhagyashree Thipsay breaking the Khadilkars' monopoly and then Anupama Gokhale joining the fray withsuccess.

In fact, both Bhagyashree and Anupama are still active and are in contention for creating records in their own way. Both of them won five titles each, the same as Rohini Khadilkar and so the trio have managed 15 of the 24 titles so far decided. Add the four won by Jayashree, the level of competition in women's chess in the 1970s and 1980s could be assauged clearly.

But that is history now. The young qualifiers in recent years have provided substance to the competition by making life difficult for both the 37-year-old Bhagyashree, who is into her 21st successive National, and the 30-year-old Anupama, her 15th on the trot.

``There are no favourites in National Women A now,'' says Bhagyashree. ``At least four players have equal chances.'' Though she did not mention names, Vijayalakshmi Subburaman, twice winner and defending champion, could be at the top of her list as her rating of 2,329 puts her in a class of her own. The 20-year-old WGM norm holder from Indian Airlines, however, will face stiffcompetition from last year's runner-up Pallavi Shah and Swati Ghate, both from Maharashtra, and Koneru Humpy.

``You cannot take anything for granted. Anyone can come up with strong performances,'' argued 20-year-old Pallavi Shah. ``Like Purabhi did last year in her maiden attempt.'' Though Purabhi scored only 50 per cent she made light of her tag as the underdog and upset the points scale in a big way.

Eighteen-year-old Swati Ghate was in a similar situation two years ago when she played in the National A for the first time at Calcutta but she finished runner-up to Anupama. Last year she finished fourth and maintained her slot in the Indian team.

TN's Aarthie Ramaswamy and Safira Shanaz, both 18, will be in National A for the fourth time and that is a lot of chess for teenaged players.

K Ratnakumar will be the chief arbiter. The rest day is after six rounds. One player gets a bye in each round after Saheli's withdrawal.

The field

Vijayalakshmi Subburaman (IA-Elo 2329), Pallavi Shah (Mah-Elo2272), Bhagyashree Thipsay (IDBI-2235), Anupama Gokhale (BPCL-2218), Swati Ghate (Mah-2194), Koneru Humpy (AP-2160), Meenakshi S (TN-2140), R.Aarthie (TN-2135), Safira Shanaz (TN-2127), Bindu Saritha (Kerala-2070), E.Sheena (Kerala-2070), Swati Mohota (W.Ben-2062), Dolan Champa Bose (Bih-unrated).