Modern chess is all about time management. As it is for the organisers, the players also have to be choosy in selecting their event. The chess carnival does not end with the sub-junior programme here. The National B, a premier event in the calendar, is in progress in Mumbai, where some of the sub-junior heavyweights' like Harikrishna and Tania Sachdev are competing.

But then as AICF secretary P T Ummer Koya said, it is not a bad situation, it only ``speaksfor the activity of the game in India.'' Aspiring chess players have to go through the grind of continuous competition.

The four-event card at Kozhikode may appear to be too much for a puritan who wants all the time in the world to finish a game. The rapid variety, which has a time limit of one hour, could be a welcome distraction for the young talents. After all, this could be the brand of chess that would appeal to the sponsors in the future.

The top seeds in the National sub-junior boys and girls here are not big names. Poobesh Anand (Elo 2165) in the boys and Yuvarajan Pratibha (2096) in the girls sections, both from Tamil Nadu, have not won any nationals but the weight of rating is proof of their consistency.

Anyway, they will not have it easy as in the boys section, the current under-18 champion Valay Parikh of Gujarat turned up late in the evening to confirm his participation. He is the strong favourite in this section. Saptarshi Roy (Goodricke National Chess Academy, Calcutta- Elo 2140), AbhijitGupta (Rajasthan-Elo 2141), P Kumaresh (Chrompet Academy, Chennai -Elo 2136) are the leading lights as the number of entries swelled to 90 by evening in the boys section.

In the girls section, current under-14 champion Shradha Samani, under-12 champion Eesha Karvade (both Maharashtra), former national sub-junior champion J E Kavitha and former under-14 champion Preethi (both TN) have already made their mark in the age-group competition.

``I want to win the title this time as this is my last year in this event,'' says Pratibha, who had finished second and third in 1997 and 1998. Shradha Samani, fresh from a coaching camp she underwent here with Russia's Alexandre Lyssenko, does not take anything for granted. ``I don't want to overestimate my chances. So many of them are strong,'' she said.

Chief arbiter K Ratnakumar said the event would be held over six hours with four hours normal time and two hours sudden death. District collector Usha Titus inaugurated the championship today. Fide vice-president P TUmmer Koya was also present.