Chennai: Woman Grandmaster Tania Sachev, ranked 55th in the world, starts favourite in the Velammal Educational Trust National women's premier chess championship to be held here from Saturday.
The Delhi girl will be looking to wrest the crown from title holder and former World junior girls' champion Soumya Swaminathan of Pune.
Tania won her maiden title in Chennai in 2006 and went on to defend it at Pune the next year. The format will remain the same with an 11-round Swiss format deciding the champion.
Tania's main rivals will be Padmini Rout (Orissa), Eesha Karavade (Maharashtra), Mary Ann Gomes, Nisha Mohota (both West Bengal), Soumya and Bhakti Kulkarni (Goa).
The Hindu