20 Facts About Rohini Khadilkar

Rohini Khadilkar has won the Indian women's championship five times and the Asian women's championship twice.

Rohini Khadilkar was the first female chess player to compete in the Indian Chess Championship in 1976, and the first to receive the Arjuna Award in 1980.

Rohini Khadilkar is the youngest of the three Khadilkar sisters - named Vasanti, Jayashri, and Rohini - all of whom excelled at chess.

The family's association with literature goes all the way back to Marathi playwright Krishnaji Prabhakar Rohini Khadilkar, who was the great-grandfather to the sisters.

Rohini Khadilkar became national women's chess champion in 1976 at the age of 13 and was the first to win that championship in three consecutive years.

In 1981, Rohini Khadilkar became the Asian women's chess champion when the competition was held at Hyderabad.

Rohini Khadilkar was unbeaten in that competition and scored 11.5 out of a possible 12 points.

In 1977 Rohini Khadilkar became the first female player to compete in the Indian Chess Championship.

Rohini Khadilkar's father wrote to the World Chess Federation president, Max Euwe, and Euwe ruled that female players could not be barred from open chess events.

Rohini Khadilkar participated in the Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Valletta, Lucerne, Thessaloniki, and Dubai.

Rohini Khadilkar won the Zonal Championships twice, in Dubai and Malaysia, and became the World No 8 player.

Rohini Khadilkar was the first Asian player to beat a chess computer, in London in 1989.

Rohini Khadilkar has travelled abroad to represent India on 56 occasions, visiting numerous countries.

Rohini Khadilkar's visits included trips to the then-Communist countries of Poland, USSR and Yugoslavia, which were encouraged by Indira Gandhi, the prime minister at that time.

In 1993, Rohini Khadilkar retired from chess and enrolled as a student at the Printing Technology Institute.

Rohini Khadilkar came first in her cohort, earning a Gold Medal, and was given Printing Diploma by Agfa-Gevaert.

Rohini Khadilkar became the first female editor of an evening newspaper in Maharashtra.

Rohini Khadilkar is the assistant editor of Navakal and has been editor of Sandhyakal since 16 December 1998.

In 1977, Rohini Khadilkar won the Chhatrapati Award for outstanding performance in chess.

Rohini Khadilkar has been declared Maharashtra Kanya for her chess exploits.