All India Chess Federation: The All India Chess Federation (AICF) is the central administrative body for the game of chess in India. The AICF was founded in 1951 with its headquarters in Bombay. The Chess Federation is affiliated to FIDE, the world body for chess. The Federation has now under its fold more than 30 affiliated state associations, 16 special members and 23 recognized academies as its constituents. The AICF deserves accolades for their zealous efforts to promote the game in India. The Federation has played an active role in identifying new talents and ensuring quality competition in the domestic level. Such energetic organizing has paid rich dividends as India has made a name for producing precocious chess prodigies. Besides the thriving national circuit, AICF has also played host to a number of major world events in India like the World Junior Championships, the Commonwealth Championships and Asian Team Championships.

Apart from all these federations that encompass so many prominent chess players, women`s chess in India is just around thirty years old. The women`s senior National Chess Championship was started in 1974. The Women`s senior national championship was completely dominated by the Khadilkar sisters - Vasanthie, Jayshree and Rohini upto 1984. Of the ten championships held during this period, Rohini, the youngest, won five times, Jayshree won four titles, while the eldest Vasanthie won the championship in the inaugural year. Jayshree became India`s first WIM (Woman International Master) in 1979, followed by Rohini and Vasanthie. Rohini also won the first Asian Women`s Chess Championship held in Hyderabad in 1981 and retained the title in the second edition of the Championship staged in Kuala Lumpur in 1983. However, all the three sisters bid a farewell to the game and plunged in to the family business of running the newspaper.

After the era of the Khadilkar sisters, Bhagyashree Thipsay and Anupama Gokhale both from Maharashtra, dominated the women`s chess in the country. Both of them won the women`s national chess title five times. Anupama Gokhale followed in the footsteps of Rohini by winning the third and fourth Asian women`s Chess Championships held in Dhaka in 1985 and in Hyderabad in 1987 respectively. Bhagyashree Thipsay too won the fifth Asian Women`s Chess Championship held in 1991 at Bhopal.