It was not a very common scene in the 70s to see saree clad women playing competitive chess. In the era when women were not even allowed to play chess alongside men, the Khadilkar sisters took the world by storm. A thread. (1/n) 
Last year, child prodigy Divya Deshmukh became India’s 21st Woman Grand Master (WGM) but the scenes were not the same in the 60s and 70s. The fight against patriarchy started from a literature family in Maharashtra. (2/n)
This is a trailblazing story of three sisters Vasanti, Jayshree and Rohini, born to Neelakant Khadilkar who was the editor of two prominent Marathi dailies. For almost a decade, three Khadilkar sisters dominated the Indian women's chess championship, winning all titles. (3/n)
The inaugural tournament took place in 1974 and it was won by the eldest Khadilkar sister, Vasanti -born in 1961 and paved the way for her younger sisters to dominate the world of chess. (4/n)
Jayshree, only a year younger than Vasanti, dominated the Indian Women’s Chess Championship four times after her elder sister won the first tournament and also became the first Indian woman to be awarded the official FIDE title of International Woman Master. (5/n)
Rohini, the youngest of the sisters, eclipsed both her sisters in achievements by winning the Indian Women’s Chess Championship a total of five times and the Asian Women’s Championship twice. (6/n)
When the three sisters effortlessly swept every women competition in India, their father wanted them to challenge the men, which triggered a furore. The problem started when Rohini started defeating her male oppositions in National B qualifiers. (7/n)
Many objected to her participation against the men, they tried to make her uncomfortable by smoking in front of her and even tried to have her thrown out midway through the tournament. (8/n)
Fortunately, FIDE intervened and called it unfair to question participants in an 'open' event purely on a gender basis. At the age of 13 Rohini became the first female to compete in the Indian Men's Championship and opened the door of gender equality across the world. (9/n)
The Khadilkar sisters, their father and coach Nasiruddin Ghalib who fought on Rohini’s behalf, forever changed the world of competitive chess for women. (10/n)
Source: Chess India (June 1981), wikimedia commons and ESPN.
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