The participation will be more than 200 players for women national and around 120 players for all-Goa open rapid tournament of two days which will be conducted at the same venue for the benefit of Goan players. The top seven Women Grand Masters have already registered and so far 50 entries have been received. So far top seeded is WGM Padmini Raut (2354) of Orissa.
There will be chess clocks for each and every game as All India Chess Federation (AICF) has made it mandatory and SAG and DSYA are providing the required clocks for this event. Paul Arok Raj International Arbiter from Tamil Nadu, deputed by the AICF as the chief arbiter of the tournament who will be assisted by the Goan arbiters Ashesh Keni, Arvind Mhamal, Vasant Naik, Sanjay Kavlekar, Swapnil Hoble, Gautam Tari and others.
The Goan challenge in this forthcoming Nationals will be spearheaded by WGM Bhakti Kulkarni brand ambassador of Goan Carbon. She has just won Commonwealth Championship and also obtained IM norm to her credit. The last years Junior Champion WIM Ivana Furtado too in excellent form with one WGM norm to her credit and Goa expect that she will also perform well and chance for her to notch another WGM norm. WFM Riya Savant may also shine playing at her home ground. Other Goan upcoming players Nadhini Saripalli, Aditee Prabhugaonker, Gauri Hadkonkar, Gunjal Chopdekar, Ridhi Zatye, Swera Braganza, Aishwarya Thorat, Disha Verenkar, Sakshi Gaonkar, Urvi Bandekar, Beverly Mendonca are being watched for good performance and rating. Kishor Bandekar is the organizing secretary.
