Tania Sachdev, the new queen of 64 squares

NEW DELHI: Having spent a wonderful 2007 so far, newly crowned Asian women's champion Tania Sachdev on Friday announced that she would fully concentrate on chess for the next couple of years as she aspired to become the women's world champion.

The 21-year-old Tania, who returned from Tehran, Iran earlier this week with the 'biggest title' of her career so far, is the first Indian in 17 years to claim the honours. She has also won the National Woman's Championships and earned her first Grandmaster norm earlier this year.

The Asian title also makes her eligible to represent India at the World Cup as top three from the tournament qualify for the prestigious event.

"It feels cool to be number one in Asia. But the title is more significant because only top three players were selected for the World Cup," said Tania.

"What makes it even more special is that all the opponents were so difficult with most of them being Chinese, Vietnamese and fellow Indians as well. This years has been a too good for me because I am consistently achieving in chess," she added.

Asked the reason for the sudden rise in her level of performances, Tania said "every player goes through good and bad performances. I was not inconsistent then but now I am a graduate and do not have pressure of studies, so I am able to fully concentrate on chess.

"Now for next four years, it will be only chess. Although I want to pursue studies further, I have not yet decided about what to take up. So I will first make up my mind and then decide about studies," she said.