(CP) - She has been dubbed the Queen of Quake and only needs to go by her first name in gaming circles.

Budapest-born Kornelia Takacs (pronounced Tock-ASH) has made her name in first-person shooters like Quake and Doom. Deathmatch mode is her bread and butter. And Kornelia rarely loses. At the QuakeCon convention in Dallas in August (billed as four days of peace, love and rockets), the 27-year-old pro gamer who now calls California home took on all-comers at Doom III in what was billed The Kornelia Challenge.

There were gasps - and cheers for the underdog - when the first opponent went up 4-0.

"He really surprised me," Kornelia recalled from California. "He really did play well and it really threw me off."

Still Kornelia kept her calm and rallied to dispatch him 6-4. She won all 36 matches in all, blanking her opposition in 30 of them.

Kornelia admits she loses occasionally at such shows.

"It does happen and it's very surprising to both of us," she says matter-of-factly.

But her winning rate remains impressive. She usually plays 200 exhibition matches over a three-day show and reckons she might suffer one loss.

"That is actually great because you learn from that," she said. "Unless it happens in a tournament, in which case it's not the best thing. But hey, you win some, you lose some."

There is more to Kornelia than fragging rival gamers, however.

She works in the accounting department of a film production company in Santa Monica. She enjoys the challenge and the people, but says "the only downside is I have to get up relatively early."

That tends to limit gaming time in the evening.

She's also studying guitar and film at a local college.

While she says she still has time for gaming, occasionally her job has to take precedence. That happened recently when a business trip to Munich meant she couldn't attend the recent World Cyber Games in San Francisco.

Kornelia isn't that concerned about being a female gaming star in a largely male world. Her view is that gender is unimportant when it comes to being behind the keyboard.

"But I know guys prefer not to lose to a woman," she said. "Sitting down in front of me in public and deciding to play me takes guts.

"But many of them do believe in their mind that they have a chance."

One of her co-workers evidently thinks so.

"He came up to me one day and said 'Oh, I hear you play Doom and Quake. ... We should play some time, I will beat you."'

Bad move.

"Half the office is going to watch," she said with relish in her voice. "They are really looking forward to it. It's really going to so much fun, because I'm going to annihilate him. . . .

"He thinks I'm good, but not that good. Those people are the most fun to beat because after the match, they are really just unable to cope and comprehend what has just happened."

Kornelia started gaming with friends at 19, but says there were no early signs she was any good at it. Then she won the first tournament she entered, at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., in 1997.

"Which surprised me at that time because I did not realize I was that good," she said. "Then it real dawned on me that 'wow, this really could be a possibility as a way of living."'

Her talent eventually led to sponsorships - she was a resident expert for the GameSpy website, for example - and tournament success.

Kornelia has mused about why she is such a good gamer. She admits to being very competitive and able to stay calm in the heat of the moment - even when playing before a large audience.

"Psychologically it's very hard to take. Some people cannot take that pressure, some can."

She has no real superstitions but says she likes to be alone for a few minutes before tournaments - "to reflect on things and just calm down, go into my match with a clear head."

She marvels at how the industry has mushroomed.

While only the best still can make a living off it, Kornelia notes: "That is the same with a lot of other sports, a lot of other interests."

Quake 1 was her first game of choice. Now it is Doom III. Both titles are made by Id Software, based in Mesquite, Texas, whose PC titles helped revolutionize the industry by sparking multiplayer gaming.

Id does not sponsor individual gamers, so even stars like Kornelia had to wait until Doom III was released this year.

"It's beautiful, it's a great game," she says by way of review, while noting it requires a powerful computer to play.

"Aside from that, obviously the graphics are so incredible that is really worthwhile just to roam around."

Game play doesn't really change in first-person shooters, says Kornelia. But it takes time to learn the physics of the game and the different maps of each level.

Does she ever get stuck during a section of a new game?

"No," she said. "That has not happened before."

On the Net: www.purgatory.net/kornelia.