July 30, 1986

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee moved quickly today to draw the lines of ideological engagement as they began hearings on the nomination of William H. Rehnquist to be Chief Justice of the United States. As they prepared for what is expected to be a grueling examination of the conservative Supreme Court Justice on Wednesday, several members of the committee stressed that they faced one of the most important decisions they will ever make. Strong Opposition by Kennedy Before making a short opening statement, Mr. Rehnquist listened as Republican Senate leaders, a Democratic Senator, Dennis DeConcini of Arizona, and former Attorney General Griffin B. Bell heaped praise on President Reagan's choice and declared their support for him. But Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, assailed Justice Rehnquist for what he called an ''appalling record on race'' and said he was ''too extreme to be Chief Justice.''

Because of a mechanical error, the chess board diagram with an article yesterday about the first game of the rematch between Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov misplaced two black pieces. The correct final position appears today, with an analysis of the game, on page C20.

For decades, steelmakers bought labor peace with generous salaries and attractive pension benefits. Now, as business is faltering and more workers are retiring, those pension obligations are coming back to haunt them. A $1.5 billion pension obligation was one r eason the LTV Corporation filed earlier this month for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, and the fear of huge pension costs has prevented many others from making the plant closings necessary to become more competitive. ''Steel industry management lost through negotiations,'' said Charles Bradford, an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Company. ''They let the union negotiate agreements that they couldn't live with long term.''

Thirty years ago, when Charles E. Williams stocked his Sonoma, Calif., hardware store with the specialized utensils of haute cuisine, the world did not beat a path to his door. But that was before gourmet cooking became a yuppie hobby and great chefs attained a status previously reserved for rock stars or movie idols. Today Williams-Sonoma Inc., now based in San Francisco, is a publicly held company with 31 stores in 14 states and more than two million catalogue customers. Its recently announced acquisition of The Pottery Barn, the housewares unit of The Gap, will soon add 27 more stores, 10 of them in New York. And many of those famous chefs have become close friends and steady customers of Chuck Williams, a former airplane mechanic and building contractor who loves to cook.

A car packed with explosives and mortar shells exploded in a crowded marketplace in Moslem West Beirut today. The police said the car-bombing, the second in Beirut in two days, killed 25 people and wounded 180. On Monday, a car bomb devastated a three-block area in the Ain el-Rummaneh residential quarter of East Beirut. The blast today occurred as a mass funeral was being held at a Maronite Catholic Church in West Beirut for the 31 victims in Monday's car bombing.