Indian-origin chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has made historical past by changing into the youngest Girl Grandmaster at simply 11 years outdated, showcasing her distinctive expertise on the forty sixth Chess Olympiad.
IMAGE: Final month, Bodhana Sivanandan turned Britain’s youngest-ever Ladies’s Chess Champion on the 2026 British Chess Championships in Coventry and has been toppling data as one of many youngest gamers on the circuit for the previous few years now. {Photograph}: Type courtesy Judit Polgar/X
Key Factors
- Bodhana Sivanandan, an 11-year-old Indian-origin prodigy, is now the youngest Girl Grandmaster (WGM) in chess historical past.
- She achieved this milestone whereas representing England on the forty sixth Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
- Sivanandan beforehand made historical past because the youngest particular person to symbolize England internationally at age 9.
- Her latest success additionally earned her a second Worldwide Grasp (IM) norm, advancing her in the direction of the IM title.
- A self-taught genius, Bodhana found chess through the COVID pandemic lockdown and has since damaged a number of data within the sport.
Indian-origin chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has been topped the youngest Girl Grandmaster (WGM) whereas representing England on the forty sixth Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
A Rising Star In The Chess World
The 11-year-old London schoolgirl is the youngest chess participant in historical past to earn the WGM title after changing into the youngest particular person to symbolize England internationally in any sport, when she performed for the English Chess Federation at age 9.
The Worldwide Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed her newest milestone after she performed all 11 rounds on England’s high board — a place assigned to the crew’s high participant — and completed the match with eight factors on Sunday.
“I am completely happy to do it, however I need to maintain going and maintain making historical past as effectively, as an alternative of simply stopping right here,” Bodhana informed FIDE.
Her success over the weekend has earned her a second Worldwide Grasp (IM) norm, which takes her one other step nearer to changing into a world grasp.
“I like travelling and in addition as a result of I do full-time college as effectively, it hyperlinks to a great deal of college topics, so it is actually helpful there as effectively,” mentioned the schoolgirl, who lives together with her household in Harrow in north-west London.
Bodhana is a self-taught genius, having first picked up chess through the COVID pandemic lockdown when her father Siva’s good friend was returning to India and gifted her some luggage which contained a chessboard.
Final month, she turned Britain’s youngest-ever Ladies’s Chess Champion on the 2026 British Chess Championships in Coventry and has been toppling data as one of many youngest gamers on the circuit for the previous few years now.
Within the sooner codecs of the sport, Bodhana is already the UK Open Ladies’s Blitz Champion and joint British Ladies’s Speedy Champion.
