LONDON: A British schoolgirl has become the youngest woman grandmaster in chess at just 11 years old.
Bodhana Sivanandan secured the title at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, after winning eight points across 11 games against some of the world's best players. The International Chess Federation confirmed the young Londoner's new status after she earned her third and final "norm", an official certificate showing a player performing at an elite level, which qualified her for the title.
The achievement drew personal congratulations from former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who wrote on X: "Huge congratulations Bodhana - a chess superstar and just 11 years old. So pleased to see you continue to progress."
The youngest woman grandmaster title was previously held by Kateryna Lagno, who has played for both Ukraine and Russia, at age 12 in 2002, and by China's Hou Yifan, also 12, in 2007. Hou went on to become the youngest woman to earn the full grandmaster title at 14 in 2008.
Sivanandan, described as a "generational talent," must progress to international master before she can attempt the title of grandmaster, though some experts already predict she will become Britain's greatest ever player.
The child prodigy discovered the game during the pandemic when she found a chessboard in a bag of discarded items left by a family friend at her home in Harrow, north London. Her father, IT worker Sivandan Velayutham, taught her the basic rules, but she soon began beating him after expanding her skills through YouTube tutorials.
Alongside chess, Sivanandan plays violin and piano, which she balances with her academic work.
Earlier this summer, she became Britain's youngest-ever Women's Chess Champion, breaking a record set by Elaine Pritchard in 1939, when Pritchard won the championship at 13.
In a tense, rapid-chess playoff between the top female players, Bodhana defeated Ireland's 14-year-old Trisha Kanyamarala, herself a promising talent and the first Irishwoman to hold the Woman Grandmaster title.
Grandmaster Danny Gormally, commentating on the event for the English Chess Federation, said in the closing moments: "Unreal! Bodhana, or Godhana as I call her, has won. She is unbelievable, a generational talent."
The new chess queen lost only to fellow child genius Shreyas Royal, 17, who went on to win the overall British championship. He topped the table after nine rounds, finishing half a point ahead of two of England's more seasoned grandmasters, Luke McShane and nine-time champion Michael Adams. The 17-year-old from south-east London became Britain's youngest-ever grandmaster in 2024.
Sivanandan first entered a tournament at the Harrow Chess Club in July 2021, but success came in 2022 when she entered the European Schools Championship that May at age 7. There, she won all 24 of her matches and took three golds.
She then began competing against players with decades more experience and became the youngest person to avoid defeat against a grandmaster in a competitive game at the European Rapid and Blitz chess tournaments in Croatia.
