Bodhana Sivanandan

Bodhana Sivanandan
Personal information
Born (2015-03-07) 7 March 2015
London, England
Chess career
CountryEngland
Title
Peak rating2374 (May 2026)

Bodhana Sivanandan (born 7 March 2015) is an English chess player. She was awarded the title of Woman International Master in 2025, and the title of FIDE Master in 2026.

Chess career

Sivanandan began playing chess during lockdown in 2020. In 2022 she said "I love to play chess because it helps me to recognise patterns, focus my attention and is helping me to learn how to strategise and calculate moves in advance. Also, I like the way the chess pieces move on the board, especially the knight."[1] In March 2022, 15 months after learning the game, Sivanandan was described by Leonard Barden as "exceptional". He wrote "Bodhana Sivanandan, who won silver medals in both the rapid and blitz European under-8 girls, is world No 1 girl in blitz in her age group by a whopping margin of 322 Fide points" and "Sivanandan's medals in Serbia match Houska's fifth place on her debut in the 1988 world girls U10".[2]

In the European Schools age group championships held in Rhodes in May 2022, Sivanandan won all 24 games she played and gained three gold medals.[3] Sivanandan took part in the British Chess Championship in Torquay in August 2022. Leonard Barden, writing in The Guardian, described her play in the Open Rapid competition as "an eye-catching performance": she was the youngest contestant, and after two wins and a draw she defeated the current U12 champion, before being defeated by grandmaster Keith Arkell who said "I won only because of her inexperience".[4]

In 2023 she defeated former British chess champion Peter Lee in an exhibition match.[5] Later that year, at the age of eight, Sivanandan scored 8.5/13 in the 2023 European Blitz chess championship in December 2023.[6][7] She won the under-12 and women's prizes at that championship, as well as being its top English player. However, no player was allowed more than one prize; she chose the women's prize.[5] International Master Lawrence Trent wrote on Twitter on December 13, 2023: "The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it's truly breath taking. ... I have no doubt she will be England's greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen".[7][8] In 2023 she became a Woman Candidate Master.[9]

In March 2024 she was the world no. 1 under-10 girl.[10] In July 2024, Sivanandan was selected for England's women's team for the 45th Chess Olympiad, in Budapest, Hungary in September.[11] This made her the youngest person to ever be chosen for a full England team in any sport.[12] At that Olympiad, she won her first game[13] and followed up with two losses, two draws, and one loss.[14] In November 2024, she won the top place in the Girls Under 18s category of the UK Chess Challenge.[15][16] In 2024 she became a Woman FIDE Master.[9]

In July 2025, at age ten, she became the youngest chess player to earn a Woman Grandmaster norm; the previous youngest to do so was Hou Yifan as an 11-year-old in 2005.[17][18] In August 2025, she defeated grandmaster Peter Wells in the British Chess Championship, becoming the youngest girl to defeat a grandmaster, beating Carissa Yip's record by over 6 months.[19] The win also gave her the final norm needed to become a Woman International Master, making her the youngest ever to earn that title.[20][21] She went on to defeat the former women's world chess champion and grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk at the European Chess Club Cup in October 2025.[22] In November 2025, Sivanandan won the UK Women’s Blitz Championship.[23]

In January 2026, she had eight draws and three wins at the European Women's Rapid Championship, with a final score of 7/11, finishing in twentieth place out of 143 players in the tournament.[24] In March 2026, she shared first prize at the British Women's Rapidplay Championships,[25] and had four wins in the Reykjavik Open.[26] On 1 April 2026, an update to the FIDE rankings made her Britain’s top-rated female chess player.[27] In July of that year, at eleven years and four months old, she became the youngest girl to defeat a grandmaster rated over 2600, by defeating Marc’Andria Maurizzi.[28] In that same month she also became the youngest girl to achieve an International Master norm, surpassing Judit Polgár’s record of doing so at age eleven years and nine months in 1988.[29] In August 2026, she became the youngest ever[30] Women's British Chess Champion, beating Trisha Kanyamarala 1½ - ½ in a rapid playoff after both players finished on 5½/9 in the main championship.[31][32] In 2026 she also became a FIDE master.[33]

Personal life

Sivanandan's parents moved from Tiruchirappalli, India, to the United Kingdom in 2007.[34] Sivanandan was born in London on 7 March 2015.[34][35] She lives in Harrow.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Hill, Amelia (8 July 2022). "Rachel Reeves hopes chess festival can be opening gambit for children's futures". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Barden, Leonard (18 March 2022). "Chess: Rapport closes in on Candidates as six-year-old steals show at Blackpool". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Barden, Leonard (6 May 2022). "Chess: England children sweep gold medals and world titles in Rhodes". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Barden, Leonard (19 August 2022). "Chess: Bodhana Sivanandan, seven, shines at British Championships". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Barden, Leonard (18 December 2023). "Aged just eight, Bodhana Sivanandan enters chess history". Financial Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ↑ Katie Gibbons (19 December 2023). "How British schoolgirl, 8, became chess queen of Europe". The Times. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 Samantha Jagger (20 December 2023). "London chess prodigy, 8, wins title at European championships". BBC News. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Lawrence Trent (@LawrenceTrentIM) on X". Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  9. 1 2 Bodhana Sivanandan rating card at FIDE.
  10. ↑ Barden, Leonard (1 March 2024). "Chess: Adams wins seventh straight first prize as England's girls set records". The Guardian.
  11. ↑ "Chess star, 9, to become youngest England player". BBC. 3 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Barden, Leonard (8 July 2024). "Chess: Bodhana, nine, takes on 20 in Trafalgar Square after England call-up". Financial Times.
  13. ↑ "Bodhana's chess dreams are off to a great start". 12 September 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  14. ↑ "Chess-Results". Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Demosthenous, Panayiota (6 November 2024). "BRILLIANT BODHANA: Young Pinner chess star secures another award in national competition". My Local News. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  16. ↑ "Chess ace Bodhana, 9, beats players twice her age to win title". Times Series. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "Youngest ever WGM norm - Bodhana Sivanandan!". 28 July 2025.
  18. ↑ Barden, Leonard (1 August 2025). "Chess: 10-year-old targets world record alongside grandmasters at British Championship". The Guardian.
  19. ↑ Svensen, Tarjei (12 August 2025). "Bodhana Becomes Youngest Woman To Beat Grandmaster As Adams Wins 9th British Title".
  20. ↑ Miller, Heather (16 August 2025). "10-year-old chess prodigy defeats 60-year-old grandmaster". KMSP-TV.
  21. ↑ "Meet Bodhana Sivanandan: 10-year-old becomes youngest female to beat a chess grandmaster". Hindustan Times. 15 August 2025.
  22. ↑ Goldberg, Madison E. (22 October 2025). "10-Year-Old Chess Prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan Wins 'Near Perfect Game' Against Former Grandmaster". People.com. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  23. ↑ "Chess: Bodhana, 10, wins UK Women's Blitz Championship". www.ft.com.
  24. ↑ "Batsiashvili beats Kosteniuk to win European Women's Rapid title". Chess News. 12 January 2026.
  25. ↑ "England Has A New Top Female Player—She's 11 Years Old / News / World Chess - Official FIDE Online Chess Gaming Platform". World Chess.
  26. ↑ Wilde, Melinda (1 April 2026). "Bodhana Sivanandan Becomes Britain's No. 1 Female Player".
  27. ↑ "Meet Bodhana Sivanandan, India-origin 11-year-old who is Britain's top female chess player". 3 April 2026.
  28. ↑ Barden, Leonard (24 July 2026). "Chess: Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, breaks world age record from 38 years ago" – via The Guardian.
  29. ↑ Barden, Leonard (31 July 2026). "Chess: Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, breaks another world age record at Dole Trophy" – via The Guardian.
  30. ↑ "11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan crowned Britain's youngest-ever Women's champion at record-breaking British Chess Champs – International Chess Federation".
  31. ↑ "British Chess Championships 2026 – University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL from 1st August to 9th August 2026". www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  32. ↑ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2026 British Chess Championships:". s2.chess-results.com. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Sivanandan, Bodhana FIDE Chess Profile". International Chess Federation (FIDE).
  34. 1 2 Kamath, Amit (11 August 2025). "Bodhana Sivanandan, 10-year-old with Indian roots becomes youngest girl to beat grandmaster". The Indian Express.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  35. ↑ "Bodhana Sivanandan". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025.
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