Bodhana Sivanandan becomes youngest-ever woman grandmaster at 11

Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, has become youngest-ever chess player to earn Woman Grandmaster title

Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, has become the youngest-ever chess player to earn the Woman Grandmaster title after representing England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The London-based player competed at the tournament, which ran from September 15 to 27, and secured her third and final norm required for the title, according to the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She scored eight points from 11 games, according to The Times.

Bodhana knew she had secured the required norm on September 26 but said she did not realise she had broken the age record until she was told.

“[But] now that you’ve told me, I’m happy,” she said in an interview with Lichess.

The Woman Grandmaster title is the highest female-only title in chess and is held for life, according to the BBC. Bodhana achieved the title at 11, breaking a record previously held by players who reached the rank at 12.

She played on board one for England during the Olympiad, a position generally reserved for a team’s strongest player.

When asked by a FIDE reporter whether she felt pressure, Bodhana said, “Not really, I just tried to enjoy it, especially because this is my second Olympiad.”

“It kinda felt very similar to the last one except I was playing on a different board,” she added.

Bodhana also balances competitive chess with full-time school. She said she enjoys “everything” about chess, particularly travelling, while noting that the game connects with subjects she studies at school.

She has to catch up on schoolwork after travelling for competitions.

Bodhana told FIDE that she wanted to “keep going” and “keep making history.”

She began playing chess during the COVID pandemic after a family friend left a bag containing a chess board at her home before moving to India.

“I was interested in the pieces, so I started playing,” she told the BBC, adding that chess makes her feel “good” and helps with “lots of other things like maths, how to calculate.”