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Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old from northwest London, has made chess history by becoming the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster. She beat 60-year-old grandmaster Pete Wells in the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool on Sunday, breaking the record previously held by American Carissa Yip who was just 6 months older.
Sivanandan has now earned woman international master status, one level below the female-exclusive woman grandmaster title; the highest title in chess is grandmaster, owned by the likes of current world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
Her dad said in an interview in 2024 that “nobody at all” in their family had previously excelled at chess.
Sivanandan said she picked up the sport during the Covid pandemic when she was five, after one of her dad’s friends gifted them some toys and books.
“In one of the bags, I saw a chessboard, and I was interested in the pieces,” she said.
“I wanted to use the pieces as toys. Instead, my dad said that I could play the game, and then I started from there.”
Bodhana's incredible chess skills have been making headlines for a few years. At just 8 years old, she was named the best female player at the European Blitz Chess Championship in Croatia.
She became the youngest person ever to represent England internationally the following year, according to Sky News. Lawrence Trent, an English chess master, described Bodhana as "one of the greatest talents I’ve witnessed in recent memory."
Chess, which is recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee, is no stranger to young prodigies.
Last year, 8-year-old Ashwath Kaushik became the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster. The record was previously set by Leonid Ivanovic, who was only five months older than Kaushik at the time of his win.
