Entered the World of Chess During the COVID-19 Pandemic Five Years Ago
Defeated a 60-Year-Old Grandmaster to Claim the Title
A 10-year-old chess prodigy from the United Kingdom has defeated a seasoned chess grandmaster to become the youngest ever to earn the title of 'Female International Master'.
According to a report by the BBC on August 13 (local time), Bodana Sivanandan, who lives in Harrow, northwest London, claimed this title after defeating chess grandmaster Peter Wells (60) at the 2025 British Chess Championship held in Liverpool earlier this month.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) explained on its social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on August 11 that "Sivanandan defeated a grandmaster at exactly 10 years, 5 months, and 3 days old," and added, "This breaks the previous youngest victory record set by American Carissa Yip in 2019 (10 years, 11 months, and 20 days) by about six months."
The grandmaster title is a lifelong honor awarded by the International Chess Federation to players of the highest caliber. The 'Female International Master' title obtained by Sivanandan is the second-highest title in the women's division, following the top title of 'Female Grandmaster'.
Sivanandan first encountered chess in 2020, at the age of five, when outdoor activities were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, "A friend of my dad's was returning to India and left behind some toys. When I looked into the bag, I found a chessboard and pieces, which piqued my interest. At first, I just wanted to play with the chess pieces like toys, but my dad told me, 'You can play chess too,' so that's how I started." Sivanandan added that playing chess makes her feel good and has helped her with arithmetic and other skills.
Sivanandan's parents, both of whom majored in engineering, told the BBC that they are not skilled at chess themselves and said, "We have no idea where our daughter's talent comes from." They expressed their hope that their daughter continues to enjoy chess and achieves good results.
Last year, Sivanandan participated as a member of the England women's team at the Chess Olympiad held in Hungary. This made her the youngest athlete ever to represent England across all sports disciplines.
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