BODHANA SIVANANDAN, 11, from Harrow in north London, has become England’s leading female chess player after her rating rose to 2,366, taking her above Lan Yao, 25.
She is ranked No 72 in the world among female players by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), following victories in France, Austria and the UK.
“It’s good, but I want to keep going,” Bodhana said. “I was a bit happy, but I don’t want to stop there,” she said, The Times reported.
She began playing at the age of five during the pandemic after finding a chess board her father, Siva, had planned to donate. “I said it’s a game but she didn’t believe me, so I had to put on a YouTube video to explain. Then she asked about the rules — I knew just the very, very basics,” he told The Times.
Bodhana later competed at Harrow Chess Club and online. At the European Schools Championship in May 2022, aged seven, she won all 24 matches and three gold medals.
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She earned the women’s candidate master title in September 2023 after crossing a rating of 2,000.
In 2024, she became the youngest person to represent England in any sport at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary.
She also became the youngest female to beat a grandmaster when she defeated Peter Wells at the British Chess Championships in Liverpool last August. Mariya Muzychuk is among the players she has beaten.
Bodhana said: “It was my plan and, if possible, it still is. But my aim is just to get as good as possible.”
