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A 10-year-old British girl named Bodhana Sivanandan has hit the headlines for breaking into record books after defeating Grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British Chess Championships held in Liverpool. She has become the youngest-ever female chess player in history to taste success against a grandmaster. Bodhana has achieved the latest feat at the age of 10 years, five months and three days. She bettered the record of American Carissa Yip, who was holding the milestone since 2019. Yip was 10 years and 11 months old when she beat a grandmaster for the first time.
Bodhana’s roots are from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Her father hails from Trichy. In 2007, her father Sivanandan Velayutham shifted to London to build his career in the IT Industry. Bodhana Sivanandan was born on March 7, 2015, in London. She has become a renowned figure in British chess. Before her latest success, she attraction the attention for getting invited to 10 Downing Street in August 2023 by then British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was pondering to announce a financial package for chess in the United Kingdom (UK).
Bodhana Sivanandan began playing chess in during the lockdown in 2020
Bodhana Sivanandan's journey in chess kicked off in 2020, when she started playing the game. In December 2023, she pulled off silver medals in both the rapid and blitz European under-8 girls. Currently, in the girl’s segment, she is world No 1 player in blitz in her age group by a massive margin of 322 Fide points.
The same year, she also grabbed the limelight for defeating former British chess champion Peter Lee in an exhibition contest. In July 2025, Bodhana also became the youngest chess player to gain a Woman Grandmaster norm. She surpassed the record of Hou Yifan, who achieved the feat as an 11-year-old in 2005.
