British chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has made history at age 11 after becoming the youngest player ever to earn the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title.
Sivanandan, from Harrow in north-west London, secured the third and final norm required for the title while representing England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the BBC reports.
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed the feat after she completed all 11 rounds on England’s top board and finished with eight points.
She had already exceeded the 2,300 rating requirement for the WGM title before obtaining her final norm.
“I’m happy to do it, but I want to keep going and keep making history as well, instead of just stopping here,” she said.
Her achievement eclipsed the previous record jointly held by Kateryna Lagno and Hou Yifan, who both became Woman Grandmasters at 12.
The WGM title is the highest chess title exclusively available to female players and is awarded for life.
Sivanandan also secured her second International Master norm at the Olympiad, moving closer to the International Master title, which is open to all genders. Players generally need three norms and a rating of at least 2,400 to earn the title.
Her rapid rise began during the COVID-19 pandemic when she taught herself chess. She entered her first tournament at Harrow Chess Club in July 2021 and a year later, at age seven, won all 24 of her games at the European Schools Championship.
In 2023, she became the youngest player to avoid defeat against a grandmaster after drawing at the European Rapid and Blitz Championship in Croatia.
The following year, at nine, she represented England at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, becoming the youngest person to represent England internationally in any sport, according to the English Chess Federation.
In 2025, she became the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster when she beat Peter Wells at the British Chess Championships.
In July 2026, at the Dole Open in France, she earned her first International Master norm at 11 years and four months, becoming the youngest girl to do so. At the same tournament, she defeated grandmaster Marc’Andria Maurizzi, becoming the youngest girl known to have beaten a player rated above 2,600 in a classical game.
“I like travelling and also because I do full-time school as well, it links to loads of school subjects, so it’s really useful there as well,” she said.
Her father, Siva, previously told the BBC that neither he nor his wife, both engineering graduates, had a strong background in chess.
