A British schoolgirl has made chess history after winning an award at a continental tournament aged just eight years old.
Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow in North West London, was named the best female player at the European blitz championship held in Zagreb, Croatia.
Bodhana began playing chess at just five years old, during the pandemic and says she wants to become a grandmaster, England’s youngest Olympic gold medallist and to eventually win a world title.
She beat her first international master, England’s women’s coach 39-year-old Lorin D’Costa, in the penultimate round, before drawing with the two-time Romanian champion Vladislav Nevednichy, 54, in the final round.
Competitors said that while they were impressed with her 5/11 result in the rapid round, her performance in the 13-round blitz is being hailed by fellow players as phenomenal.
Irina Bulmaga, 30, the Romanian international master and woman grandmaster who was also at the competition, said it was an ‘unbelievable result’ by an eight-year-old, adding: ‘Winning the first prize among women ahead of me and a bunch of other experienced players! What a phenomenon she is!’
Bodhana Sivanandan, 8, made chess history after being named the best female player at the European rapid and blitz championship, held in Zagreb, Croatia (pictured on Saturday at the tournament)
Earlier this year the chess champion met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak along with other chess champion Shreyas Royal, 14
Lawrence Trent, the chess commentator and international master, wrote on X: ‘Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the greatest talents I’ve witnessed in recent memory. The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it’s truly breathtaking.
‘I have no doubt she will be England’s greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen.’
Dominic Lawson, president of the English Chess Federation, told the Times the Londoner’s performance at the speed chess event was ‘completely remarkable but not that surprising, because she is a phenomenon’.
‘It’s an extraordinary result for an eight-year-old and something we’ve certainly never seen in this country.
‘She has a remarkably mature playing style, it’s strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game.’
Bodhana was invited to Downing Street this summer, and was seen playing chess with Rishi Sunak, shortly before the government announced it was going to invest £1 million to try and increase the number of English grandmasters.
Bodhana was invited to Downing Street this summer, and was seen playing chess with Rishi Sunak, shortly before the government announced it was going to invest £1 million to try and increase the number of English grandmasters. Pictured: The Prime Minister with Bodhana and Sheryas
On just a few days, on December 28, she will be competing at the International Chess Congress in Hastings, East Sussex
Bodhana is currently the world’s third-highest rated player born in 2015 in classical chess.
She previously told an Indian broadcaster that she began playing chess after rescuing a board that was going to be donated to charity.
‘I got fascinated with the pieces and I started taking them. I kept asking questions so my dad then taught me [how to play] using YouTube,’ she said.
She became England’s first world youth champion in 25 years, after she won titles in classical, rapid and blitz competitions.
And in just a few days, on December 28, she will be competing at the International Chess Congress in Hastings, East Sussex.
Meet the little girl, eight, who rescued a chessboard destined for the bin and learnt how to play on YouTube… before ending up women’s European champion after beating a master 30 years her senior
By Eirian Prosser
When little Bodhana Sivanandan rescued an old chess board out of a bin bag to serve as a lockdown hobby her parents had no idea she would quickly end up a European champion – beating masters 30 years her senior.
The eight-year-old, who learnt how to play on YouTube, wowed audiences this week when she made chess history after being named the best female player at the European rapid and blitz championship, held in Zagreb, Croatia.
The British schoolgirl, from Harrow in northwest London, now plans to take the game by storm hoping to become a grandmaster, England’s youngest Olympic gold medalist and to eventually win a world title.
Bodhana’s recent success has seen her hailed by chess champions across the world, with international masters, such as Lawrence Trent, predicting she ‘will be England’s greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen’.
Many are saying the young player is destined for greatness, making it hard to imagine that if the girl, then just five, had not stumbled upon a chessboard chucked in a binbag she might not have been playing in world wide tournaments today.
Bodhana Sivanandan (pictured) was invited to Downing Street this summer, and was seen playing chess with Rishi Sunak
With no chess coach, the youngster, with the help from her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, taught herself how to play on YouTube.
‘When one of my dads was going back to India in Covid time all the charities were closed so he gave us a few bags and in those bags there was a chess board with pieces so then I just started playing,’ she told Radio 4 this morning.
‘I got fascinated with the pieces and I started taking them. I kept asking questions so my dad then taught me [how to play] using YouTube,’ she previously said.
Her proud father added: ‘Accidentally she started chess and she was curious and interested so I started taking her around the English Chess Federation.
The people who play chess and support chess in England are very friendly and supportive so we started going to the local Harrow chess club.
‘From there we started going to many tournaments. She likes it and she likes travelling as well. Like she said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work well but we keep trying and keep going.’
On December 28, the child prodigy will take on her next challenge competing at the International Chess Congress in Hastings, East Sussex.
This week, she beat her first international master, England’s women’s coach 39-year-old Lorin D’Costa, in the penultimate round, before drawing with the two-time Romanian champion Vladislav Nevednichy, 54, in the final round.
It led to impressive reviews of her 5/11 result in the rapid round, her performance in the 13-round blitz is being hailed by fellow players as phenomenal.
‘There aren’t many strong, good chess players and she’s playing her best and it worked very well for her during the tournament,’ her father added.
Bodhana visited Downing Street earlier this year with her father Sivanandan Velayutham (second right) and another young chess champion Sheryas Royal, 14
Irina Bulmaga, 30, the Romanian international master and woman grandmaster who was also at the competition, said it was an ‘unbelievable result’.
The star added: ‘Winning the first prize among women ahead of me and a bunch of other experienced players! What a phenomenon she is!’
Lawrence Trent, the chess commentator and international master, wrote on X: ‘Bodhana Sivanandan is one of the greatest talents I’ve witnessed in recent memory. The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it’s truly breathtaking.
‘I have no doubt she will be England’s greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen.’
Dominic Lawson, president of the English Chess Federation, told the Times the Londoner’s performance at the speed chess event was ‘completely remarkable but not that surprising, because she is a phenomenon’.
‘It’s an extraordinary result for an eight-year-old and something we’ve certainly never seen in this country.
‘She has a remarkably mature playing style, it’s strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game.’
Last year, Nigel Short, the 1993 world title challenger and England’s most famous player, predicted that Bodhana would become a well-known name in the chess world.
The player, who also was a prodigy at nine, wrote on X: ‘I don’t like to jinx young players by over-praising them but she looks like a really big talent.’
Speaking of her most recent success, the modest young girl said: ‘I was very proud of myself when I got top in the European Blitz. I always try my best to win all the time with the games, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.’
Bodhana admitted that her school friends have had a mixed reaction to her success. ‘Sometimes they ask me stop bring in my trophies and sometimes they keep coming round my trophies to try and touch them,’ she added.
Earlier this year, Bodhana along with other young hcess champions, were invited to play the game at Downing Street with Rishi Sunak.
It came shortly before the Prime Minister announced he was going to invest £1million to try and increase the number of English grandmasters.
In July last year, while attending the Chessfest in London she took on Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, a former national girls champion.
Speaking of their match, she said that Reeves ‘is a good chess player, who played a solid and equal game against me until she blundered a knight and resigned after 33 moves’.
Bodhana is currently the world’s third-highest rated player born in 2015 in classical chess.
The schoolgirl, who is an ambassador for Chesskid (a site where children can learn how to play the game) became England’s first world youth champion in 25 years, after she won titles in classical, rapid and blitz competitions.