The young British woman discovered chess by chance during the pandemic and, at just 11 years old, she is already among the top 100 women in the world. In 2025, it became the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster.
Bodhana Sivanandan is currently the female chess player british with better ranking, despite being only 11 years old. The young woman started playing in 2020, after finding a chessboard in a bag intended for donations.
“We were supposed to give this to charity, but inside one of the bags I found a chessboard and saw the pieces, and I wanted to use them as toys, outside the context of chess. But my father told me that if I did that, then the next person who received the board would no longer be able to play chess properly. So he taught me the basics and I started playing from there,” he says Bodhana has .
Last year, she became the youngest player ever to defeat a grandmaster, after winning a match against Peter Wells in the 2025 British Chess Championship. Currently, it is in the top 100 of the world rankings.
Bodhana also considers that chess contributes to good academic performance, especially in mathematics, music and creativity.
The young woman’s main objective now involves become one of the best chess players in the world.
“I want to be one of the best chess players in the world, and that’s my main long-term goal. For now, I just want to continue to improve and do my best,” she explained. Bodhana.
