10-Year-Old Bodhana Sivanandan Makes History: Youngest Female to Beat a Chess Grandmaster

Chess Record Broken: 10-Year-Old Girl Defeats Grandmaster, Youngest Female in History

Historic Win
At just 10 years, 5 months, and 3 days old, Bodhana became the youngest female player ever to defeat a grandmaster in a classical game.

Event
Her breakthrough occurred during the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool.

Opponent
She beat 60-year-old Grandmaster Peter Wells, securing a fi­nal-round victory.

New Record
Her achievement surpassed the previous record held by Carissa Yip, the American who had beaten a grandmaster at 10 years and 11 months.

WIM Title Norm
Bodhana earned her final Woman International Master (WIM) norm during this tournament.

Performance Rating
She achieved a staggering 2300 performance rating, well beyond expectations for her age.

Norm Age Record
At 10 years and 5 months, she became the youngest ever to achieve that WIM norm, breaking previous records.

International Attention
Her feat was widely reported by major outlets like The Times of India, Financial Times, ABC News, and Chess.com.

Prodigious Talent
Bodhana began playing chess at age five, learning from YouTube and local tournaments.

Indian Roots
She is of Indian Tamil descent, born and raised in Harrow, London, with family origins in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.

Early Achievements
By age eight, she had already won multiple world under-8 titles in classical, rapid, and blitz formats.

WGM Norm Progress
Previously in 2025, she became the youngest ever to earn a Woman Grandmaster (WGM) performance rating in France.

Praise from Experts
Commentator GM Danny Gormally called her final-round win “some kind of magic.”

Other Rising Stars
The tournament also featured 11-year-old Supratit Banerjee, who earned his first IM norm and defeated two grandmasters.

 Emerging Chess Talent in UK
This win signals the arrival of a formidable new generation of British chess talent, supported by growing government investment.

Source - CBS News