British chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has become the youngest player ever to fulfil the requirements for the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title at the age of 11.
Sivanandan achieved the milestone during the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where she secured her third and final WGM norm while representing England. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed the record.
The north-west London schoolgirl played all 11 rounds on England’s first board, scoring eight points from 11 games. Official tournament records show she finished with a performance rating of 2,432.
Sivanandan had already surpassed the 2,300 rating requirement for the WGM title before securing her final norm.
Her achievement breaks a record previously held by Russian grandmaster Kateryna Lagno and former women’s world champion Hou Yifan, who both earned the WGM title at 12.
“I’m happy to do it, but I want to keep going and keep making history as well, instead of just stopping here,” Sivanandan told FIDE.
The WGM title is the highest chess title exclusively available to female players and is awarded for life.
Sivanandan also picked up her second International Master (IM) norm at the Olympiad, moving closer to the open IM title. She had earned her first IM norm in July at the Dole Open in France, where she also defeated grandmaster Marc’Andria Maurizzi, becoming the youngest girl known to beat a player rated above 2,600 in a classical game.
Her rise continued in August when she became Britain’s youngest-ever Women’s Chess Champion after defeating 14-year-old Trisha Kanyamarala in a playoff at the British Chess Championships.
Sivanandan first attracted international attention after teaching herself chess during the COVID-19 pandemic. She later became the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster when she beat Peter Wells at the 2025 British Chess Championships.
Her latest achievement comes two years after she made her Chess Olympiad debut in Budapest at the age of nine. This time, England promoted her to the top board, where she competed against some of the strongest players in the women’s section.
Despite her rapid rise, Sivanandan said she continues to enjoy chess because of the opportunities to travel and the way it complements her education.
“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.
Sivanandan now has her sights on the International Master title, which is open to both male and female players and requires three qualifying norms and a rating of at least 2,400.
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