British schoolgirl becomes chess’ youngest ever woman grandmaster

An 11-year-old chess prodigy has become the youngest woman grandmaster of all time, after a strong performance at the 46th Chess Olympiad.

Bodhana Sivanandan from northwest London represented England at the tournament in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, which ended on Sunday.

In an interview released on YouTube on Sunday, she told the International Chess Federation (FIDE) that she is keen to “keep making history.”

Becoming a woman grandmaster means she has attained the highest female-only title in chess.

“I’m happy to do it, but I want to keep going and keep making history as well, instead of just stopping here,” said Sivanandan, who previously became Britain’s youngest female chess champion and the youngest person to represent England at an international tournament in any sport.

Asked whether she felt the pressure of playing on the top board at the tournament, Sivanandan said: “Not really, I just tried to enjoy it.”

She explained that this was her second Olympiad. “It kind of felt very similar to the last one except I was playing on a different board,” she said.

Asked about her love of chess, Sivanandan said she enjoyed the travel involved as well as the sport’s benefit to her school work.

“It links to loads of school subjects so it’s really useful there as well,” she said.

The latest tournament continues a meteoric rise for Sivanandan, who became the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster in August 2025.

She beat 60-year-old grandmaster Pete Wells at the age of just 10 years, five months and three days, breaking a record set by American Carissa Yip, who was 10 years, 11 months and 20 days old when she defeated a grandmaster in 2019, according to FIDE.

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images/File

10-year-old chess prodigy becomes youngest female player to defeat grandmaster

In 2024, Sivanandan’s father told the BBC that “nobody at all” in their family had previously excelled at chess.

Sivanandan said she picked up the sport during the Covid pandemic when she was five, after one of her dad’s friends gave the family some toys and books.

“In one of the bags, I saw a chessboard, and I was interested in the pieces,” she told the BBC.

“I wanted to use the pieces as toys. Instead, my dad said that I could play the game, and then I started from there.”

CNN’s Matias Grez contributed to this report.

一位 11 岁的国际象棋神童在第 46 届国际象棋奥林匹克团体赛中表现出色，成为有史以来最年轻的女子国际象棋特级大师。

来自伦敦西北部的博达纳·西瓦南丹代表英格兰参加了在乌兹别克斯坦撒马尔罕举行的锦标赛，该赛事于周日结束。

在周日发布于 YouTube 的一段采访中，她告诉国际象棋联合会（FIDE），她渴望“继续创造历史”。

成为女子国际象棋特级大师意味着她获得了国际象棋界女性所能获得的最高头衔。

“我很乐意这样做，但我还想继续前进，继续创造历史，而不是就此止步，”西瓦南丹说道。她此前曾是英国最年轻的女子国际象棋冠军，也是代表英格兰参加国际体育赛事的最年轻的选手。

当被问及是否感受到在比赛中担任第一台选手的压力时，西瓦南丹说：“其实没有，我只是尽力享受比赛。”

她解释说，这是她第二次参加奥林匹克竞赛。“感觉和上次很相似，只是这次我用的是不同的棋盘，”她说。

当被问及她对国际象棋的热爱时，西瓦南丹表示，她喜欢国际象棋带来的旅行，以及这项运动对她学业的益处。

“它与很多学校科目都有联系，所以在那方面也很有用，”她说。

最新一届锦标赛延续了西瓦南丹的迅猛崛起，她在 2025 年 8 月成为击败特级大师的最年轻女棋手。

据国际棋联称，她年仅 10 岁 5 个月零 3 天就击败了 60 岁的国际象棋特级大师皮特·威尔斯，打破了美国棋手卡丽莎·叶在 2019 年击败特级大师时创下的纪录，当时卡丽莎·叶的年龄为 10 岁 11 个月零 20 天。

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images/档案照片

10岁国际象棋神童成为击败国际象棋特级大师的最年轻女棋手

2024 年，西瓦南丹的父亲告诉 BBC，他们家以前“从来没有人”擅长下棋。

西瓦南丹说，她在新冠疫情期间，五岁时，开始接触这项运动。当时她父亲的一位朋友送给他们家一些玩具和书籍。

“我在其中一个袋子里看到了一副国际象棋，我对棋子很感兴趣，”她告诉BBC。

“我本来想把这些棋子当玩具玩。但我爸爸说我可以玩游戏，然后我就开始玩了。”

CNN的马蒂亚斯·格雷兹对本报道亦有贡献。