‘I do it because I like it’: Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, on being youngest ever ‘woman grandmaster’

The Guardian UK Thursday 01 October 2026, 14:00 UTC By Matthew Weaver 1 min read

Key Points

London schoolgirl’s father taught her to play when she was five, and three years later she beat former British championOver the weekend, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest person ever to hold the title of woman grandmaster at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan while playing on a car booster seat so she could reach the board. By Tuesday morning she was back at school in north London for a design and technology lesson. Bodhana has to juggle the competing pressures of being an...

London schoolgirl’s father taught her to play when she was five, and three years later she beat former British champion

Over the weekend, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest person ever to hold the title of woman grandmaster at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan while playing on a car booster seat so she could reach the board. By Tuesday morning she was back at school in north London for a design and technology lesson.

Bodhana has to juggle the competing pressures of being an international chess sensation with the more ordinary challenges of childhood and her first term at secondary school.

Bodhana Sivanandan (PERSON) London (LOCATION) British (ORG) the Chess Olympiad (LOCATION) Uzbekistan (LOCATION) Bodhana (PERSON)

Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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