An 11-year-old schoolgirl from London, Bodhana Sivanandan, made history over the weekend by becoming the youngest ever holder of the title of woman grandmaster at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan. Remarkably, she played while sitting on a car booster seat to reach the chessboard.
Balancing Chess and School
By Tuesday morning, Bodhana was back at her school in north London, attending a design and technology lesson. She is navigating the challenges of being an international chess sensation while also managing the typical demands of childhood and her first term at secondary school.
““I’m used to going to tournaments and then coming back to school the next day,” Bodhana told the Guardian in her first interview since returning home to Harrow. “Now that I’m in secondary school there might be more homework, but I should be able to manage.”
Despite winning three smartphones at various tournaments, Bodhana is still too young to use them.
““One day I’d like a phone, but I’m fine without,” she said.
Her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, who works in IT, supports this decision, stating, “I don’t think it is the right time for her to have a phone.”
Rising Star in Chess
Bodhana’s rapid ascent in the chess world is impressive. Her father taught her to play chess when she was just five years old, and within a year, she was already beating him with the help of YouTube videos. At the age of seven, she won 5-1 against six members of her local Harrow chess club. By eight, she had defeated former British champion Peter Lee.
In July, she became the youngest girl to beat a grandmaster with a rating over 2,600. Bodhana is also the youngest person ever selected for an England team in any sport. Her recent victories in Samarkand have given her a rating of 2,382, surpassing the required 2,300 points to become a woman grandmaster. She is now just a few points away from the 2,400 needed for international master status and 2,500 for outright grandmaster.
