Bodhana Sivanandan, an eight-year-old girl from Harrow, north-west London, has made history by becoming the best female player at the European blitz chess championships in Croatia. She scored 8.5/13, beating seasoned professionals and earning praise from the chess community.
Bodhana’s introduction to chess was accidental, sparked by her curiosity and interest. Her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, shared that they explored the English Chess Federation and the supportive chess community in England. He highlighted the friendliness and encouragement they received. Dominic Lawson, president of the English Chess Federation, described Bodhana’s exceptional performance in speed chess as “completely remarkable but not that surprising,” emphasizing her status as a chess phenomenon.
In Zagreb, Bodhana demonstrated exceptional chess prowess, achieving a noteworthy 5/11 result with a 2056 performance in the rapid round. However, it was her performance in the 13-round blitz that garnered widespread acclaim from fellow players. Notably, she defeated her first international master, Lorin D’Costa, and secured a draw against the two-time Romanian champion, grandmaster Vladislav Nevednichy, becoming one of the youngest players to avoid defeat against a grandmaster in a competitive game. Despite the one-prize-per-player rule, Bodhana received the under-12 prize and finished as the top English player. Opting for the women’s award, she showcased an overall tournament rating performance of 2316, reaching the level of a woman grandmaster.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Bodhana expressed, “I was very proud of myself when I got top girl in the European blitz.”
Bodhana’s father revealed that she began her chess journey “accidentally,” emphasizing, “She’s trying her best. And it worked in favor of her [in the tournament]. So it was a good thing that happened in Zagreb when we went for the European rapid and blitz event.”
When asked if she entered the tournament with the expectation of winning, she responded, “I always try my best to win all the tournaments, all the games. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Lawson supplemented, “It’s an extraordinary result for an eight-year-old and something we’ve certainly never seen in this country. She has a remarkably mature playing style, it’s strategic and patient. She has what you might describe as a long game.”
Bodhana, who discovered chess at the age of five during the pandemic when she found a chess set in a bag, remains uncertain about her prospects in the upcoming International Chess Congress in Hastings.
Despite her young age, she aspires to become a grandmaster and England’s youngest Olympic gold medallist, harboring long-term ambitions of winning a world title. Her achievements include a visit to 10 Downing Street, where she played chess with Rishi Sunak, coinciding with the government’s announcement of a £1 million investment to boost the number of English grandmasters in the game.
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