Bodhana Sivanandan a 10-year-old chess prodigy, from Harrow. The Youngest to earn the Woman International Master title.
A new player has entered the game. Meet Bodhana Sivanandan, a global chess champion and young Harrow resident. She achieved her 3rd and final Woman International Master norm in August 2025 at the British Chess Championships in Liverpool. She became the youngest player to defeat a Grandmaster. Recently, Bodhana secured a remarkable victory at the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece, by defeating former World Champion Grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk, becoming one of the youngest chess players ever to defeat a former World Champion.Her love for chess first started during the lockdown in 2020, when she was just six years old. She was given some toys and books, which included a chess set. Since then, she has competed in numerous tournaments — local, national, and international.
Impressed by Bodhana’s achievements, the Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Anjana Patel, invited her to the Mayor’s Parlour to congratulate her on her success. Bodhana even challenged the Mayor to a chess match and spoke about how her journey began. She was also given a tour of the Mayor’s Parlour and presented with the Mayor’s Certificate of Achievement.
Mayor of Harrow, Cllr Anjana Patel, said:
“I feel honoured and proud to meet Harrow’s very own international chess champion! Bodhana’s amazing journey of learning the game and becoming a champion in such a short time is commendable. Bodhana has an amazing energy, and I can see she is at ease with the game, enjoying calculating her next move against me! She’s a true inspiration — not only to her peers, but to anyone with a passion who wishes to pursue their talent.
International chess champion Bodhana Sivanandan said:
“I love chess because it improves pattern recognition, creativity, and also boosts your intelligence in some ways. I’m really happy to be here today at the Mayor’s, and I’m proud to be representing Harrow and England in all the events I’ve played. My favourite chess player is Capablanca, because I enjoy studying and playing endgames like him. I enjoy travelling around the world to play chess, and the places I’ve visited the most are Rhodes in Greece and Batumi in Georgia.”
Bodhana learned chess within 15 months and was described by English Chess Master Leonard Barden as “exceptional.” At age ten, she is the youngest chess player to earn a Woman Grandmaster norm; the previous youngest was Hou Yifan, who achieved this as an 11-year-old in 2005. At 10 years, five months, and three days, she broke the record set by American Carissa Yip, who was 10 years, 11 months, and 20 days old when she defeated a Grandmaster in 2019.