The youngest girl of all time to beat a grandmaster was Bodhana Sivanandan. A win that offers an amazing victory to the chess field given that she used chess story books as an aid to her victory. This giant kill happened when the 10 year old northwest Londoner was able to beat the 60 year old. Grandmaster Pete Wells in the last round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool on Sunday.
She was 10 years, five months, and three days old. And this was a new record to take over the former record which was caused by Carissa Yip of America. That is why, here is the point, Carissa has already won a game when she is only 10 years, 11 months and 20 days old. Yep, in 2019. That is no rumor at all, and FIDE, the great masters of chess, had it confirmed. Wild, right?
Breaking the Record
The victory of Bodhana was a new record and it demonstrated her competence and good intentions. Her age of 10 years, five months and three days old was a record of Carissa Yip who at the age of 10 years, 11 months and 20 days old, overtook a top player. It was one of the big chess tournaments by FIDE.
This was followed by her having the Woman International Master (WIM) title, only a step away to the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title. Today the chess dogs of the world are men like Gukesh Dommaraju, the world champion of the day, the big man, so to speak.
Magnus Carlsen, who is essentially the GOAT, yet he is still retaining that position. These are the grandmaster guys and in truth, none of them is going to be kicked out of that throne any time soon.
Road to Chess
The situation with Bodhana Sivanandan is that her walk into chess began despite the blue sky in the Covid crisis of 2020 when she was only five years old. She entered the game when one of her father friends gave them a bag of toys and books. There was a chessboard in it, and she could notice the odd shapes of its pieces at first glance.
Initially she merely viewed the pieces as fun toys. However, after that, her father said that they should give the actual game a go, and that is where her life into chess began.
Family Roots and Help
It is rather strange that none of Bodhana family members were ever good at chess earlier. In 2024, her father told the BBC that the game was not well known among the people in their family. And it is even more wonderful that she managed to achieve success. She worked her way out by her own powers, and abilities, not by the family skills.
Her parents were actually accommodating and they used to take her to various matches and trainings. This played a major role in her recovery.
The Big Game
The most critical game in which Bodhana featured in the books was the one with the experienced grandmaster Pete Wells in the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool. Her sagaciousness, cold air as well as clever plays were all evident in this final round.
Every move was considered and her coolness in the end game demonstrated the maturity of an older more familiar player. By beating Wells, she was winning a long-lasting battle that people will talk about it long enough.
Impact on the Chess World
Man, wave maker–Bodhana was not to be heard on the bragging front after that crazy victory–no, no, not even as the youngest girl to get a grandmaster on her hook. No, she even took the Woman International Master. It is one rung under Woman Grandmaster, by the way, which is the boss level of most of the chess players.
To be able to get to that, you have to be slaughtering it, game after game, against the best of the best. She is making the rounds already with the rest of the chess prodigies and it is quite insane that she has already gotten the young chess prodigies accelerating so much that they have started throwing her name around.
Bodhana Sivanandan Shook the chess.
Bodhana Sivanandan shook the chess scene as none do. They are going mad; hardcore chess geeks, coaches, even those grandmasters who have virtually seen it all. I say, you know she is the youngest girl grandmaster of all time,
and all the folks are already talking of her taking off in the big grandmaster, not the ladies one. Wild, right? It is really quite nice to see her demonstrate that you do not have to be an experienced old-man and to have the best of the best. The kid’s got guts.
It would not surprise me were a new breed of girl now to start pouring in upon the scene in large numbers, saying, Bodhana can play chess, Fun, she can play chess, I can play chess.
Conclusion
Bodhana Sivanandan saw a chessboard during Covid when she was only five. Between that day and the day that she became the youngest female to beat a grandmaster, it is a legend of actual talent, diligence and a willpower. She not only broke a new record when she crushed Pete Wells in a massive win.
It also awarded her the title of Woman International Master which is a huge triumph by any player.No one in her family was playing chess. Not a soul. Well, so, the thing is that she tore this off? Wildly impressive. Only to demonstrate–just obsessed, ready to grind, you do not need some socially established family legacy to squeeze it.
At the youngest of the chess grandmaster (as of July 2010), Bodhana Sivanandan is making headlines, but she is essentially reinventing what is possible. A million kids (and possibly, their parents) are going to watch her and think, why not me. It is too early to tell what the next upheaval she causes in the chess world is going to be.
Read Also:United Health Warren Buffett Investment 2025