11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan becomes youngest Woman Grandmaster after Samarkand norm

On September 28, 2026, 11-year-old Indian-origin British player Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest player in history to earn the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title after securing her third and final WGM norm while representing England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. "I'm happy to do it, but I want to keep going and keep making history as well, instead of just stopping here," she told FIDE in an interview.

Sivanandan learned chess during the Covid-19 lockdown and produced rapid early results, including winning all 24 of her games at the 2022 European Schools Championship when she was seven. A year later she became the youngest person to avoid defeat against a grandmaster in a competitive game. At nine she was selected for England's team at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest and, according to the report, became the youngest person to represent England internationally in any sport; she made her Olympiad debut that year on Board 4.

In Samarkand she played all 11 rounds for England on Board 1, the top board where a player faces the opposition's leading opponent in each match. Sivanandan finished the Olympiad with eight points and, in doing so, secured the final norm required for the WGM title. The report adds she had already crossed the 2,300 rating threshold needed for the title before completing her third norm.

Two years after her debut on Board 4, England placed her on the team's top board in Samarkand, a move that carried greater responsibility against stronger opponents. On that subject she said: "Not really. I just tried to enjoy it." She also reflected on the change in role, saying: "This is my second Olympiad, but I was playing on kind of the opposite end of the boards. It felt very similar to the last one except I was playing on a different board."

Sivanandan's recent run includes several landmark results referenced in the report: in 2025, aged 10, she defeated Peter Wells at the British Chess Championships and became the youngest female player to beat a grandmaster; earlier this year she earned her first International Master (IM) norm at the Dole Open in France at 11 years and four months, the report states. She also beat Grandmaster Marc'Andria Maurizzi, becoming the youngest girl known to defeat a player rated above 2,600 in a classical game, and has become Britain's youngest women's chess champion.

The WGM title is described in the report as the highest of the women's-only titles awarded by FIDE. Sivanandan's achievement broke the previous age record held by Kateryna Lagno, who achieved WGM at 12, and surpassed China's Hou Yifan, who also became a WGM at 12 before later earning the open Grandmaster title at 14.

Away from tournaments, Sivanandan attends school full-time and catches up on work after events rather than being homeschooled, a routine she says complements her chess. "I like travelling and also because I do full-time school as well, it links to loads of school subjects, so it's really useful there as well," she said, and added: "I think I want to try and balance it for now, at least." When asked what piece of history she wants next she replied: "I'm not sure exactly what, but just kind of do whatever I can as it comes."

There will be more tournaments, more schoolwork and, almost certainly, more milestones. For now, Bodhana Sivanandan has another title to add to her name: the youngest Woman Grandmaster in chess history.