10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan from northwest London has set a remarkable record by becoming the youngest girl to defeat a chess grandmaster.
She beat 60-year-old grandmaster Pete Wells in the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championship in Liverpool.
According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), at 10 years, 5 months and 3 days old, Bodhana broke the previous record held by American Carissa Yip who was 10 years, 11 months and 20 days old when she achieved the same feat in 2019.
Bodhana has now achieved the title of Woman International Master, which is one step below the Woman Grandmaster title.
The top title in chess is held by elite players such as Gukesh Dommaraju and Magnus Carlsen.
She started learning the game at the age five during the Covid pandemic after a family friend gave her a chess toys and books.
“In one of the bags, I saw a chessboard, and I was interested in the pieces,” she told the BBC.
She added, “I wanted to use the pieces as toys. Instead, my dad said that I could play the game, and then I started from there.”
As per the reports, no one in her family had played chess at such a high level before.
