10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan defeats grandmaster, sets chess record

Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old chess prodigy from northwest London, has become the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster, after besting 60-year-old Pete Wells during the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championships.

At 10 years, five months and three days old, her late-tournament win in Liverpool on Sunday means she surpassed the previous record held by American Carissa Yip, who achieved the feat in 2019 at nearly 11 years old, according to the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Her victory secures her the title of woman international master, one step below woman grandmaster, a title held by players like 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh and Nona Gaprindashvili, who influenced the hit Netflix show The Queen's Gambit.

Sivanandan first discovered the game during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she received her first chessboard at five years old, telling the BBC, “I wanted to use the pieces as toys. Instead, my dad said that I could play the game, and then I started from there."