Princess gambit: Bodhana youngest girl to become International Master at 11
LONDON: Bodhana Sivanandan, an 11-year-old BritishIndian chess prodigy of Tamil origin, has added another string to her bow by becoming the youngest female chess player to qualify for the International Master (IM) title.Sivanandan, who lives in the London suburb of Harrow, broke the 38-year-old record held by Hungarian chess legend Judit Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest female player in chess history, after winning her final-round game at the European Women’s Club Cup in Budva, Montenegro on Friday.Sivanandan secured her third and final IM norm at the tournament and crossed the required live rating threshold of 2400, completing the conditions for the IM title, the secondhighest open title in chess.
‘Bodhana is a generational talent’
Polgar had qualified at the age of 12 in 1988 and went on to become a top-10 player in the world, famously competing against the very best male grandmasters.Bodhana Sivanandan recovered from an opening-round defeat against former Women’s World Championship challenger GM Aleksandra Goryachkina to finish with 5.5 points from seven games. Her final-round win over Sweden’s WIM Viktoria Johansson in 32 moves contributed to a 4-0 victory for her team, She Plays To Win Lionesses A, and placed her among the 10 youngest players ever to qualify for the IM title.
Last month, she became the youngest player in history to fulfil the requirements for the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title.GM Mert Erdogdu, who has coached Sivanandan since Jan 2026, told Chess.com, “Her progress was inevitable, as she loves the game and works very hard. I work with her four times a week.”“You can only describe her as a generational talent, I am delighted that it’s happening,” IM Malcolm Pein, director of international chess and external relations at the English Chess Federation, told Chess.com.