Have a look at the bio, family and parents of Bodhana Sivanandan
Find out who is Bodhana Sivanandan, the young chess prodigy, who is created wave online after the 10-year-old defeated a grandmaster to become the youngest to ever do so.
The 10-year-old chess prodigy from north-west London has become the youngest person to earn the woman international master title. Bodhana from Harrow also became the youngest female player to beat a chess grandmaster at the 2025 British Chess Championship.
Chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan: Biography, age, parents, father, nationality and FIDE rating
Earlier, reports surfaced revealing that an English chess player became the youngest girl to defeat a grandmaster. The player won the championship that was held in Liverpool, wherein the Indian-origin girl won her game against 60-year-old grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the British Chess Championships’ game.
Sivanandan’s victory at 10 years, five months and three days beats the 2019 record held by American Carissa Yip (10 years, 11 months and 20 days).
The International Chess Federation took to X and extended their congratulations to the young kid for creating a new record and achieving history by defeating a grandmaster at the tender age of 10.
What Did the International Chess Federation Say?
In their statement, the international chess federation stated that “Bodhana Sivanandan hasdmade history by becoming the youngest female chess player ever to beat a grandmaster!”
Who is Bodhana Sivanandan?
🇬🇧♟👏 British sensation Bodhana Sivanandan has made history by becoming the youngest female chess player ever to beat a grandmaster!
The 10-year-old, from Harrow, pulled off the win on Sunday against 60-year-old Grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British… pic.twitter.com/bAMqeyFZHm
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 11, 2025
British chess player Bodhana Sivanandan who has Indian roots was born to Tamil parents from Trichy, on March 7, 2015, in London, England. The youngest chess player, who holds the title of Woman FIDE Master, attends St. John Fisher primary school.
Her family lived in Tricy until her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, who works in the IT sector, moved them to London in 2007.
Bodhana’s mother Lakshmy Sivanandan is an engineer as well like her husband. Apart from being a chess prodigy, Bodhana is interested in piano, violin and football.
The youngest player began playing chess during Covid lockdown in 2020 and two years straight into the game, she was described as “exceptional,” by Leonard Barden, a widely recognized English Chess master.
In May 2022, European schools age group championships were held at Rhodes and Bodhana Sivanandan played a total of 24 games and emerged victorious in all of them and bagged 3 gold medals. Later, in 2023 in an exhibition match, the young chess player defeated former British chess player Peter Lee.
Interview with 10-year-old prodigy 🏴 Bodhana Sivanandan, one of England's best talents! pic.twitter.com/E4wP84H6su
— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) June 13, 2025
Later, in the same year, at the tender age of 8, Bodhana Sivanandan scored 8.5/13 in the Blitz Championship that was held in December 2023. At the time, she bagged the U-12 and women’s prizes, alongside becoming the best English player in the tournament. In the same year, the chess player became the woman candidate master.
A year later, in 2024, the professional player became the Woman FIDE master and won the world no. 1 in U-10 championship in March, 2024. Earlier, in July 2025, Sivanandan became the youngest chess player to have the title of women grandmaster norm.
At the time, she beat the record of Hou Yifan, who gained the title at the age of 11 in 2005 and on August 10, 2025, she defeated grandmaster Peter Wells in the British Chess Championship and emerged as the youngest woman to defeat a grandmaster.
FIDE Chess Rating
Standard 2216
Rapid
2020
Blitz
2267
ALSO READ: NFL male cheerleaders: Roster, names, teams list and salary
