Who is Bodhana Sivanandan? 11-year-old becomes youngest female IM

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Indian-origin English chess player Bodhana Sivanandan scripted history by becoming the youngest female International Master (IM). She achieved the feat at the age of 11 and broke the 38-year-old record, which was set by Judit Polgár.

Hailing from Harrow in north London, the 11-year-old chess player needed only a few rating points to qualify for the open IM title and break Polgar’s record, while also securing a place among the 10 youngest IMs of all time.

Following the achievement, the European Chess Union shared a congratulatory post on its official social media handle.

“Congratulations to 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan on becoming an International Master with a final-round win at the European Women’s Chess Club Cup 2026! Bodhana delivered a fantastic performance, scoring 5.5/7 on Board 1 for She Plays to Win Lionesses, making her the youngest female player in history to earn the IM title!,” read the post’s caption.

Congratulations to 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 on becoming an International Master with a final-round win at the European Women’s Chess Club Cup 2026! 👏 Bodhana delivered a fantastic performance, scoring 5.5/7 on Board 1 for She Plays to Win Lionesses 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, making her the youngest female player in history to earn the IM title!

— European Chess Union (@ECUonline) October 23, 2026

In the European Women’s Chess Club Cup, she was close to drawing the opening-round match against Russia’s Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina before defeating Belarusian International Master Olga Badelka in the third round to take her rating to 2399.4.

Later, Sivanandan managed to draw the game against Georgian Grandmaster Nino Batsiashvili in the following round. Her win, which came in 32 moves against Sweden’s Woman International Master Viktoria Johansson, helped her achieve the feat and enter the list of the 10 youngest International Masters of all time.

The list includes India’s R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Argentina’s Faustino Oro, Turkey’s Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Russia’s Roman Shogdzhiev.

(With PTI Inputs)

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