Bodhana Sivanandan, 11: Youngest Woman Grandmaster Explained
Eleven-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan from Harrow in south London has become the youngest women’s grandmaster in chess history.
She earned her third and final WGM norm playing top board for England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, scoring 8 points from 11 rounds. FIDE ratified the title on September 27, 2026.
Bodhana breaks a record previously held by players who became women’s grandmasters at 12, including Hou Yifan, Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Gorjachkina.
The schoolgirl also picked up her second international master norm during the Olympiad and now has a rating above 2300, reported at 2314.
Her rise has been rapid, and she is now chasing the full international master title. With her norm secured at such a young age, the chess world will be watching how far she can go in the coming years.
Related stories
View all →
Anthropic’s $518 billion buildout rests on non-cancellable deals
Anthropic's planned $518 billion AI infrastructure buildout hinges largely on deals that cannot be cancelled, a Reuters analysis reports.
Hyderabad students’ firefighting robot wins at World Robot Olympiad
Navrachana Vidyani's robotic firefighting system won project funding and six-month mentorship at the World Robot Olympiad STEM Entrepreneur Program in Hyderabad.
ISRO LPSC opens Scientist-Engineer recruitment, apply by October 13
ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre is hiring three Scientist-Engineers in Welding, Turbo Machinery and Power Electronics; applications close October 13.
Khabar 24h Editorial Desk — our explainers are prepared by the Khabar 24h editorial team using AI-assisted research tools, and every piece is reviewed by a human editor before publishing. We do not claim original reporting: our work is turning complex topics into simple, accurate summaries. Spotted an error? Write to contact@khabar24h.com — our corrections policy aims for same-day review.
More from this author →
Leave a Reply