Meet Bodhana Sivanandan, India-origin 11-year-old who is Britain’s top female chess player

Bodhana Sivanandan, an 11-year-old with roots in India, is Britain's new No 1 female chess player. The north London resident created the record on 1 April as the International Chess Federation (FIDE) made its latest update to its rankings.

Sivanandan has replaced four-time British Women’s Champion Lan Yao, aged 25, as the English federation’s top player. She is now rated higher than the top women in all the other UK nations, and Sivanandan has also broken into the world’s top 100 women for the first time, sitting at number 72.

Bodhana Sivanandan's rapid chess rise

Her FIDE rating now stands at 2366 after strong performances over the last month at tournaments in France, Austria and at the 4NCL, Britain’s top chess league, in Coventry.

It is an extraordinary rise up the rankings for a Harrow schoolgirl who took up the game during lockdown when she found a chessboard and set it in a bag her father wanted to throw out.

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Sivanandan, who is still in primary school, was in Iceland last week, where she has been competing at the super-strong Reykjavik Open and picked up four wins.

Sivanandan has broken record after record in her short chess career.

Last year, the youngster made headlines when she downed a world champion for the first time. She beat Ukraine’s former Women's title holder, Grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk, at the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece.

Sivanandan also made history by becoming the youngest female chess player ever to beat a grandmaster. The then 10-year-old secured the win against 60-year-old Grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool. During the event, Sivanandan also became the youngest ever to secure a WGM norm.

In 2024, the youngster became the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport when she was selected for England Women's Team at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary.

Sivanandan's India connection

Bodhana Sivanandan's family is originally from Tiruchirappalli, a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, moved to England in 2007 along with his family. Bodhana was born in London.