Indian-origin star Bodhana Sivanandan shatters Judit Polgar’s 38-year-old record

File image of Bodhana Sivanandan at the British Chess Championship. (Photo: Yuri Krylov/English Chess Federation)

Less than a month after she became the youngest Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in history, 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan became the youngest woman to earn the International Master (IM) title. In becoming the youngest female International Master at the age of 11 years, seven months, and 16 days, Bodhana broke the female age record held by chess legend Judit Polgar since 1988.

In overall charts, the Indian-origin British chess prodigy is now the seventh youngest player (male or female) to become an International Master. In terms of ranks of youngest International Masters in chess history, Bodhana (ranked 7th) is behind Javokhir Sindarov (ranked 6th) by a month while pipping Gukesh (ranked 9th) in the youngest IM ranks.

In her young career, Bodhana has set several records: she was also the youngest Woman International Master (WIM) and the youngest Woman FIDE Master (WFM). She had also become the youngest girl to defeat a grandmaster.

Bodhana has already set her sights on becoming a grandmaster.

“I’m happy about that (becoming IM) but hopefully I’ll be able to get the grandmaster title soon as well!” she said in a post-game interview with WCM Tallulah Roberts on the official tournament broadcast.

Bodhana’s parents were from Tamil Nadu’s Trichy before moving to the UK.

“I’m an economic migrant to the UK, having moved in 2007 to work in the IT sector. Bodhana was born and brought up in London. She started playing chess when she was just five years old. We had no plans to make her play chess. She just stumbled across a chess board at home, and started to play,” Bodhana’s father Sivanandan Velayutham had told The Indian Express back in 2024.

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“I knew just basic chess, so I downloaded Chess.com to help her learn by watching the videos there. Back then, I just got her a free version, thinking she might not continue the sport,” Velayutham had said.

Unlike many Indian prodigies, Bodhana had to juggle school and chess as a kid growing up in London’s Harrow.

“On weekdays, she spends most of her time in school. It’s not like the India model where you can skip school as an athlete. So she leaves at 8 am for school and then returns at 4 pm. She plays chess for about an hour a day. There are days when we go for chess tournaments in the evenings. But only on weekends does she spend two or three hours practising,” Velayutham told The Indian Express.