A British kid chess prodigy has go the youngest subordinate successful past to gain the pistillate grandmaster (WGM) title.
Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, from north-west London, secured her 3rd and last WGM norm - a certified title-level show - portion representing England astatine the 46th Chess Olympiad successful Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed.
Speaking to FIDE, Sivanandan said she was blessed astir the accomplishment but wanted to "keep making history".
It is the latest milestone successful a singular emergence for the schoolgirl, who has already go Britain's youngest women's chess champion and the youngest idiosyncratic to correspond England internationally successful immoderate sport.
Sivanandan, from Harrow, played each 11 rounds connected England's apical committee - a presumption assigned to the team's apical subordinate - and finished the tourney with 8 points.
She had already passed the 2300 standing threshold required for the WGM rubric earlier securing her 3rd and last norm.
She told Fide successful an interrogation connected Sunday astir making history: "I'm blessed to bash it, but I privation to support going and support making past arsenic well, alternatively of conscionable stopping here."
Kateryna Lagno, who has represented some Russia and Ukraine, antecedently held the property grounds for the WGM title, having achieved it aged 12. Hou Yifan, from China, besides achieved the rubric astatine 12 and remains the youngest pistillate to person earned the higher, unfastened grandmaster (GM) title, which she achieved aged 14.
Woman grandmaster is the highest pistillate lone rubric a pistillate subordinate tin attain and the fertile is held for life.
Sivanandan's occurrence successful Samarkand besides earned her a 2nd International Master (IM) norm, taking her different measurement towards the higher title.
Players usually request 3 qualifying norms and a standing of astatine slightest 2400 to go an planetary master. Sivanandan present has 2 IM norms.
The planetary maestro title, unfastened to some sexes, ranks higher than Sivanandan's existent accolades - the pistillate grandmaster and pistillate planetary maestro titles.
Speaking to Fide astir her emotion of the game, she added: "I similar travelling and besides due to the fact that I bash full-time schoolhouse arsenic well, it links to loads of schoolhouse subjects, truthful it's truly utile determination arsenic well."
Her begetter Siva antecedently told the BBC helium had nary thought wherever his girl got her endowment from arsenic neither helium oregon his wife, some engineering graduates, are immoderate bully astatine chess.
Her emergence done chess has been rapid. After teaching herself to play during the coronavirus lockdown, she entered her archetypal tourney astatine Harrow Chess Club successful July 2021.
A twelvemonth later, aged seven, she won each 24 of her games astatine the European Schools Championship.
In 2023, she became the youngest idiosyncratic to debar decision against a grandmaster successful a competitory crippled astatine the European Rapid and Blitz title successful Croatia. The pursuing year, aged nine, she was selected to correspond England astatine the Chess Olympiad successful Budapest.
The English Chess Federation said that selection, erstwhile she was nine, made her the youngest idiosyncratic to correspond England internationally successful immoderate sport.
Last year, aged 10, Sivanandan became the youngest pistillate subordinate to decision a grandmaster erstwhile she bushed Peter Wells astatine the British Chess Championships.
In July this year, she earned her archetypal IM norm astatine the Dole Open successful France, becoming the youngest miss to execute one, aged 11 years and 4 months. She besides defeated grandmaster Marc'Andria Maurizzi, becoming the youngest miss known to bushed a subordinate rated supra 2600 successful a classical game.
English (US)·