The English Chess Federation put its youngest player on top board for the Women's Olympiad in Samarkand: Bodhana Sivanandan, just 11 years old. This did not come as a complete surprise, as with her rating of 2354 (before the Olympiad), she was and remains England's number one female player, some way ahead of the experienced Jovanka Houska and Harriet Hunt, both of whom, however, are already somewhat past their peak.
Bodhana Sivanandan (Notice anything? Surely that can't be a coincidence. And here too: Praggnanandhaa.) repaid the faith placed in her with her performance. The 11-year-old played all eleven rounds and scored eight points on top board. After three wins, she drew against the strong Azerbaijani player Ulviyya Fataliyeva in round four and, for example, also held the world's top junior and reigning European Women's Champion Anastasiia Hnatyshyn to a draw. The experienced Nana Dzagnidze was also unable to get the better of Bodhana Sivanandan. The English player suffered just one defeat, in round eight against Peru's Deysi Cori.
Results of Bodhana Sivanandan
| Sivanandan Bodhana FM 2354 ENG Rp:2432 | |||||||||
| Rk. | Snr | Name | Elo | Country | Rp | Pts. | Res. | Bd. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 470 | WFM | Wilson Hannah | 1835 | BAR | 2016 | 7,5 | s 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 175 | WFM | QUICKPEN Deborah Ebimobo-ere | 2174 | NGR | 2031 | 5,5 | w 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 158 | FM | Terao Juliana Sayumi | 2200 | BRA | 2223 | 7,5 | s 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 13 | IM | Fataliyeva Ulviyya | 2402 | AZE | 2342 | 5 | w ½ | 1 |
| 5 | 235 | WFM | Shen Zhiyuan | 2146 | AUS | 2127 | 5 | s 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 8 | WFM | Hnatyshyn Anastasiia | 2463 | UKR | 2400 | 7 | s ½ | 1 |
| 7 | 180 | WFM | Shohradova Lala | 2147 | TKM | 2171 | 4,5 | w 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 76 | IM | Cori T. Deysi | 2316 | PER | 2447 | 7,5 | s 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 24 | IM | Narva Mai | 2411 | EST | 2439 | 6,5 | w ½ | 1 |
| 10 | 7 | GM | Dzagnidze Nana | 2478 | GEO | 2351 | 5 | w ½ | 1 |
| 11 | 130 | WGM | Frayna Janelle Mae | 2260 | PHI | 2285 | 6 | s 1 | 1 |
With her performance, Bodhana Sivanandan finished 13th in the list of the best players on board one. She was the best player on her team and led England to 15th place in the final standings, five places higher than their starting rank based on average rating.
The result also earned her a WGM norm (Woman Grandmaster). It was Bodhana's third norm, meaning she has now fulfilled the requirements for the title. She is thus the youngest WGM in chess history, succeeding Kateryna Lagno, who received the title in 2002 at the age of twelve. Hou Yifan, later Women's World Champion, also received the title at the age of 12, in 2007. FIDE introduced the WGM title in 1976.
Bodhana's interest in chess began when a visitor to her parents' home left behind a chessboard at the start of the pandemic. Her father taught her the rules, and she improved her game with the help of YouTube tutorials. In 2021, she played her first tournament at the Harrow Chess Club. In 2022, at the age of seven, Bodhana won all 24 of her games at the European Schools Chess Championship. In the summer of 2026, she became the youngest British national champion of all time.
Arne Kähler talks to Bodhana Sivanandan at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand
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