Britain's No.1 female player is just eleven years old!

The 11-year-old from north London has rocketed to the number one English female spot. She is rated higher than the top women in all the other UK nations, and she has also broken into the world's top 100 women for the first time, sitting at number 72.

World chess rankings are compiled by the international chess federation (FIDE) and updated each month. In the April list, Sivanandan replaced four-time British Women's Champion Lan Yao, aged 25, as the English federation's top player.

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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 in a bag her father wanted to throw out.

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.

Here's the game in which Bodhana beat Peter Wells

The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2

The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.

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 is part of a rich crop of English talent making waves in international chess that includes Britain's youngest grandmaster Shreyas Royal, now 17, and 12-year-old FIDE Master Supratit Banerjee, from Sutton Grammer School.

Richard Walsh, CEO of the English Chess Federation, said: “As a federation representing chess players in a country with such a great chess heritage, we can’t be prouder of Bodhana’s achievements.

“She is blazing a trail not just for women and girls in the game, but for all chess players in England. Across all sports, she must be one of the most prodigious talents England has ever produced.

“We cannot wait to see what she can do in her career. Bodhana has worked so hard, her family have worked so hard, and now she is competing at the highest level flying the flag.”

About the English Chess Federation

The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England and is affiliated to FIDE (the Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Its mission is to promote the game of chess, in all its forms, as an attractive means of cultural and personal advancement to the widest possible public. In addition, the ECF exists to develop chess by creating the means to enable the highest forms of chess excellence to be achieved, and to expand the game as a social and sporting activity.