At 11 years, 6 months and 18 days, Bodhana Sivanandan has become the youngest player in history to meet the requirements for the Woman Grandmaster title. The English prodigy secured her final WGM norm on top board at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, finishing the tournament on 8 points from 11 rounds.
Top board in Samarkand
Sivanandan played every round for England on board one, a sharp rise from her Olympiad debut as a reserve in Budapest two years earlier. She won six games, drew four, and lost only once — in round eight to Peru's Deysi Cori.
The record was sealed with a final-round victory over Philippines WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, a win that also delivered a second International Master norm. She punished a small middlegame error and converted the queen endgame with composure that belied her age.
Younger than the greats
The mark surpasses two of the game's modern talents. Kateryna Lagno earned the WGM title at 12 years and 4 months in 2002, and Hou Yifan reached it at 12 years and 3 months in 2007. Sivanandan achieved the same standard nearly nine months younger than Lagno, finishing the Olympiad with a performance rating of 2432 and gaining 28 rating points.
The London schoolgirl was England's highest-rated female player entering the event, her 2354 rating already ahead of far more experienced teammates. She led England to 15th place in the final standings, five spots above their seeding.
The Samarkand milestone is the latest in a rapid sequence. In 2025, aged 10, she became the youngest player to score a WGM norm and the youngest Woman International Master in history. This summer she became the youngest girl to earn an IM norm, breaking a record once held by Judit Polgár, before winning the British Women's Championship in a playoff.
"I'm happy to do it, but I want to keep going and keep making history as well, instead of just stopping here," she told FIDE during the tournament. Her father taught her the rules on a chessboard left behind by a visitor during the pandemic. She has not stopped since.
