A 10-year-old girl from the UK made chess history after becoming the youngest female player to defeat a grandmaster, according to the International Chess Federation.
Bodhana Sivanandan had only been playing chess for five years when she won against 60-year-old Peter Wells in the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool on August 10, according to a post shared on X/Twitter by the federation (FIDE).
At 10 years and five months, she beat the previous record holder Carissa Yip who was 10 years and 11 months at the time of her win in 2019.
The five years ahead of the victory
Sivanandan’s parents told ABC News last year that she began playing at five years old after being gifted a chess set. She taught herself how to compete by watching YouTube videos and eventually went on to compete in tournaments.
"I really liked the pieces, especially the knight and the queen, and I wanted to use them as toys. But my dad told me that I couldn't because then the next person who got it couldn't play," she told ABC News. "So instead, I just started playing."
"I like to play harder opponents, so if I lose, I can learn from them, and I can learn from what they are doing," she added, speaking on her willingness to compete against those many years her senior.
Malcolm Pein, director of international chess at the English Chess Federation and an international master, told ABC News, "We're sure that Bodhana will become a grandmaster one day - we're absolutely sure of that, given her current meteoric rise.”