Bodhana Sivanandan, aged 11 years, 7 months and 16 days, has become the youngest girl in chess history to earn the International Master (IM) title, breaking a 38-year-old record held by Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgar, who achieved the milestone at 12 in 1988.
The schoolgirl from Harrow, London, whose family hails from Trichy, Tamil Nadu, secured her third and final IM norm at the 30th European Club Cup for Women in Budva, Montenegro. Playing top board for She Plays To Win Lionesses A, she needed a final-round victory with Black against Sweden’s WIM Viktoria Johansson. Bodhana delivered, finishing with 5.5 points from seven games and a performance rating of 2504.
Bodhana gained 24 rating points in Budva, rising from 2382 to 2406 and crossing the 2400 mark required for the IM title. She is the seventh-youngest player ever to qualify and one of only 10 to do so before turning 12, earning all three norms in just over three months.
She secured her first norm at the Dole Open in France in July, defeating GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2628) to become the youngest girl to beat a 2600-plus-rated player in classical chess. Her second came at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand in September, where she played every round on England’s top board and became the youngest to meet the Woman Grandmaster title requirements.
After losing her opening game to GM Aleksandra Goryachkina in Budva, Bodhana bounced back with several wins and a draw before finishing with three consecutive victories.
English Chess Federation Director of International Chess IM Malcolm Pein called her a “generational talent” and praised her parents’ support.
Her achievement follows D Gukesh’s rise to become the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion at 18 in December 2024. Bodhana will next compete at the FIDE Swiss at the 16th London Chess Classic.
