3 weeks ago

11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan becomes Britain's youngest Women's Chess Champion

11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan becomes Britain's youngest Women's Chess Champion
11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan becomes Britain’s youngest chess champion · firstpost.com

An 11-year-old girl named Bodhana Sivanandan just became the youngest girl to ever win Britain's big chess championship for women.

Chess is a board game where two players carefully move pieces to capture each other's king.

Bodhana played in a huge tournament in the city of Coventry with more than 2,600 players.

During the whole tournament, she only lost one single game.

In the final tie-breaker, she beat a 14-year-old player from Ireland named Trisha Kanyamarala.

Before Bodhana, the youngest winner of this title was 13 years old.

Now Bodhana is also one of the top 100 women chess players in the whole world.

She won something called a triple crown, meaning she is champion in three different chess formats.

Grown-up chess experts call her a 'generational talent,' and people are amazed that someone so young can be so good.

Key facts

Champion
Bodhana Sivanandan, aged 11
Playoff opponent
Trisha Kanyamarala, 14, of Ireland
Venue
University of Warwick, Coventry
Overall British Champion
Shreyas Royal, aged 17
Previous record holders
Elaine Pritchard (1939, aged 13); Akshaya Kalaiyalahan (2013)
Tournament size
Over 2,600 entries, largest in 122-year history
Notable performance
Beat Grandmaster Ameet Ghasi with 99% accuracy

Quotes

Grandmaster Danny Gormally

Commentator for the English Chess Federation

“"generational talent"”
firstpost.com

Sources

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