A 10-year-old chess player made history earlier this month … when she became the youngest ever to take down a grandmaster.
The incredible feat occurred on Aug. 10 at the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool, when Bodhana Sivanandan beat 60-year-old Peter Wells in the tourney’s final round.
Carissa Yip was also 10 years old when she defeated a grandmaster … but the International Chess Federation said because Sivanandan is roughly six months younger than Carissa when she completed the feat, Sivanandan is now the proud owner of the title.
The little girl told BBC back in 2024 she picked up the game some five years ago during the COVID pandemic … when her father’s friend gave her some toys that included a chess board.
🇬🇧♟👏 British sensation Bodhana Sivanandan has made history by becoming the youngest female chess player ever to beat a grandmaster!
The 10-year-old, from Harrow, pulled off the win on Sunday against 60-year-old Grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British… pic.twitter.com/bAMqeyFZHm
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) August 11, 2025
@FIDE_chess
“I wanted to use the pieces as toys,” she told the outlet. “Instead, my dad said that I could play the game, and then I started from there.”
She added that she one day wants to become a grandmaster … and given what she just accomplished, it certainly seems that’s more of a when — not an if — at this point.
