Indian-origin English player Bodhana Sivanandan becomes youngest female International Master, breaks 38-year-old record

Bodhana Sivanandan, an English chess player of Indian origin, has broken Judit Polgar's 38-year-old record to become the youngest female International Master (IM) at 11 years old.

Hailing from Harrow in north London, Sivanandan needed just a handful of rating points to achieve the open IM title, surpass Polgar's benchmark, and rank among the top 10 youngest IMs in history.

"Congratulations to 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan on becoming an International Master with a final-round win at the European Women's Chess Club Cup 2026!" the European Chess Union wrote on X.


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"Bodhana delivered a fantastic performance, scoring 5.5/7 on Board 1 for She Plays to Win Lionesses, making her the youngest female player in history to earn the IM title," it added.

During the European Women's Chess Club Cup, Sivanandan nearly secured a draw in her opening match against Russian Grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina. She went on to defeat Belarusian International Master Olga Badelka in the third round, boosting her rating to 2399.4, before drawing against Georgian Grandmaster Nino Batsiashvili in round four.

Her 32-move victory over Swedish Woman International Master Viktoria Johansson sealed the historic achievement, earning her a spot alongside the 10 youngest IMs of all time, a list that features India's R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh, Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Argentina's Faustino Oro, Turkey's Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, and Russia's Roman Shogdzhiev.