London, Dec 20: An eight-year-old British Indian schoolgirl has made chess history after being named the “super talented” best female player at a European championship.
Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow in north-west London, won the European Blitz Chess Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, over the weekend after a winning streak since she took up chess during the COVID pandemic lockdown.
In the European championship, she went head-to-head with some of the best players in the world and defeated an international master to win her crown.
“Eight-year-old super talented Bodhana Sivanandan (ENG, 1944) made an astonishing result in the Blitz competition. She scored 8.5/13 points to win the first women prize and earn 211.2 blitz ELO points,” said the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which concluded in Croatia on Sunday.
Praise for the chess prodigy has since been pouring in on social media, with leading professionals highlighting her “unbelievable” performance.
“I always try my best to win, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t,” Bodhana told the BBC after her win.
Father Siva Sivanandan said his daughter was “trying her best and it has worked in favour of her”. “She likes chess and she likes travelling. We keep trying and keep going,” he said.
A few months ago, Sivanandan was among a group of young chess enthusiasts invited by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to 10 Downing Street to mark the government’s major new GBP 1 million investment package for the game. The package has since been in place to support children attending schools in disadvantaged areas across England to learn and play chess, improve visibility and availability of the game and fund elite playing. (PTI)
