Press Release from Leon Watson

[John Upham]

11-year-old chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan becomes Britain’s No.1 ranked female player


British chess phenom Bodhana Sivanandan has made history by shooting to the top of the UK chess rankings after a sensational start to 2026, the English Chess Federation is pleased to report.

The 11-year-old from north London has rocketed to the number one English female spot, she is rated higher than the top women in all the other UK nations, and she has also broken into the world’s top 100 women for the first time, sitting at number-72.

World chess rankings are compiled by the international chess federation (FIDE) and updated each month. In the April list, Sivanandan replaced four-time British Women’s Champion Lan Yao, aged 25, as the English federation’s top player.

Her FIDE rating now stands at 2366 after strong performances over the last month at tournaments in France, Austria and at the 4NCL, Britain’s top chess league, in Coventry.

It is an extraordinary rise up the rankings for a Harrow schoolgirl who took up the game during lockdown when she found a chessboard and set in a bag her father wanted to throw out.


Sivanandan, who is still in primary school, was in Iceland last week where she has been competing at the super-strong Reykjavik Open and picked up four wins.


Sivanandan has broken record after record in her short chess career.

Last year the youngster made headlines when she downed a world champion for the first time. She beat Ukraine’s former Women's title holder Grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk at the European Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece.






Sivanandan also made history by becoming the youngest female chess player ever to beat a grandmaster. The then 10-year-old secured the win against 60-year-old Grandmaster Peter Wells in the last round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in Liverpool. During the event, Sivanandan also became the youngest ever to secure a WGM norm.

In 2024, the youngster became the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport when she was selected for England Women's Team at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary.

Sivanandan is part of a rich crop of English talent making waves in international chess that includes Britain’s youngest grandmaster Shreyas Royal, now 17, and 12-year-old FIDE Master Supratit Banerjee, from Sutton Grammer School.

Richard Walsh, CEO of the English Chess Federation, said: “As a federation representing chess players in a country with such a great chess heritage, we can’t be prouder of Bodhana’s achievements.

“She is blazing a trail not just for women and girls in the game, but for all chess players in England. Across all sports, she must be one of the most prodigious talents England has ever produced.

“We cannot wait to see what she can do in her career. Bodhana has worked so hard, her family have worked so hard, and now she is competing at the highest level flying the flag.”

[John Upham]

and here is another one from today:

Meet England’s new chess star: girl who fell in love with game at 7 crowned European Schools champ aged 9
// Primary school pupil from Herts scores 8/9 in Croatia //

Kayal (centre) scored an impressive 8/9. Photo: Croatia Chess Club.

English chess has found its latest primary school super-talent after nine-year-old Kayal Vijay, from Hertfordshire, triumphed at the 2026 European School Chess Championships in Croatia.

The youngster, who attends Avanti Meadows Primary School in Bishop’s Stortford, scored a brilliant 8/9 as she represented the English Chess Federation in Croatia. Kayal, who only took up chess two years ago, is now Europe’s U9 girls champion.


"I am super happy for winning the European Schools Championship,” she said. “I won 8 out of 9 and won 7 games in a row. I made friends from different countries. I really enjoyed playing in the tournament."

Her parents Savitha and Vijay added: “We are very happy and incredibly proud of Kayal. Many months of consistent hard work, dedication & resilience have helped her to achieve this well deserved milestone. We wish her continued success in the future!”

Solving a Rubik’s

Kayal began her chess journey when she was seven years old and for the past two years she has been ranked number-one in the English Chess Federation ratings for her age group.

Even before chess, she showed an exceptional ability to recognise patterns quickly. She learnt to solve the Rubik’s Cube in just a handful of sessions, and when learning piano, she could pick up complex note patterns almost instantly. Her parents introduced chess and she fell in love with the game. Kayal’s progress was outstanding and she began winning tournaments in no time.

Kayal’s journey


Kayal won her first trophy in November 2024 at a starter tournament organised by She Plays To Win, a charitable project led by IM Lorin D'Costa whose aim is to encourage more girls to learn, play and benefit from chess.

Her parents want to mention support from local clubs and make a special mention of chess coach Paul Kemp, from the Anglican Learning Chess Academy, who encouraged her to play in more chess tournaments. She worked hard to learn and improve her game and started winning more trophies and accolades.

Competing

In 2025, Kayal played in national level tournaments in the UK and the tournament victories started rolling in.

In July 2025, Kayal won the under-8 Girls Champion in the EJCOA National Championship held in Nottingham High School. In August 2025, Kayal went on to win the under-8 Girls Champion in the prestigious British Junior Chess Championship held in Liverpool.

In the most recent national finals, English Youth Chess Championship held in Nottingham in March 2026, Kayal played in the under-10 girls category where she finished joint first, only to finish as a runner up in the playoff tiebreaks. Also, Kayal represented the Essex county team and won the EPSCA inter association U11 girls finals in both 2025 and 2026.

Going worldwide


Kayal started representing England in world and continental events in the under-8 girls category in 2025. She has competed at the World Rapid & Blitz Championship (Apr 2025) in Greece, the World Cadet Championship (Sep 2025) in Kazakhstan and the European Youth Chess Championship (OCT 2025) in Montenegro.

But her strongest appearance so far has been her win in Croatia.


Kayal’s parents added: “We would like to thank ECF for providing Kayal this opportunity to represent England. We would also like to thank the coach, local clubs and the other well-wishers who has supported Kayal to achieve this milestone.”

I have to admit to cringing whenever I see the modern hackneyed phrase about "a journey / we have been on a journey / I have been on a journey" in the same way I don't reply to emails which commence with "I am reaching out" ! A sign of the times I suppose or, more likely, I have become an old curmudgeon

[Ian Thompson]

I have to admit to cringing whenever I see the modern hackneyed phrase about "a journey / we have been on a journey / I have been on a journey" in the same way I don't reply to emails which commence with "I am reaching out" ! A sign of the times I suppose or, more likely, I have become an old curmudgeon

Perhaps not as irritating as the call centre person who's just asked me if I can "help him" with my name, "help him" with my address, and finished by thanking me for "giving my time" to his company. The purpose of my call was to get a PIN number reset.

He probably wasn't following a script because he didn't do the PIN reset properly. I had to call again and the second person I spoke to just asked me to tell him my name and address, but left me wondering how long "24 working hours" is - 24 elapsed hours, 48 elapsed hours (because their call centre is open 12 hours per weekday), 44 elapsed hours (because their webchat is available 14 hours per weekday), or something else.

[John Upham]

The purpose of my call was to get a PIN number reset.

Are you sure about that? More likely it would have been a PIN reset.

[John Upham]

11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan crowned Britain’s youngest-ever Women’s champion at record-breaking British Chess Champs
——————-
17-year-old Grandmaster Shreyas Royal wins his first British Championship
Schoolgirl Sivanandan becomes youngest British Women’s champ ever




Bodhana Sivanandan was crowned Women’s champion at the 2026 British Chess Championships.
Photo: Yuri Krylov/English Chess Federation.




Records tumbled at the biggest-ever British Chess Championships as the nine-day event in Coventry ended with two record-breaking young superstars of the game winning the two top prizes.
Seventeen-year-old Shreyas Royal scooped the overall British title. He topped the table after nine rounds, finishing half a point ahead of two of England’s more seasoned grandmasters, Luke McShane and nine-time champ Michael Adams. It was Royal’s first British title and the result underlined his status as an emerging world-class talent.
Meanwhile, England’s 11-year-old prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, another superstar-in-the-making, became Britain’s youngest-ever Women’s Chess Champion. Her only loss in the tournament was to Royal in Round 6.
In a tense, rapid-chess playoff between the top female players, Sivanandan defeated Ireland’s 14-year-old Trisha Kanyamarala, a hugely promising talent herself and the first Irishwoman to hold the WGM title.
You can watch the finale here:





Grandmaster Danny Gormally, commentating on the event for the English Chess Federation, said in the closing moments: “Unreal! Bodhana has won. She is unbelievable, a generational talent.”

Gormally went on to predict Sivanandan will return to challenge for the overall title in the next few years.

Royal and Sivanandan’s victories provided a remarkable finale to the biggest British Chess Championship in the event's 122-year history, with more than 2,600 entries across all events at the University of Warwick.

For Royal, the title represents the latest major milestone in a remarkable rise through British chess.

The 17-year-old from south-east London became Britain's youngest-ever grandmaster in 2024 and has since established himself as one of the country's leading young players. At this year's championship, he quickly showed that he could compete with the established elite, moving into outright contention for the title as the tournament progressed.





After seven rounds, Royal had taken the sole lead on 6/7, putting the teenager firmly at the centre of the championship race. His performances against experienced opposition underlined his growing status at the top of British chess. Royal took a quick draw against English chess legend Adams in the penultimate round before a final-round win over International Master Harry Grieve secured him the title.

Now Royal has converted his promise into his first British Championship title. Sivanandan's achievement is equally extraordinary and, in one respect, unprecedented.





The 11-year-old has become the youngest-ever British women's champion after overcoming Kanyamarala in a playoff to take the title. In the faster formats of the game, Sivanandan is already the reigning UK Open Women’s Blitz Champion and joint British Women’s Rapid Champion. Victory in the classical event gives her an incredible triple crown of titles.

Before the championship, Sivanandan had been identified as the player to watch, with organisers highlighting her chance to break the record held by Elaine Pritchard, who won the British Women's Championship outright in 1939 aged 13.

Akshaya Kalaiyalahan had subsequently shared the title in 2013 when she was just days short of her 12th birthday. Sivanandan has now surpassed them both.

The north-west London player has spent the past year rewriting the record books and establishing herself among Britain's strongest female players despite being only 11. She also produced one of the standout results of the championship by defeating Grandmaster Ameet Ghasi.

Her playoff victory over Kanyamarala now adds the biggest domestic title yet to an already remarkable list of achievements.

Royal and Sivanandan's victories are particularly striking because both were among the young players attracting attention before the championship began, and both have left Warwick as British champions.

Their success also reflects the changing face of British chess.

The 2026 championships were billed as the biggest in the event's 122-year history, with more than 1,750 entries and a record £34,000 prize fund for the open championship. The women's prize fund was also more than doubled, while organisers expanded the festival programme with junior training, social events and competitions for players ranging from under-8s to seniors.

The tournament brought together players across generations, from established grandmasters to some of Britain's most promising juniors.

And at the end, the two names at the top of the results were Royal and Sivanandan.

[MJMcCready]

First title of many to come most likely.