Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, becomes youngest Woman Grandmaster

British-Indian chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, has become the youngest Woman Grandmaster in history at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. She breaks Kateryna Lagno's 24-year record, set in 2002 when Lagno was 12. Sivanandan, from Harrow, northwest London, took up chess during the pandemic and won Britain's women's title in August 2026.