Bodhana Sivanandan Becomes the Youngest Female Player to Earn the International Master Title
British chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has added another historic achievement to her rapidly growing list. At just 11 years, seven months and 16 days old, she secured her third and final International Master (IM) norm at the European Club Cup in Budva, Montenegro, becoming the youngest girl ever to meet the requirements for the title.
The final norm came on Friday in the tournament’s seventh and last round. Playing Black on the top board for She Plays To Win Lionesses A, Sivanandan defeated Sweden’s WIM Johansson and finished with 5.5 points from seven games. Her performance rating of 2465 completed the final part of the IM qualification process.
The result places Sivanandan among the most remarkable young players in chess history. According to Chess.com research, she is the seventh-youngest player ever to qualify for the IM title and one of only ten players to achieve the milestone before turning 12. She has also set a new female age record, surpassing a mark held by Hungarian legend Judit Polgar since 1988. Polgar earned the IM title at 12 and later became the strongest female chess player of all time.
A record-setting tournament finish
Sivanandan’s path to the final norm was not entirely smooth. She lost her opening-round game to a former Women’s World Championship challenger, but responded with two consecutive victories to get her tournament back on track. Her results included a win over IM Olga Badelka, while a fourth-round encounter with a five-time Georgian women’s champion ended in a hard-fought draw after Sivanandan applied sustained pressure.
That left the young English player needing a win in the final round. She delivered against Johansson, navigating a complicated game with Black. In a post-game interview, Sivanandan explained that she gained an advantage in the opening after winning a pawn in a gambit. The position later became less clear, she said, but she defended successfully when her opponent attacked her king. Sivanandan eventually secured two pieces for a rook and converted the advantage.
Asked how she accounts for her success, she offered a characteristically simple answer: “No secret!” Her immediate focus, however, was already moving beyond the latest milestone. “I’m happy about that, but hopefully I’m able to get grandmaster soon as well!” she said.
Three IM norms in three months
The European Club Cup result capped an extraordinary three-month run. Sivanandan earned her first IM norm at a tournament in France in July, where she scored five points from nine games. That performance also made her the youngest girl to earn an IM norm, another record previously associated with Polgar. During the same event, Sivanandan defeated a grandmaster rated 2628, becoming the youngest girl to beat a player rated above 2600 in a classical chess game.
Her second norm followed at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Representing England on the top board in every round, she scored 8 points from 11 games. A final-round victory over WGM Lilit Mkrtchian secured the IM norm, while Sivanandan had already completed the requirements for the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title earlier in the Olympiad.
She is awaiting formal approval for the WGM title, but has since passed the required live rating of 2400 during the European Club Cup. The IM title is open to players of any gender and is a significant step on the traditional route toward the Grandmaster title. Achieving its requirements so young highlights not only Sivanandan’s current strength but also the speed of her development.
From junior champion to international chess sensation
Sivanandan first attracted widespread attention in 2023, when she became England’s youngest chess player to receive an international rating at the age of eight. She later won the girls’ under-eight world championship with a perfect combined score of 33 out of 33. In August, she added another milestone by becoming the youngest female player to reach a 2300 rating.
Her latest results place her as the world’s second-highest-rated player born in 2015 or later. The sequence of records has made her one of the most closely watched young talents in international chess, but coaches and observers point to more than age and rating when assessing her potential.
Malcolm Pein, director of international chess and external relations at the English Chess Federation, described Sivanandan as a generational talent. He has followed her progress since her early appearances and says her achievements are becoming less surprising as her ability develops. Pein has also praised her playing style, describing her as positional and dependable, with particular strength in the endgame and a natural feel for the game.
Talent supported by discipline and enjoyment
Coach Mert Erdogdu, who began working with Sivanandan in January 2026, has attributed her progress to a combination of talent, commitment and enthusiasm. He said she trains with him four times a week and also works with another experienced grandmaster. Her love of chess and willingness to work hard, he added, have made her improvement feel like a natural progression—though the achievement remains remarkable for a player of her age.
Pein believes Sivanandan’s success could also help bring chess to a wider British audience. Her recent WGM record attracted substantial media attention, including prominent coverage from the BBC. That visibility matters for the sport, he said, at a time when online chess and high-profile events are drawing more people to the game.
For Sivanandan, the European Club Cup was not solely about personal records. She Plays To Win Lionesses A finished 11th among 22 teams in the women’s section, one place above its pre-event seeding. Sivanandan described the team’s performance modestly, saying the players had come to enjoy the tournament and build a positive team experience.
Her latest achievement is a major individual milestone, but it also marks another stage in a career that is still at its beginning. With all three IM norms secured, a 2400-plus live rating and the Grandmaster title now firmly in her sights, Sivanandan has given the chess world plenty of reason to follow what comes next.
