A British child chess prodigy has captured the board at a national competition, placing her in the world’s top 50 women for the blitz category of speed chess.
Ten-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan won eight consecutive games at the UK Women’s Blitz Championship at Royal Leamington Spa at the weekend – triumphing over much older and more experienced players.
“I don’t care who I’m competing against, I just care about the game,” Bodhana told the BBC after her latest win.
Malcolm Peane of the English Chess Federation described Bodhana as “a generational talent who has no counterpart in any other game”.
He said, “It’s hard to say what’s more remarkable – the fact that the 10-year-old is top seed at the British Chess Championships, or that he is heading to victory by a huge margin, beating England’s three other international players.”
Bodhna, from Harrow, north-west London, said she was “really happy” with her win.
“Chess helps me with many other things, at school it helps with math, art and music.”
Her father, Shiva, said his daughter is very determined, and he and his wife are proud of her: “She is doing her best, and we are supporting her.”
This is the latest success in Bodhana’s phenomenal career. In August, she became the youngest person to achieve the title of Woman International Master – the second highest ranking below grandmaster in women’s chess.
Last year, she made history as the youngest person to represent England at international level in any sport at just nine years old.
Bodhana says that she wants to become the youngest Grandmaster in history. The current record holder is American chess player Abhimanyu Mishra, who won the title at the age of just 12.
Blitz is a type of speed chess in which each game lasts no more than ten minutes.
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