Bodhana Sivanandan returns to school after record Woman Grandmaster performance

Bodhana Sivanandan, 11, is back at school in north London after completing the requirements for the Woman Grandmaster title while playing for England at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The achievement makes her the youngest player reported to have reached that milestone, while her immediate task is catching up on lessons missed during the tournament.

In a 1 October interview with the Guardian, Sivanandan said she had returned to school by Tuesday morning for a design and technology lesson. The interview adds a picture of ordinary school life to NewsJaws’ earlier report on her Olympiad breakthrough.

What Sivanandan achieved in Samarkand

The tournament results list Sivanandan on England’s first board, with eight points from 11 games. Her performance rating was 2,432 and the results server recorded a rating gain of 27.6 points. Those figures show the scale of her contribution across the Olympiad, rather than a result resting on a single game.

The Guardian reported that the performance took her rating to 2,382, above the 2,300 threshold it identified for the Woman Grandmaster title. The record concerns completion of the title requirements; the available reporting does not establish when any later administrative title-list update took effect. The distinction matters when describing exactly what happened at the board.

The Guardian described her as the youngest ever holder of the Woman Grandmaster title. In a separate CNN interview on 30 September, Sivanandan spoke of being happy to have reached the milestone and said she wanted to keep progressing. The two interviews were conducted separately, with Sivanandan speaking to CNN from London in her school uniform.

How chess fits around secondary school

Competing in Uzbekistan meant obtaining an authorised absence from her new school, the Guardian reported. Sivanandan then faced a fortnight of missed classes to catch up on. She told the paper, ‘I’m used to going to tournaments and then coming back to school the next day,’ while acknowledging that secondary school might bring more homework.

Her father, Sivanandan Velayutham, told the Guardian that the family works tournaments around school and the schedules of her parents and younger twin sisters. He said they were ‘not pushy’ and tried to understand what their children liked. That scheduling question is immediate: a possible nine-day London Chess Classic at the end of November depends on whether it fits family and school commitments.

The Guardian reported that Sivanandan receives eight hours of chess tuition a week, paid for by the English Chess Federation and the Chess Trust. Her father also acknowledged other sponsorship. That support sits alongside regular classes and travel to events, with the family deciding which opportunities are practical.

How she started playing chess

Sivanandan told CNN that she first liked the appearance of the chess pieces, especially the knight and queen, before her father taught her to play when she was five. The Guardian reported that, with help from videos, she was beating him within a year. Her early interest developed into competitive play at her local Harrow chess club.

At seven, she won five games in a simultaneous match against six Harrow club members, according to the Guardian. The paper also reported that she beat former British champion Peter Lee at eight. Those earlier results help explain why a school pupil was already competing for England on the Olympiad’s first board.

The Guardian reported another benchmark in July: Sivanandan became the youngest girl to beat a grandmaster rated above 2,600. It also described her earlier selection for an England team at an unusually young age. The latest Olympiad result extends that progression, while her own account places the emphasis on enjoying the game.

Her next chess goals

Sivanandan told CNN that she hopes to reach International Master level and, one day, become a Grandmaster. These are goals, rather than titles she had attained in the interview. The Guardian said her post-Olympiad rating was still below the figures it cited for those higher titles: 2,400 for International Master and 2,500 for Grandmaster.

Asked about records, Sivanandan told the Guardian, ‘I’m doing it because I like it, not to just chase records.’ She described losing a blitz game to world No 1 Magnus Carlsen earlier this year as part of learning. Her comments suggest a focus on improvement even as public attention follows the record.