The FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess warmly congratulates Bodhana Sivanandan on another extraordinary achievement – becoming the youngest girl in history to score an International Master (IM) norm.
At just 11 years and four months, the English prodigy surpassed a record previously held by the legendary Judit Polgár – a remarkable accomplishment considering Polgár is widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time and someone whose records have stood for decades.
Bodhana reached this historic landmark at the Dole Open in France, where she delivered an outstanding performance against a field packed with grandmasters and international masters. She finished the tournament with both her first IM norm and a second Women’s Grandmaster (WGM) norm, continuing a remarkable rise that has already seen her rewrite several pages of chess history.
One of the defining moments of her tournament came in the opening round, when she defeated French Grandmaster Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2628), the reigning French Champion. According to the records this makes Bodhana the youngest girl ever to defeat a player rated above 2600 in a classical game!
The historical significance of that result is equally striking. As noted by Leonard Barden in The Guardian (according to this ChessBase India article), the previous record belonged to Judit Polgár, who defeated Hungarian chess legend Lajos Portisch during the 1988 Hungarian Championship at the age of 12 years and two months. Nearly four decades later, Bodhana has lowered that mark by almost a year.
Achievements like these are exciting not only because records are broken, but because they inspire the next generation of players. Bodhana’s success is a wonderful reminder of what can be achieved through talent, dedication, and hard work, encouraging young girls – and indeed all young chess players everywhere – to dream big and pursue their ambitions.
We are delighted to share this news and look forward to watching the next chapters of Bodhana’s already extraordinary journey. Congratulations on this incredible achievement to Bodhana and her family!
