Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old chess prodigy from Harrow, northwest London, has achieved another remarkable milestone by defeating former world champion Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine.
The stunning victory, described by experts as a “near-perfect game,” took place on October 19, 2025, at the European Chess Club Cup in Rhodes, Greece, marking a major step toward Sivanandan’s goal of becoming the youngest grandmaster in history.
Sivanandan first picked up chess during the COVID-19 pandemic after a family member gifted her an old chessboard. Since then, her rise has been meteoric. In 2024, she became the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport.
Her latest win over Muzychuk—who has twice won Ukraine’s national championship and was crowned women’s world chess champion in 2015—has drawn praise from across the chess world.
England’s number-one grandmaster and The Times chess columnist, David Howell, hailed it as an “incredible win,” noting, “It’s not every day a ten-year-old defeats a grandmaster and former world champion in such style.”
Speaking after the match, Sivanandan said she was thrilled by the victory but remains focused on improving. “I’m happy to win, but hopefully I do even better in the future. This will inspire me to keep doing better and trying harder to win more games,” she told The Times.
Unfazed by the pressures of major tournaments, she added, “I don’t really mind where I am playing; I just try and focus on my game.”
This latest triumph follows another historic feat in August when the International Chess Federation (FIDE) announced that Sivanandan had become the youngest female chess player ever to defeat a grandmaster—at just 10 years, five months, and three days old. She broke the previous record set in 2019 by American Carissa Yip.
The current youngest grandmaster remains American player Abhimanyu Mishra, who earned the title in 2021 at 12 years, four months, and 25 days old.
With her continued brilliance on the board, Bodhana Sivanandan is now widely regarded as one of the brightest rising stars in the world of chess.