Eight-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan from London has been crowned best female chess player at the European blitz championships, scoring 8.5/13 at the event and drawing with a grandmaster in a result described as “unbelievable.” The BBC reports: The chess prodigy, who began playing aged five, said she was “proud” of her performance over the weekend. The tournament was held at the blitz time control — a quick form of chess where players have just minutes on their clocks for their moves. Bodhana’s opponents included grandmasters – the highest title given to the world’s strongest players — international masters and experts.
“I always try my best to win, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t,” Bodhana told BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “I was very proud of myself when I got top girl in the European blitz.” Asked if she gets nervous, she replied: “No, I just play the board.”
British International Master and commentator Lawrence Trent described Bodhana as “one of the greatest talents I’ve witnessed in recent memory.” “The maturity of her play, her sublime touch, it’s truly breath taking,” he wrote on X. “I have no doubt she will be England’s greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen,” Mr Trent added. Bodhana will next compete at the International Chess Congress in Hastings, one of the world’s longest running tournaments, on December 28.
