It seems the Covid-19 lockdown not only contributed to the rise of some chess prodigies in India. Nine-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan is taking the chess world by storm after falling in love with the sport during lockdown. The British Tamil chess prodigy is all set to script history by becoming the youngest ever international player for England in any sport.
Bodhana Sivanandan has been picked for the England Women’s Team at the Chess Olympiad in Hungary in September. She is the odd one out in the England team as the next youngest member, Lan Yao, is 23 years old while the other members of the selected squad are in their 30s and 40s.
She started playing chess at the age of five during the lockdown and quickly demonstrated exceptional talent. Her strategic acumen and intuitive grasp of the game caught the attention of chess enthusiasts worldwide. At the age of eight, she became the third-highest rated 8-year-old chess player ever, boasting a rating of 2088 in February this year.
Bodhana's achievements extend beyond her impressive ratings. She has been hailed as a "phenomenon" by chess masters, with her playing style described as strategic and patient. Her ability to visualise the game unfolding, likened to that of Beth Harmon from "The Queen's Gambit," showcases her exceptional talent at a tender age. She has also been compared to trailblazers like Judit Polgár, who achieved Grandmaster status at 15 and shattered gender stereotypes in the chess realm.
BODHANA'S TALENT SURPRISES FATHER SIVANANDAN
Bodhana Sivanandan's fearless approach has helped her build a great reputation in the chess circle in England. Bodhana caught the attendion of the world when she won all three world championships titles -- classical (long-format game), rapid (a game that generally lasts an hour) and blitz (short, fast-paced contest) at the under-eight level.
Bodhana Sivanandan is set for greatness. However, her father, an engineering graduate, is not sure where the prodigal talent came from.
"I’m an engineering graduate, as is my wife, but I’m not good at chess. I tried a couple of league games, but I was very poor," Bodhana's father, told.
Bodhana still remembers a bag that one of her father's friends left at her place before going to India. She found a chess board in the bag and that's when the love affair started.
