https://www.aol.com/articles/10-old-girl-wonder-chess-042728885.html?guccounter=1
10-Year-Old ‘Girl Wonder’ Chess Prodigy Plays ‘Near Perfect Game’ to Defeat Former Grandmaster
People
Madison E. Goldberg
Wed, October 22, 2025 at 12:27 AM EDT
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NEED TO KNOW
- “Girl wonder” chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan, 10, secured a win over world champion Mariya Muzychuk on Oct. 19
- Sivanandan started playing chess during the COVID-19 pandemic
- She is on track to potentially become the youngest grandmaster, the highest title possible in professional chess
A 10-year-old British chess prodigy defeated world champion Mariya Muzychuk — putting her one step closer to becoming the youngest grandmaster.
Bodhana Sivanandan has been described as a “girl wonder,” according to British news outlet The Times. Sivanandan, who is from Harrow in northwest London, defeated Muzychuk in what experts called a “near perfect game.”
Sivanandan secured her victory on Oct. 19 at the European Chess Club Cup hosted in Rhodes, Greece, per the outlet. After taking up chess during the COVID-19 when a family member gifted her an old chess board, she became the youngest female player in history to beat a grandmaster — and she did it while sitting on a booster sit to reach the board, according to The Times.
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I used to play a lot of chess in my much younger days. Until I found that playing bridge was much more “lucrative”. Laugh!
Ran into a few great players in Greenwich Village. Never really cared about rankings. I realized that it would take a lot of time and study to become really good enough to break into the elite ranks.For the most part, I specialized in “Queen’s Gambit Declined” because most of the players I ran into never played against it and it was often described as a “stifling crowded” opening that frustrated player used to “action”. It had several “traps” in its opening sequence that the unfamiliar player would blunder into and be easily defeated. In all my time playing black, no one ever opened with it against me. Perhaps they knew better.
Anyway, this young lady’s accomplishments have me in awe of her talent.
I also loved the Netflix trial “Queen’s Gambit” — the role of the fictional “Beth Harmon” was played by a stunning Anya Taylor-Joy — which had nothing to do with the opening and did not accurately report the exploits of Nona Gaprindashvili, who had played competitive chess with men.
If you haven’t seen it, then you are missing a real winner.
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