Bodhana Sivanandan Just Earned the FM Title at 11, and She Is Already Rated Higher Than Judit Polgar Was at the Same Age

Six years ago, Bodhana Sivanandan learned chess during the COVID-19 lockdown. She was five. Today, at eleven years old, she holds the FIDE Master title, a live rating of 2366, and a trajectory that has surpassed the greatest female chess player who ever lived at the same age. This is not hyperbole. This is the timeline. ## The Numbers Between early February and early March 2026, Bodhana gained 203 rating points. That is not a typo. Two hundred and three points in roughly one month. She did it across three events: the 4NCL Division 2 in England, the Graz Open in Austria, and the Cannes Chess Festival in France. At the Graz Open, she scored 5/9 with a tournament performance rating of 2381 and gained 102 rating points. She beat Peter Balint (rated 2444) and Lovro Novosel (rated 2326) along the way. At the Cannes Chess Festival, she scored another 5/9 with a TPR of 2377, adding 98 more points. All of her opponents were titled players. She beat three FIDE Masters and an International Master. When her rating crossed 2300, the FM title became official. But the real headline is what happened next: her live rating climbed to 2366, which is higher than Judit Polgar's rating at the same age. Polgar went on to become the strongest female chess player in history, peaking at 2735 and reaching the world top ten. The comparison is not a prediction, but it is a data point that matters. ## The Timeline Bodhana's chess career reads like it was written by a screenwriter who got told to tone it down. She started playing in 2020 during lockdown. By 2022, she won all 24 games she played at the European Schools Championship and took home three gold medals. In 2023, she became England's first World Youth Chess Champion in 25 years, winning triple gold with a perfect 33/33 score across three formats. In 2024, she became a Woman FIDE Master and was selected for England's women's team at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest. She was nine years old. That made her the youngest person ever chosen for a full England team in any sport, not just chess. In July 2025, at age ten, she earned her first Woman Grandmaster norm, breaking Hou Yifan's record. Yifan had done it at eleven. In August 2025, Bodhana defeated Grandmaster Peter Wells at the British Chess Championship, becoming the youngest girl ever to beat a grandmaster and earning the Woman International Master title in the process. In October 2025, she defeated former Women's World Champion Mariya Muzychuk at the European Club Cup. She was still ten. And now, at eleven, she is an FM rated 2366 and ranked 9th globally among girls under 20. She is the youngest player in the top 20 girls ranking worldwide. ## Why This Matters Bodhana's rise is happening at the same time as a broader wave of young talent in chess. The Candidates Tournament starting March 28 features Javokhir Sindarov (20) and Praggnanandhaa (19). Gukesh became the youngest World Champion at 18. The age floor is dropping across the board. But Bodhana's case is different because of the speed. She has been playing competitive chess for roughly five years. Five years from learning the rules to FM at 2366. Most players who reach 2300 have been playing since childhood, often with a decade or more of training. Bodhana compressed that timeline dramatically. She is also doing it as a girl in a sport where women have historically been underrepresented at the highest levels. The Polgar comparison is not just about rating. It is about what Judit represented: proof that the gap between men's and women's chess was cultural, not biological. Bodhana is writing the next chapter of that argument. ## What Comes Next The FM title is a milestone, not a ceiling. Bodhana already has WGM norms and WIM status. The next targets are the full WGM title and, eventually, IM and GM norms. Her current rating trajectory suggests she could be pushing toward 2400 by the end of 2026 if her improvement rate holds. She is a ChessKid Ambassador, she has been featured across global media, and she has a growing profile that extends well beyond the chess world. Her parents, from Tiruchirappalli, India, and based in Harrow, London, have supported a journey that has gone from a lockdown hobby to international headlines. At eleven, Bodhana Sivanandan is already one of the most remarkable stories in modern chess. The question is not whether she will keep improving. It is how high she will go.