A nine-year-old Indian-origin schoolgirl is set to make waves as the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport. Hailing from Harrow in north-west London, Bodhana Sivanandan, will be taking her seat with the England Women's Team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, this September. Her teammates? They’re all in their 20s, 30s, or 40s, but age is just a number for this chess prodigy.
"I found out yesterday after I came back from school when my dad told me. I was happy. I hope I'll do well and I'll get another title," Bodhana casually told the BBC on Wednesday, like it's no big deal.
Malcolm Pein, the manager of the England chess team, can’t stop raving about her. "It's exciting - she's on course to be one of the best British players ever," he said.
Bodhana's dad, Siva Sivanandan, is just as amazed as everyone else. "I'm an engineering graduate, as is my wife, but I'm not good at chess," he admitted. This chess whizz first got hooked during the pandemic lockdown when a friend of her dad, heading back to India, left behind a chessboard. "I was interested in the pieces, so I started playing," she said.
Last December, Bodhana didn’t just play; she conquered the European Blitz Chess Championship in Zagreb, Croatia, and earned the title of "super talented." Soon after, she was among the select young chess enthusiasts invited by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to 10 Downing Street to celebrate a massive £1 million investment package for the game.
This game-changing package is designed to get kids in disadvantaged areas across England into chess, ramp up the game’s profile, and fund elite training. The UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is throwing down £500,000 to the English Chess Federation (ECF) over two years to mold world-class talent through expert coaching, training camps, and cutting-edge computer analysis for global competitions.
On top of that, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is splashing £250,000 to 85 local authorities for 100 new chess tables in public parks and green spaces, aiming to connect people, tackle loneliness, and sharpen problem-solving skills. The Department for Education is also jumping on board with grants of up to £2,000 for at least 100 schools in disadvantaged areas to get more primary school kids, especially girls, into the game.