Nine-year-old chess player Bodhana named in England squad

British youngster Bodhana Sivanandan joined over 20,000 people in London's Trafalgar Square last Sunday to celebrate her inclusion in the England squad. Only a few months ago she was crowned European Champion and her potential seems limitless. She will be competing at the Chess Olympiad in September.

Bodhana Sivanandan is breaking records. At the age of 9, she is already part of England's national chess team. Her call-up was celebrated in Trafalgar Square with a crowd of 23,000, 8,000 more than last year at the iconic London venue. The UK's annual free chess event provided a great day out for chess enthusiasts of all levels.

Bodhana also took to the main stage to play alongside her father Siva in a transatlantic match organised by ChessKid.com against top American talent. Chess player Bodhana said: "The ChessFest was so much fun, I had a great time. At one point it was raining very hard, but then the sun came out and I played a lot of chess".

Bodhana astonishes all chess enthusiasts. At the age of 9 she won the European Women's Championship on the Greek island of Rhodes, and her mastery is such that she is even considered a potential future world champion. Her achievements have surpassed all expectations. She has even broken the early records set by Judit Polgar in the 1980s and 1990s.

Bodhana Sivanandan celebrated her call-up with 23,000 more people. CHESSFIEST

Never before has a female player come close to Polgar's achievements. Bodhana already has her first Women's International Master's standard, and of the top 100 players under 20, only one, Vera Vujovic of Serbia, was born after 2010.

The current record for the youngest female GM is held by Zhansaya Abdumalik since 2011. But chess experts predict that Bodhana will soon break this record. It is a privilege to watch her play. Her talent even rivals that of the Argentine master Faustino Oro, who defeated Magnus Carlsen in a bullet game at the age of 10.

Bodhana Sivanandan played against many of the attendees at Trafalgar Square. CHEESFIEST

Until now, the record for the youngest Olympic athletes in England was held by Cecilia Colledge and Megan Tylor, who competed in figure skating at Lake Placid in 1932. In Wales, at the age of 10, she represented her country in table tennis in 2017.

However, now everything is changing with Bodhana's talent. She is already a medallist in the British Rapid Chess Championships and a champion in all speed categories in the under 8 championships. The British school system continues to produce child prodigies. At present, Ethan Pang, also aged 9, seems to be making a strong impression. He is determined to break all records.