All the Right Moves
Bodhana Sivananadan and Keya Jha, both age 10, recently defeated top-ranking chess players!
Courtesy of Vidya Shree Jha
Keya Jha poses with a chess set. Keya is the youngest American female player ever to win a chess game against a grandmaster.
Two 10-year-old girls are making big moves in the game of chess. The girls, who live in different parts of the world, both defeated chess champions many times their age. And the girls’ victories happened within hours of each other.
The first shake-up took place in the United Kingdom on August 10, when Bodhana Sivananadan of London defeated 60-year-old chess grandmaster Peter Wells. (“Grandmaster” is the highest title, or level, a chess player can earn.) Bodhana is the youngest female player ever to win a chess game against a grandmaster.
“Sivanandan’s victory at 10 years, five months and three days beats the 2019 record held by American Carissa Yip (10 years, 11 months and 20 days),” the International Chess Federation said on the social media site X. The win earned Bodhana the title of “woman international master.”
Courtesy of Yury Krylov/English Chess Federation
Bodhana Sivananadan poses at the chess event where she became the youngest female ever to win a game against a grandmaster.
Bodhana is a three-time world champion in the under-8 category, for players under age 8. She started playing chess in 2020, after finding a chess set her dad’s friend had left at her family’s house. She told the BBC that she enjoys the game, which requires players to think ahead but also react to their opponent’s moves.
Just after Bodhana’s victory, Keya Jha defeated 45-year-old grandmaster Bryan Smith in the United States. At 10 years, nine months, and two days old on the day of her big win, Keya is older than Bodhana, but she’s still the youngest American female player ever to win a game against a grandmaster.
Keya, who is from the U.S. state of Ohio, has been playing chess since she was 4 years old. She also competes in ping pong and has a black belt in taekwondo. And she loves to watch cartoons.
“My favorite part about playing chess is that it’s a universal game with no age barriers,” Keya told the Columbus Chess Academy. “I love the feeling of accomplishment, whether it’s a hard-won victory or a loss where I went down fighting.”
