An 11-year-old Briton becomes the youngest player in history to win the women's Grandmaster title

A talented British chess girl has become the youngest player in history to win the title of “Grandmaster” for women.

The International Chess Federation, FIDE, confirmed that Budhana Sivanandan, 11 years old, from northwest London, achieved her third and final criterion for obtaining the title, which is a documented performance at the required level, while representing England in the 46th Chess Olympiad, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Speaking to the International Federation, Sivanandan expressed her happiness with this achievement, but stressed her desire to “continue making history.”

According to the BBC, this title represents the latest stage in the exceptional rise of this student, who previously became the youngest women's chess champion in Britain, and the youngest person to represent England internationally in any sport.

Sivanandan, who is from the Harrow area, participated in all 11 rounds on the first board for the English team, which is the position reserved for the best player in the team, and she finished the tournament with 8 points.

She had already exceeded the classification threshold of 2,300 points, required to obtain the title of “Grandmaster” for women, before achieving her third and final standard.

In an interview with the International Chess Federation about her historic achievement, she said: “I am happy to have achieved this, but I want to continue and continue making history as well, instead of stopping at this point.”

Katerina Lagno, who represented both Russia and Ukraine, previously held the record for the youngest player to win the women's Grandmaster title, having achieved it at the age of 12 years. Chinese Hou Yifan also won the title at the same age, and to this day she remains the youngest woman to obtain the open title of “Grandmaster,” the highest rank, after she obtained it at the age of 14.

The title of “Grandmaster” for women is the highest title reserved exclusively for female players, and is granted for life.

Sivanandan's success in Samarkand also contributed to her second criterion for obtaining the title of "International Professor", bringing her one step closer to this most prestigious title.

Players usually need 3 qualifying criteria and a rating of at least 2,400 points to obtain the title of “International Master.” So far, Sivanandan has two out of three standards.

The title of “International Master,” which is open to both genders, ranks higher than Sivanandan’s two current titles, “Grand Master” for women and “International Master” for women.

Speaking to Al-Ittihad about her passion for chess, she added: “I love traveling, and since I am pursuing my studies full-time, chess is related to many academic subjects, which makes it very useful in this aspect as well.”