England's 11-year-old chess prodigy Bodhana Sivanandan has created history by becoming the youngest girl ever to defeat a grandmaster rated above 2600, breaking a 38-year-old world age record previously held by legendary Hungarian player Judit Polgar, according to The Guardian.
As reported by The Guardian, the Harrow schoolgirl achieved the milestone last Saturday at the Dole Trophy in Aix-en-Provence, where she defeated France's 2628-rated Grandmaster Marc'Andria Maurizzi, 19, in the opening round. Maurizzi won the World Under-20 Championship in 2023 and is the reigning French champion.
According to The Guardian, Sivanandan had previously defeated two grandmasters, but neither opponent carried the stature or rating of Maurizzi. Her latest victory now stands as a new world age record for the youngest girl to defeat a grandmaster rated above 2600.
The Guardian reported that although Maurizzi held the upper hand through the opening 27 moves, he eventually blundered into a tactical sequence that allowed Sivanandan to win his queen for insufficient compensation, turning the game decisively in her favour.
The previous record belonged to Judit Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest female chess player of all time. As noted by The Guardian, Polgar achieved the feat in the 1988 Hungarian Championship when, at 12 years and two months, she defeated Grandmaster Lajos Portisch, a former world championship contender.
At 11 years and four months, Sivanandan has also become the fifth youngest pre-teen to defeat a grandmaster rated above 2600. According to The Guardian, she joins an elite list that includes Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who achieved the feat at nine, Faustino Oro at ten, and both Roman Shogdzhiev and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who did so at 11 years and one month.
Sivanandan was unable to continue her winning momentum in Sunday's second round, where she lost to Israeli International Master Benny Aizenberg. However, she bounced back impressively in Monday's third round by securing a draw against Grandmaster Maxim Rodshtein, Israel's current No. 2 player.
According to The Guardian, Rodshtein reached a peak rating of 2710 a decade ago and has previously won both the Israeli Championship and the prestigious Rilton Cup in Stockholm.
After the sixth round of the nine-round tournament on Thursday, Sivanandan had accumulated three points against mostly higher-rated opponents and remained in contention for her second Women Grandmaster (WGM) norm, one of the three required to earn the title.
The Guardian noted that Sivanandan earned her first WGM norm at the age of 10, also setting a world age record, during the same Dole Open tournament in 2025.
In Friday's seventh round, she added another impressive result by drawing against France's No. 24 Grandmaster Paul Velten, rated 2490. According to The Guardian, the draw lifted her score to 3.5 points from seven games, leaving her likely in need of just two more draws from the final weekend rounds to secure her second WGM norm.
Firouzja Triumphs In Chennai As Gukesh's Difficult Year Continues
The Guardian also reported that the Quantbox Chennai Grandmasters, which concluded on Wednesday, proved another successful tournament for Alireza Firouzja, who climbed back into the world's live classical top 10 rankings.
The tournament concluded with the following standings:
- Alireza Firouzja (France) – 4.5/7
- Dmitry Andreikin (FIDE/Russia) – 4/7
- Arjun Erigaisi (India) – 4/7
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) – 3.5/7
- Pranesh Munirethinam (India) – 3.5/7
- Nihal Sarin (India) – 3.5/7
- Hans Niemann (United States) – 3/7
- Gukesh Dommaraju (India) – 2/7
According to The Guardian, reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju endured another disappointing performance, extending what has been a difficult 2026 campaign.
Earlier this year, Gukesh struggled in Wijk aan Zee and Prague, before finishing last in the six-player event in Oslo. Now, he has also finished at the bottom of the eight-player field in his home city of Chennai, failing to register a single victory.
The Guardian reported that Gukesh has now dropped to 31st in the live classical ratings with 2703 points, his lowest ranking to date and only marginally above the elite 2700 mark.
He has only one classical tournament remaining—the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan—before defending his world title against the in-form challenger Javokhir Sindarov.
According to The Guardian, despite the worrying signs, the World Championship match will begin on equal terms, leaving open the possibility that Gukesh could rediscover the form that saw him win both the 2024 Candidates Tournament and the World Championship match against China's Ding Liren.
FIDE Presidential Election Approaches Amid Fresh Controversy
The Guardian reported that the election for the President of FIDE will take place during the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand this September, with nominations closing on Sunday.
The first candidate is the incumbent president Arkady Dvorkovich, who has led FIDE since 2018 and had been widely considered the favourite for a third term.
However, according to The Guardian, Dvorkovich was recently placed under European Union sanctions, including a visa ban and an asset freeze, over allegations that he played a role in supporting chess events held in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Dvorkovich has denied the allegations.
Following the sanctions, Dvorkovich has suspended his presidential duties.
The Guardian reported that Viswanathan Anand, India's former world champion and current FIDE Deputy President, will serve as interim president during this period.
Dvorkovich's proposed deputy, Timur Turlov, president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and billionaire chairman of the Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holdings, has until 26 July to decide whether to stand for the FIDE presidency.
According to The Guardian, Chess.com has also published an analysis examining the potential impact of these latest developments on international chess.
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