Bodhana Sivanandan, the British Indian schoolgirl
from Harrow in north-west London, won the European Blitz Chess Championship in
Zagreb, Croatia, over the weekend after a winning streak since she took up
chess during the Covid pandemic lockdown.
She is just eight years’ old and made the
chess history after being named the “super talented” best female player at a
European championship.
In the European championship, she went
head-to-head with some of the best players in the world and defeated an
international master to win her crown.
“Eight-year-old super talented Bodhana
Sivanandan (ENG, 1944) made an astonishing result in the Blitz competition. She
scored 8.5/13 points to win the first women prize and earn 211.2 blitz ELO
points,” said the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which concluded
in Croatia on Sunday.
Appreciations for the chess prodigy have
since been pouring in on social media, with leading professionals highlighting her
“unbelievable” performance.
“I always try my best to win, sometimes
it happens and sometimes it doesn’t,” Bodhana told the BBC after her win.
Father Siva Sivanandan said his daughter
was “trying her best and it has worked in favour of her” adding, “She likes
chess and she likes travelling. We keep trying and keep going.”
A few months ago, Sivanandan was among a
group of young chess enthusiasts invited by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
to 10 Downing Street to mark the government’s major new GBP 1 million
investment package for the game.
The package has since been in place to
support children attending schools in disadvantaged areas across England to
learn and play chess, improve visibility and availability of the game and fund
elite playing.
“I was struggling to support my son with
the required chess tournaments and coaching instrumental to his development at
such a young and crucial age,” said Jitendra Singh, father of another British
Indian chess prodigy – nine-year-old Shreyas Royal.
“With this grant from the government we
will be able to help more kids flourish at the game through the hard-working
organisations of the English Chess Federation and chess in schools and
communities. I believe that it is also a very beneficial hobby and would love
to see more people getting into the game from this monumental announcement,” he
said.
As part of the package, the UK’s
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) says it will invest GBP 500,000
in the English Chess Federation (ECF) over two years to develop the next
generation of world-class talent. Funds will support expert coaching, training
camps and cutting-edge computer analysis for international events to assist
current grandmasters and up-and-coming players.
“We want to give more young people the
opportunity to find the thing that they love and realise their potential. So
this package is focused on getting more young people playing chess and
supporting them to develop their talent,” said UK Culture Secretary Lucy
Frazer.
“We’re also equipping our elite chess
players with expert coaching to help them dominate at the highest levels of the
global game and restore England’s reputation among the best in the world,” she
said.
Alongside the support committed to elite
players, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will
provide GBP 250,000 to 85 local authorities across England to install 100 new
chess tables in public parks and outdoor green spaces, to allow more people to
play, connect, tackle loneliness, and develop problem solving skills.
In addition, the Rishi Sunak-led Government
has set out plans to encourage more primary school children, particularly
girls, to learn to play the game. The UK Department for Education said it will
award grants of up to GBP 2,000 to at least 100 schools in disadvantaged areas
across England, subject to interest.
PTI
