British chess sensation WCM Bodhana Sivanandan made historical past at this time, scoring 10/10 to change into England’s first world youth champion in 25 years and full a historic triple crown.

The eight-year-old prodigy is dominating the Women Below 8 class of the World Cadet Championship in Egypt and clinched the title at this time with a spherical to spare. Earlier than the eleventh and remaining spherical on Thursday, she has a two-point lead over Yi Ruiyu from China.

The decisive recreation in at this time’s tenth spherical ended with a rook sacrifice on g7 towards Mehriban Ahmadli from Azerbaijan.

It is a beautiful efficiency by the gifted teen, who now has the triple crown within the Women Below 8 class. Earlier in June, in Batumi, Georgia, she additionally secured two world championship titles in speedy and blitz, a repetition of the 2 titles she gained in 2022. So as to add to her unbelievable listing of accomplishments, the eight-year-old has gained each single one of many 32 video games she’s performed within the three occasions. 

The historic achievement makes Sivanandan England’s first world youth champion in 25 years. In 1998, GM Nicholas Pert gained gold within the World Youth U18 Championship, whereas WIM Ruth Sheldon gained the Women U18 title, 5 years after having gained the Women U14 title.

British GM Peter Wells praised the mature play of his compatriot on X/Twitter.

Bodhana has simply secured a terrific 9/9 within the World U-8 women after a top quality battle. What amazes me is that the areas through which she most impresses – stage headedness below stress and endgame approach – are ones you count on to come back with age and expertise!@ecfchess https://t.co/iUBBp4SM8n

— Peter Wells (@GMPeteWells) October 24, 2023

Sivanandan beforehand caught the chess world’s consideration in December, when, as a seven-year-old, she remarkably gained the UK Ladies’s Blitz Championship, breaking the age report by greater than 4 years.

“She has a practical, no-nonsense strategy to blitz chess, the place her most popular strategy is to play the primary 20 or so strikes quick, set up a lead on the clock and a slight edge on the board, swap queens to favour her endgame expertise, after which win on place or time,” legendary chess columnist Leonard Barden wrote in The Guardian.

In June, ChessBase India known as her probably the most gifted eight-year-old on the earth at that second. “I do not actually have a secret. I simply performed naturally and win the video games,” Sivanandan advised the positioning, including that she needs to change into the youngest grandmaster on the earth.

The younger lady additionally lately captivated hundreds of chess followers within the Chess.com-produced video the place Sivanandan met with 79-year-old former British Chess Champion FM Peter Lee.

Sivanandan lately turned an envoy for ChessKid, with their CCO FM Mike Klein saying it was attributable to her being “each lovely and ferocious.”

“I met Bodhana for the primary time on the London Chess Pageant this summer season, the place she performed a web based match in entrance of hundreds of individuals. Although her video games had been displayed on a Jumbotron in Trafalgar Sq., she acted prefer it was a stroll within the park. I am not shocked in any respect that she dealt with the stress effectively in her world championship quest and I am considering that is the primary of many. She’s an ideal mixture of expertise and spunk,” says Klein.

Sivanandan’s achievements are welcome for a nation that was as soon as main in Europe, however has struggled with recruiting prime grandmasters for many years. Alongside Sivanandan, England’s greatest prospect is 14-year-old IM Shreyas Royal, additionally an envoy for ChessKid, who’s ranked among the many world’s prime gamers in his class.

In August, chess in England was given what England’s Mister Chess IM Malcolm Pein described as a “probably transformational” enhance when the U.Ok. authorities introduced a £1.25M funding within the English Chess Federation, 100 new chess tables in public parks, and plans to increase the sport in colleges.

The way forward for English chess is wanting brighter.