“What a phenomenon!”: Eight-year-old child prodigy defeats chess master

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Eight-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan amazes the chess world. She has already shown in recent months that she is extremely talented and is already a youth world champion.

She has now competed in the European Adult Blitz Championships, finishing 73rd in a field of 555 players. That means: she was the best-placed player.

At the tournament she played against experienced chess professionals, including the two-time Romanian champion Wladislaw Newednischi (54). She drew against him and became the youngest player not to lose to a grandmaster in a competitive game.

“I was very proud of myself”

A match earlier she defeated the international champion Lorin D’Costa – who in turn trains the English women. With her rank, Sivanandan became the best player of the English contingent.

Sivanandan told BBC Radio 4: “I always do my best to win. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. I was very proud of myself that I became the best player at the European Championship Blitz.”

According to her father, the girl only started playing chess by chance when she was five years old. She found a chessboard and its pieces in a friend’s bag and then started playing.

Remarkably mature playing style

Romanian champion Irina Bulmaga – who placed behind Sivanandan at the tournament – ​​shared her enthusiasm for the talented girl on X: “Incredible result for an eight-year-old. What a phenomenon!”

Dominic Lawson, the president of the English Chess Federation, told the British Times newspaper about Sivanandan that she had a “remarkably mature playing style”. “She is strategic and patient.”

The eight-year-old has big goals: she wants to become a grandmaster, world champion and England’s youngest Olympic champion. She can be trusted. (neo)

Source : Blick