Desi chess star, 9, youngest ever to play for England

LONDON: Bodhana Sivanandan, a nine-year-old British Indian chess prodigy, has become the youngest sports star ever to represent England in an international sport.
Bodhana, who lives in Harrow, will become the newest and youngest member of England's women's team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in September. The next youngest team member is Lan Yao, 23.The other players are in their 30s and 40s.
Fide's July classical rating list ranks Bodhana as the top under-10 girl in the world. On Fide's blitz list of top 100 girls born after 2003, she is ranked 58th with a 2185 Elo rating, despite being the youngest on the list.
One of her new teammates, Jovanka Houska (44), said: "I can tell you one thing - I've had a lot of players say to me they're terrified of playing her. A 9-year-old that's close to 2200 - that's scary."
Last year, Sivanandan became England's first world youth chess champion in 25 years when she won the triple crown with titles in classical, rapid and blitz competitions in the girls' under-8 category. She followed up by winning the woman's award in the European Women's Blitz Championship in Croatia.
"I'm so pleased to be picked for England, it's a great honour and I'm looking forward to being part of the team," she said.
She picked the game up during lockdown, aged five, when a friend of her father's was clearing out his garage. One of the items he was throwing away was a chess set which Tamil Nadu-born Sivanandan brought home, intending to give it to charity. She peered inside the bag and was curious about the chess pieces such as the king and the knight. She started watching YouTube videos of chess and playing online against strangers.
Velayutham thinks his daughter was drawn to the royal associations of chess. "She likes the royal stories and family. I think that's why she thought this looks interesting," he told the Daily Telegraph.
Now she aspires to become a grandmaster, the highest title in international chess, as well as women's world champion. She currently holds the title of Woman FIDE Master. Malcom Pein, a selector for the England team, said: "At nine years of age, she must surely be the youngest to be selected to represent England in any international sporting competition."
He said the chess craze in the UK has been triggered by Netflix's 'The Queen's Gambit', which has created millions of new players and a golden generation of emerging talent, that also includes Bengaluru-born English chess player Shreyas Royal (15), the world's top under-10 player Ethan Pang (9) and Supratit Banerjee (9), the world No. 7 in the under-10 category.
Together with Sivanandan, they will all be at the ChessFest, a free chest festival, in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, taking on chess enthusiasts across the country. It is organised by the charity 'Chess in Schools and Communities'.