- Bodhana Sivanandan: Chess Prodigy
- Impressive Wins at Zagreb
- Future Grandmaster Aspirations
Bodhana Sivanandan, aged eight, will return to the board the following week after making chess history last Saturday by winning the women’s reward at the European Blitz Championship in Zagreb. The world’s longest-running chess congress, the Caplin Masters in Hastings, begins on December 28 and is in its 97th edition.
The fourth-grade student from Harrow Primary School achieved an impressive 8.5/13 in Zagreb against 555 opponents. Among them, 50 were IMs, and 48 were GMs. Her performance in the tournament was rated at 2316, corresponding to the rank of a female grandmaster. FIDE is expected to position her as the No. 3 woman in England at Blitz on its January rating list.
Her outcome was similar to that of Judit Polgar, the reigning No. 1 woman, and her 7.5/8 triumph in the unrated division of the 1986 New York Open on her international début at the age of nine. Unfortunately, Sivanandan arrived late for round one and was defeated by default.
The taxi driver decided to take us to his preferred west entrance of the venue, rather than the actual location of the playing hall on the east side,” her father, Velayutham, explained. Upon entering the hall, we encountered a sealed door, which necessitated a full circuit of the building to reach the eastern side. The cold weather and the burden of transporting luggage while running with a child were excruciatingly painful.
Unconventional Victory and Historic Draws
Sivanandan quickly recovered by winning four of her next five games and scoring well. She achieved her first victory over an IM in the penultimate round. This victory came by defeating England women’s coach Lorin D’Costa, albeit in a peculiar manner.
D’Costa was unable to advance from a winning position on time, which consisted of the decisive moves 1‒Nf4, Kf2-g1, and Ng2. Since White’s king and bishop are not suitable for procreation, a draw would typically result from Black flagging. In this case, however, a legal checkmate is possible (WK f3, WB e4, BK h1, BP h2, and 1 Kf2 mate). So the arbitrator declared White victorious by the rules.
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Polgar defeated her first IM, Romanian Dolfi Drimer, in Adelaide in 1987 at age ten in classical chess. Before that, at the age of eight, the Hungarians had already defeated IMs in informal blitz games.
Sivanandan made history as the youngest female player to maintain a draw in the final round against the reigning two-time Romanian champion GM Vladislav Nevednichy in a competitive game.
With her comprehensive performance, Sivanandan was awarded the women’s prize in Zagreb. Despite leading the English contingent and under-12 classification, she only won one trophy per player. This was due to tournament regulations.
Young Prodigy’s Unprecedented Achievements and Future Aspirations
Already, the eight-year-old has made the record books. The youngest national adult title winner tied for the English women’s open blitz title aged seven. At age eight, she placed second in the UK women’s open blitz. Her impeccable record of 33 victories in the classical, rapid, and blitz divisions of the 2023 World Championships for Under-Eight Girls showcases her maximalist approach, rooted in the traditions of Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Polgar. Such a record cannot be surpassed. Thousands of spectators were captivated by her monumental encounter with 79-year-old former British champion Peter Lee.
Then, what? Following Hastings, the European women’s rapid and blitz championship in Monte Carlo from January 12-14 would be an obvious option. The tournament will feature the finest female competitors in Europe competing. And will be led by Alexandra Kosteniuk, a former world champion from Switzerland.
Sivanandan aspires to attain the rank of grandmaster with the ultimate goal of contending for the women’s world championship, an event that is presently dominated by Chinese competitors. Although that is a lengthy and challenging voyage, she has already begun admirably.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has won the Champions Tour $200,000 first prize for the third year in a row. Carlsen emerged victorious 2-0 in the final of the best of three sets across the board in Toronto, Canada, over world No. 6, Wesley So, and US champion and No. 2 Fabiano Caruana, respectively. Both matches were played in Toronto.
Chess World Championships and Controversial Candidate Selections
The next week, Carlsen defends his World Rapid and World Blitz championships from last year in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The tournament spans five days, from December 26th to the 30th, and the prize fund is $1 million, of which $300,000 is designated for the Women’s division and $700,000 for the Open division.
As debate grows, the two last slots in the eight-player Candidates competition in Toronto in April are being decided. So appeared poised to qualify by ranking following the failure of No. 8 Leinier Domínguez to accumulate any points at the Sunway Sitges Open in Spain.
Twenty-year-old Alireza Firouzja was formerly Carlsen’s heir apparent, but she has struggled in recent months. In Firouzja’s hometown Chartres, the French federation organized three brief contests against seasoned general managers to earn him the necessary rating points to surpass So.
The opponents were selected by hand, and Firouzja encountered them in a sequence that was most advantageous to him. A victory in his second match on Friday against Sergey Fedorchuk, who is rated over 200 points lower than Firouzja, would maintain his lead over So, who is currently 5-0.
FIDE has stated in a statement that they retain the prerogative to withhold ratings from the Firouzja contests.
Still, one could argue that a precedent exists. In 2022, China was allowed to organise special matches for Ding Liren to qualify for the Candidates. Ding, unlike Firouzja, was far ahead of his competitors in rankings. However, he had not competed abroad for several months due to illness and travel restrictions. Ding is the current world champion.
In the interim, the Chennai Masters, structured to provide Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian, with a chance to qualify for the FIDE Circuit despite his defeat at the London Classic, has benefited the 17-year-old. He is tied for first with his compatriot Arjun Erigaisi after winning the fifth round and drawing two final rounds.
Without a top-3 World Rapid or World Blitz finish by Anish Giri, Gukesh will lead the FIDE Circuit. As a result, India is likely to have three candidates competing against two from the United States: Vidit Gujrathi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Gukesh.
