India, Sept. 28 -- At an age when most children are only beginning to understand the pressures of competitive sport, Bodhana Sivanandan is already rewriting chess history. The 11-year-old British prodigy has become the youngest player ever to earn the Woman Grandmaster title after securing her third and final WGM norm while representing England at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Sivanandan, who played on England's top board throughout the Olympiad, finished the tournament with eight points from 11 rounds and completed the requirements for the title after having already crossed the necessary 2300 rating threshold. Her achievement breaks the long-standing age record previously held by Kateryna Lagno, who became a WGM at 1...