India, Aug. 11 -- Indian-origin chess prodigies 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan and 17-year-old Shreyas Royal made chess history over the weekend, winning the 2026 British Chess Championships.

Bodhana became Britain's youngest-ever Women's chess champion at the games which concluded in Coventry on Sunday. Cheered on as "Godhana" during the rounds, she clinched her title in a tense rapid-chess playoff with Ireland's 14-year-old Trisha Kanyamarala, a promising talent in her own right.

"Unreal! Bodhana has won. She is unbelievable, a generational talent," said Grandmaster Danny Gormally, as he wrapped his commentary for the English Chess Federation (ECF). Bodhana famously first picked up chess during the COVID pandemic lockdown when her fat...