Youngest girl to beat a grandmaster: 10-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan defeats 60-year-old veteran Pete Wells

by Amrita Priya | Aug 17, 2025

(August 17, 2024) In Liverpool, a 10-year-old Indian-origin schoolgirl from northwest London has altered the record books of chess. Bodhana Sivanandan defeated 60-year-old grandmaster Pete Wells in the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championships, becoming the...

Shreyas Royal: India-born chess player is UK’s youngest international master

by Charu Thakur | Jul 9, 2023

(July 9, 2023) Shreyas Royal was just nine when he made the ceremonial opening move for the Viswanathan Anand-Magnus Carlsen game at London in 2017. This speaks volumes about his genius skills in the game of chess. London-based Indian-origin Shreyas is now 14, and it...

All the right moves: Indian chess prodigy Prraneeth Vuppala journey to grandmaster status

by vikram | Jun 8, 2023

(June 8, 2023) Prraneeth Vuppala’s parents introduced him to a variety of sporting activities when he was just six. Tennis interested him and so did football. Like most children, he loved swimming too. But it was chess that fascinated him the most. He only took about...

Alana Meenakshi: Chess prodigy receives Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2023

by vikram | Feb 2, 2023

(February 2, 2023) Alana Meenakshi Kolagatla was barely four when she first got the feel of the king, queen, rook, bishop, and pawn on the chess board. The child hardly had any understanding of the game, yet she was just about able to arrange the pieces in order. By...

Chess prodigy Alana Meenakshi’s moves are to watch out for

by vikram | Sep 15, 2022

(September 15, 2022) Alana Meenakshi Kolagatla was barely four when she first got the feel of the king, queen, rook, bishop, and pawn on the chess board. The child hardly had any understanding of the game, yet she was just about able to arrange the pieces in order. By...