8-year-old British girl finishes as top woman player in European blitz chess championships

BBC News reports what is arguably the most extraordinary achievement in the history of British chess:

An eight-year-old girl has been crowned best female player at the European blitz chess championships.

Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow, north-west London, scored 8.5/13 at the event in Croatia, finishing ahead of seasoned professionals in the process.

She defeated an international master and drew with a grandmaster, in a result described as "unbelievable".

The chess prodigy, who began playing aged five, said she was "proud" of her performance over the weekend.

Bodhana finsihed 73rd in the, ahead of several male grandmasters and other established players. Her score of 8.5/13 won her the prize for the top woman player.

A total of 555 players participated in the event, among them 48 grandmasters.

The game above is not spectacular, but it's typical of Bodhana's mature, positional style. She draws with Black against the experienced Romanian grandmaster Vladislav Nevednichy, who is her senior by 46 years.

Meanwhile, Rami Taleb, a veteran of 10, has become the chess champion of Cornwall.