Chess blitz: Eight-year-old wins European chess competition

Bodhana started playing chess aged five, during the Coronavirus pandemic - she's now a European champion

A child from London has been crowned the best female player at the European Blitz chess championships in Croatia.

Eight-year-old Bodhana beat many adults, including an international master and drew with a chess grandmaster - which is a huge achievement in the world of chess.

She started playing chess when she was five, and her skills in the tournament were described as "unbelievable".

Bodhana says she doesn't get nervous - she just "plays the board".

Bodhana's success

Bodhana says she always tries her best to win

Bodhana's win was not only a massive achievement for someone her age, but an incredible win for anyone of any age too.

She was crowned the female champion at blitz. This is a type of chess that is played quickly - usually with a limit of three or five minutes for each player to make their move. You have to make moves very quickly and keep your eyes on the timer.

In blitz, she beat an international master and drew with a grandmaster - which is the highest title a chess player can get. You have to win lots of games of chess to become a grandmaster, and have a special score which is set by the world chess organisation.

Bodhana has been praised by chess professionals all over the world - including by the president of the English Chess Federation. He said her performance was "something we've certainly never seen in this country".

British International Master Lawrence Trent said she "will be England's greatest player and most likely one of the greatest the game has ever seen".

Do you play chess?

Chess is a strategy game, played on a board. You might have played it on a device like a tablet or a computer as well.

Different pieces have different abilities, and you have to try and take the other player's pieces, and eventually trap their king in a final move. This is called "checkmate". Click here to learn more about the rules and where chess came from.

Chess has been a popular game for a long time - the oldest recorded game is from the 10th century, but historians think similar games go back further than that.

In competitions, people play timed chess. This adds pressure onto the player to quickly think of a way to win without letting the timer run out.