Judit Polgar
Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess player. Easily the strongest female chessplayer in history, she was ranked 8th in the world in the October 2005 FIDE rating list with an ELO rating of 2735, the only woman on FIDE's Top 100 Players list. She became a Grandmaster (GM) in 1991 at the age of 15 years and 4 months, beating the previous record for youngest Grandmaster, set by Bobby Fischer in 1958.
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Background
Judit Polgár comes from a Jewish family background in Budapest, Hungary. (A number of her family members were killed in the Holocaust, and her grandmother was a survivor of Auschwitz). She and her two older sisters (Zsuzsa (GM) and Zsófia (IM)) were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born," was László's thesis. László and his wife Klara educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject.
The rest of Judit's family eventually emigrated (Zsófia and her parents to Israel, Zsuzsa to New York), but Judit remained in Hungary and married Gustav Fonts, a veterinary surgeon from Budapest.
Career
Judit Polgár is considered the strongest female chessplayer of all time. Trained in her early years by her sister Zsuzsa (who ultimately became Women's World Champion herself, and is still the second strongest female player in the world), Judit has always preferred men's events, making it clear from the beginning that she wants to become the true World Champion of Chess. Her steady rise through the ranks of the world's chess elite in recent years has made many wonder whether she might not achieve this lofty goal. Polgár has defeated almost all the world's top players, including former world champion Garry Kasparov, considered by many to be the strongest chessplayer of all time.
On the April 2003 FIDE ratings list, Polgár's 2715 rating made her the number 10 ranked player in the world, the first woman ever to enter the world's Top Ten. That same year, Judit scored her greatest victory: an undefeated clear 2nd place in the Category 19 Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, just a half-point behind Indian star Viswanathan Anand, and a full point ahead of world champion Vladimir Kramnik. [1]
In 2004, Polgár took some time off from chess to give birth to her son, Olivér. She was consequently considered inactive and not listed on the January 2005 FIDE rating list. Her sister Zsuzsa, now known as Susan, reactivated her playing status during this period and temporarily became ranked the world's number one woman player again.
Polgár returned to chess at the prestigious Corus chess tournament on January 15, 2005, scoring 7/13. She was therefore relisted in the April 2005 FIDE rating list, gaining a few rating points for her better-than-par performance at Corus. In May she also had a better-than-par performance at a strong tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, finishing third. She also gained points in the July 2005 FIDE rating list. This enabled her to retain her spot as the 8th ranked player in the world.
In September 2005, Polgár became the first woman to play for the World Chess Championship title, see FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. However, she had a rare disappointing performance, coming last out of the eight competitors. Nigel Short criticised her poor opening repetoire, and some speculated that taking a year off to have a baby may have left her rusty, despite her strong performances in two tournaments earlier in the year.
Literature
- (1992) Forbes, Cathy: The Polgar Sisters: Training or Genius?. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0805024263.
- (2002) Hurst, Sarah: Curse of Kirsan: Adventures in the Chess Underworld. Russell Enterprises. ISBN 1888690151.
- (2004) Károlyi, Tibor: Judit Polgar, the Princess of Chess. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8890-5
- (2005) Susan Polgar, Paul Truong: Breaking Through : How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857443810.
- (2005) Jennifer Shahade, Chess Bitch: Women In The Ultimate Intellectual Sport. Siles Press. ISBN 189008509X.