Giving checkmate is always fun | Judit Polgar
From a young age, Judit Polgár’s parents wanted her to be a genius. They got their wish. By age 7, she was playing chess against 15 opponents simultaneously — and beating them all. At age 12, she won the gold medal for Hungary as part of the women’s team at the Chess Olympiad. Regarded as the strongest female chess player in history, Polgár shares her dream to see chess taught in every elementary school worldwide.
In September 2002, in the Russia versus the Rest of the World Match, Polgár finally defeated Garry Kasparov in a game. The tournament was played under rapid rules with 25 minutes per game and a 10-second bonus per move. She won the game with exceptional positional play. Kasparov with black chose the Berlin Defence instead of his usual Sicilian and Polgár proceeded with a line which Kasparov has used himself. Polgár was able to attack with her rooks on Kasparov's king which was still in the centre of the board and when he was two pawns down, Kasparov resigned.[139] The game helped the World team win the match 52–48.[140] Upon resigning, Kasparov immediately left by a passageway barred to journalists and photographers. Kasparov had once described Polgár as a "circus puppet" and asserted that women chess players should stick to having children. Polgár called the game "one of the most remarkable moments of [her] career."[98] The game was historic as it was the first time in chess history that a female player beat the world's No. 1 player in competitive play.[141] An interview with Polgár including video of the match was included in the BBC Witness radio program in 2016.[142]
In October and November 2002, Polgár played on second board (with Péter Lékó on first) for Hungary in the 35th Chess Olympiad. While not having the stunning performance as she had in the 2000 Olympiad, she helped Hungary attain the silver medal for the event. While the Hungarians had the best win–loss record of the tournament as a team and lost only a single game of the 56 they played, they had won most of their matches by 2½–1½ scores, while the Russian team won gold as they piled up the points. However, Hungary gave the gold-winning Russian team its only defeat. Polgár's fourth round game against Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov included a brilliant 12.Nxf7, drawing his king into the center of the board.[143][144]
By early 2003, Polgár had worked her way back into the top 10 rated players in the world.[145][146] In 2003, Polgár scored one of her best results: an undefeated clear second place in the Category 19 Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, just a half-point behind future World Champion Viswanathan Anand, and a full point ahead of then-world champion Vladimir Kramnik. One of the highlight games of the tournament was Polgár's fourth round crushing victory over Anatoly Karpov. She played a novelty in the opening which she devised over the board. The game lasted 33 moves with Karpov down two pawns and his king exposed. Polgár admitted to "enjoying herself" by the end of the game.[147] In April 2003, Polgár finished second in The Hunguest Hotels Super Tournament in Budapest behind Nigel Short. She appeared headed for a first-place victory in the tournament, but lost her game against compatriot Péter Lékó.[148][149][150] In June 2003, Polgár finished tied for third with Boris Gelfand, in the Enghien-les-Bains International Tournament in France, scoring 5½–3½, behind Evgeny Bareev who won the tournament and GM Michael Adams.[151] In August 2003, Polgár played an eight-game rapid chess match in Mainz, Germany against Viswanathan Anand, billed as the "Battle of the Sexes". After six games each player had won three games. Anand won the final two games to win the match.[152][153] In October 2003, Polgár won the 4–grandmaster Essent tournament in Hoogeveen, Netherlands. In one of her games against Karpov, he blundered, allowing Polgár to utilize a famous double bishop sacrifice first employed by Emanuel Lasker against Bauer in 1889.[154][155][156][157]
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 Susan reactivated her playing status during this period, and temporarily became the world's No. 1 ranked women's player again.[158]
Polgár returned to chess at the prestigious Corus chess tournament on 15 January 2005. The tournament, which was now considered by some as the most important in Europe, was won by fellow Hungarian Péter Lékó while Polgár scored 7/13 to tie for fourth with Alexander Grischuk, Michael Adams and Kramnik.[159] 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.[160] This brought her to her highest ever rating, 2735, in the July 2005 FIDE list and enabled her to retain her spot as the eighth ranked player in the world.[161][162]
In September 2005, Polgár once again made history as she became the first woman to play for the World Championship, at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005.[163] However, she had a rare disappointing performance, coming last out of the eight competitors. Polgár "was unrecognizable in her first-round encounter with Viswanathan Anand", wrote GM Robert Byrne in his New York Times column, "making more errors than she normally would in a dozen games."[164] However, in her game against Veselin Topalov, Polgár pushed the eventual tournament winner and world champion to a seven-hour marathon before succumbing.[165]
She did not play at the 2006 Linares tournament because she was pregnant again. On 6 July 2006, she gave birth to a girl, Hanna.
Polgár participitated in the FIDE world blitz championship on 5–7 September 2006 in Rishon Le Zion, Israel. Blitz chess is played with each player having only 5 minutes for all moves. The round-robin tournament of 16 of some of the strongest players in the world, concluded with Alexander Grischuk finally edging out Peter Svidler in a tie-break to win the tournament. Polgár finished tied for fifth/sixth place, winning $5,625 for the three-day tournament.[166][167] Polgár tied with Boris Gelfand with 9½ points and won her individual game against Viswanathan Anand, at the time the world's No. 2 player.[168] In October 2006, Polgár scored another excellent result: tied for first place in the Essent Chess Tournament, Hoogeveen, the Netherlands.[169] She scored 4½ out of 6 in a double round-robin tournament that included two wins against the world's top-rated player, Veselin Topalov. In December 2006, Polgár played a six-game match of blindfold rapid chess against former FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov. Topalov won the match 3½–2½ with two wins to Polgár's one.[170] Nearly 1,000 spectators attended the event.[171]
In May–June 2007 she played in the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007. She was eliminated in the first round, losing 3½–2½ to Evgeny Bareev. Some chess pundits said she was unprepared for the tournament and appeared affected by the fact that she had played less chess in the last three years to concentrate on her two children. However, she was still credited with the most beautiful attack of the tournament in her fifth game victory.[172] In July 2007, Polgár played in the Biel Chess Festival which was won by 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen. Polgár finished the 9 round tournament at 5–4 in a four-way tie for third to sixth place.[173][174] A highlight game for her was actually a draw. Polgár was playing an endgame of knight against knight and two connected passed pawns of Alexander Grischuk, but she was able to eliminate both pawns.[175][176] In October 2007, Polgár played in the Blindfold World Cup in Bilbao, Spain. Polgár finished in fourth place of the six players with three wins, four losses, and three draws. The tournament was won by Bu Xiangzhi of China, whose only loss was to Polgár.[177][178][179] In November 2007, she took part in Chess Champions League – Playing for a Better World in Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain a tournament to raise funds for equipment for a Hospital in Mbuji-Mayi, Congo. Polgár finished tied for third in the strong six-player tournament and handed tournament winner Veselin Topalov his only loss.[180][181]
In January 2008 she competed in the strong Corus Wijk aan Zee tournament, scoring a respectable 6/13 and tied 9–11 in the 14 player tournament.[182] In November 2008, Polgár had a terrible result in The World Chess Blitz Championship in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan, finished last of the 16 players with only 2½ points.[183] In November 2008, Polgár played the number 2 board for the Hungarian open ("men's") team in the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, finishing 3½/8.
In November 2009, Polgár participated in the FIDE World Cup at Khanty Mansisyk in Siberia. Polgár made it to the third round of the knockout tournament until she was eliminated by tournament winner Boris Gelfand. She handed Gelfand his only loss of the tournament.[184]
In 2010, Polgár began her return to competitive chess and would play more than she had in recent years. In March 2010, Polgár played a four-game match against GM Gregory Kaidanov at Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was required that each game begin with the Sicilian Defense. The match was drawn with each player winning two games.[185][186] In April 2010, Polgár played an eight-game rapid chess match against Czech GM David Navara which was part of the ČEZ Chess Trophy 2010 festival of the Prague Chess Society. Despite slightly higher ranking, 2708 to Polgár's 2682, Navara lost the match 6–2.[187] Polgár participated in the rapid chess tournament of the Presidential Chess Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan from 29 April to 1 May 2010. She finished with one win, two losses and four draws, tied for fifth position in the eight-player round robin. The tournament finished with a three-way tie for first with the winner, Kramnik being decided by Elo over Mamedyarov and Kamsky.[188] In June 2010, it was reported Polgár was assisting GM Zoltán Almási in training for the Olympiad.[189]
In September and October 2010, Polgár played 3rd board for the Hungarian Men's team in the 39th Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The team finished in fourth place losing the Bronze medal to Israel on tie-break. Playing more in 2010 than in recent years, Polgár finished fourth overall among Board three players with a 6/10 score.[190] The highlight for the Hungarian Men's team was a fifth-round victory over Russia I.[191] In November 2010, Polgár won the four-player rapid tournament which was held to celebrate the National University of Mexico's 100th anniversary. Polgár won a close opening match against Vassily Ivanchuk. She then crushed Veselin Topalov, a former world champion and ranked No. 1 in the world in 2009, 3½–½ to win the tournament.[192][193][194]
On 2 April 2011, Polgár finished in a four-way tie for first in the European Individual Chess Championship in Aix-les-Bains, France.[197] The tournament, of 393 players of which 167 were Grandmasters, was won by Russian Vladimir Potkin on tie-break, GM Radosław Wojtaszek won the silver, while Polgár placed third, winning the bronze.[198] Polgár was praised for her creative attacks and endgame technique.[199] Polgár became the first woman ever to finish in the top three of the male championship.[200] Continuing Polgár's return to competitive chess, in July 2011 she participated in the 39th Greek Team National Championship scoring 3½ out of 4 games. Also in July 2011, Polgár played Board 3 for Hungary in the World Team Championships. Hungary finished in fifth place of the ten teams and individually Polgár sixteenth of the fifty players.[201]
In September 2011, Polgár competed in the Chess World Cup, a 128-player tournament with a large prize fund and qualification to the top three for the World Championship cycle. Polgár made it to the final 8 players before she was eliminated by Peter Svidler. A highlight for Polgár was her elimination of the tournament's No. 1 seed and world's fifth highest rated player, Sergey Karjakin.[202][203][204] In October 2011, Polgár took part in the Unive 2011 competition. She finished last in the elite four-player Crown group, losing games to Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri.[205]
In September 2011, Polgár finally returned to "Super GM" status with a FIDE rating of 2701 and by November she had raised it to 2710 and ranked 35 in the world.[206][207]
To begin 2012, in January Polgár competed in the Tradewise Gibraltar tournament finishing with 7 points in 10 games. For the first time in 22 years since she lost to Nona Gaprindashvili on the 1990 Chess Olympiad, Polgár lost her first classical game to a female player[208] as Women's World champion Hou Yifan won their individual game and tied for first before losing the playoff to Nigel Short.[209][210]
The Winner of the honorary FIDE award of Caissa as the best female player of 2012. Chess Award of Caissa, designed and executed by artisans of the Lobortas Classic Jewelry House, was solemnly presented on October 2, 2013 within the framework of the 84th FIDE Congress in Tallinn.
On 5 October 2013,[211] Polgár played Nigel Short in the eighteenth edition of Chess.com's Death Match. The final score was 17½-10½ in Polgár's favour. They played 28 games in total, separated into three stages of increasingly faster time controls, the first being 5+1, the second 3+1 and finally 1+1. Polgár later remarked on her Facebook page that "it was great fun to play against Nigel..."[212] Nigel in turn tweeted in jest, "Such bad chess. I should go and hang myself..."[213]
In 2014, in the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, she came 26th in the Blitz championship and 56th in the Rapid championship.
While having a strong understanding of positional play, Polgár excels in tactics and is known for an aggressive playing style, striving to maximize the initiative and actively pursuing complications.[214] The former World Champion Garry Kasparov wrote that, based upon her games, "if to 'play like a girl' meant anything in chess, it would mean relentless aggression."[215] In her youth, she was especially popular with the fans due to her willingness to employ wild gambits and attacks.[216] As a teenager, Polgár has been credited with contributing to the popularity of the opening variation King's Bishop's Gambit.[217] Polgár prefers aggressive openings, playing 1.e4 as White and the Sicilian or King's Indian Defence with black, but she has also said her opening choices will also depend upon her trainer.[20][214][218] Jennifer Shahade, writer and two-time U.S. women's chess champion, suggested that the influence of Polgár as a role model may be one of the reasons women play more aggressive chess than men.[219] Describing an individual encounter with Polgár, former U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin said, "It was all-out war for five hours. I was totally exhausted. She is a tiger at the chessboard. She absolutely has a killer instinct. You make one mistake and she goes right for the throat."[220]
Polgár is especially adept at faster time controls. When she was still a youth, Der Spiegel wrote of her, "her tactical thunderstorms during blitz games have confounded many opponents, who are rated higher."[44]
Polgár has spoken of appreciating the psychological aspect of chess. She has stated preferring to learn an opponent's style so she can play intentionally against him or her rather than playing "objective" chess.[221] In her 2002 victory (at 25 minutes time control) over Kasparov, she deliberately chose a line Kasparov had used against Vladimir Kramnik, employing the strategy of forcing the opponent to "play against himself". Kasparov's response was inadequate and he soon found himself in an inferior position.[139] In an interview regarding playing against computers she said, "Chess is 30 to 40% psychology. You don't have this when you play a computer. I can't confuse it."[222]
Judit Polgár puts away Kasparov | Games to Know by Heart - WGM Sabina Foisor
Woman Grandmaster Sabina Foisor looks at the greatest female chess player of all time: Judit Polgár. See a victory by 12 year-old Judit, and then her 2002 victory over Garry Kasparov.
2017.08.24
Judit Polgar vs Pavlina Chilingirova, Chess Olympiad (Women) (1988): B31 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with ...g6, without ...d6)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessg.
Judit Polgar vs Garry Kasparov, Russia - The Rest of the World (2002): C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence, open variation
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessg..
I knew Judit Polgar was great, but I didn't know she was that great! Thanks for the bio, Dadoom.
Can you post the game of her win over Magnus?
We are fans of WGM Judit Polgar how she defeated world champion GM Gary Kasparov
We are fans of WGM Judit Polgar how she defeated world champion GM Gary KTo my knowledge Judit Polgar never claimed the WGM title and is simply a GM
Can anyone give a list of most worldtitles.
I think judith leads with the woman.
Can anyone give a list of most worldtitles.
I think judith leads with the woman.
Chess Strategy: Yifan Hou vs Judit Polgar, World Woman Champion vs Highest Rated Woman! 2012:
Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time.[1] Since September 2015, she is inactive. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former World Champion Bobby Fischer. She was the youngest ever player to break into the FIDE Top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in the January 1989 rating list, at the age of 12.[2] She is the only woman to qualify for a World Championship tournament, having done so in 2005. She is the first, and to date only, woman to have surpassed 2700 Elo, reaching a career peak rating of 2735 and peak world ranking of No. 8, both achieved in 2005. She was the No. 1 rated woman in the world from January 1989 until the March 2015 rating list, when she was overtaken by Chinese player Hou Yifan; she was the No. 1 again in the August 2015 women's rating list, in her last appearance in the FIDE World Rankings.
She has won or shared first in the chess tournaments of Hastings 1993, Madrid 1994, León 1996, U.S. Open 1998, Hoogeveen 1999, Sigeman & Co 2000, Japfa 2000, and the Najdorf Memorial 2000.[3]
Polgár is the only woman to have won a game against a reigning world number one player, and has defeated eleven current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.[4]
On 13 August 2014, she announced her retirement from competitive chess.[5][6][7] In June 2015, Polgár was elected as the new captain and head coach of the Hungarian national men's team.[8] On 20 August 2015, she received Hungary's highest decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary.[9]
Yifan Hou vs Judit Polgar, World Woman Champion vs Highest Rated Woman! 2012:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Bf4 Ng6 8.
Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd6 Bxd6 10. Qxd6 Qe7 11. O-O-O Qxd6 12. Rxd6 Ke7 13. Rhd1 Nf4 14.
Bf3 Rb8 (14... Nd5 15. exd5 Kxd6 16. dxc6+ Kc7 17. cxd7 Bb7 18. Bxb7 Kxb7 19.
a4) 15. R6d2 g5 16. Na4 d5 17. g3 Ng6 18. Re1 Kf6 19. Bh5 Rb4 20. Nc3 (20. Nc5
Rc4 21. Nb3 Rxe4 22. Rxe4 dxe4 23. Nc5 Ke5 24. a4) (20. b3 Rxe4 21. Rxe4 dxe4
22. Nc5 Ke5) 20... d4 21. e5+ Nxe5 22. Ne4+ Ke7 23. Nxg5 h6 (23... Ng6 24. f4)
24. Nxe6 Bxe6 25. Rxe5 Rd8 26. f4 Rb5 27. Rde2 Kf6 28. Bf3 c5 29. a4 Rb4 30.
Rxc5 Rxa4 31. b3 Rb4 32. Be4 Bg4 33. Re1 Rd6 34. Bd3 Bd7 35. Ree5 Be6 36. Kd2
Rbb6 37. Ra5 Rbc6 38. Ra4 Rb6 39. Re4 Bf5 40. Rexd4 Re6 41. Bc4 Rec6 42. Ra5
Bc8 43. Bd3 Be6 44. Rd8 Bc8 45. Rad5 Be6 46. Rh5 Kg7 47. f5 1-0
If you need help, please contact our Help and Support team.
Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time.[1] Since September 2015, she is inactive. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former World Champion Bobby Fischer. She was the youngest ever player to break into the FIDE Top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in the January 1989 rating list, at the age of 12.[2] She is the only woman to qualify for a World Championship tournament, having done so in 2005. She is the first, and to date only, woman to have surpassed 2700 Elo, reaching a career peak rating of 2735 and peak world ranking of No. 8, both achieved in 2005. She was the No. 1 rated woman in the world from January 1989 until the March 2015 rating list, when she was overtaken by Chinese player Hou Yifan; she was the No. 1 again in the August 2015 women's rating list, in her last appearance in the FIDE World Rankings.
She has won or shared first in the chess tournaments of Hastings 1993, Madrid 1994, León 1996, U.S. Open 1998, Hoogeveen 1999, Sigeman & Co 2000, Japfa 2000, and the Najdorf Memorial 2000.[3]
Polgár is the only woman to have won a game against a reigning world number one player, and has defeated eleven current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.[4]
On 13 August 2014, she announced her retirement from competitive chess.[5][6][7] In June 2015, Polgár was elected as the new captain and head coach of the Hungarian national men's team.[8] On 20 August 2015, she received Hungary's highest decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary.[9]