Judit Polgar: The Best Chess Player Hungary Ever Produced

Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player in recorded history and, by most serious measures, one of the strongest players of any gender in the modern era. Born July 23, 1976, in Budapest, she became a grandmaster on December 20, 1991, at 15 years, 4 months, and 28 days, breaking Bobby Fischer’s record for youngest grandmaster in history by 33 days. She reached a peak FIDE rating of 2735 in July 2005, the highest ever recorded for a woman. She beat eleven world champions in her career. She retired in August 2014.

She never played in a Women’s World Championship. She competed in open tournaments against men her entire career and was clear that she wanted no other arrangement.

László Polgar’s experiment

Judit’s father, László Polgar, was a Hungarian educator who believed that geniuses are made, not born. That early specialization in any demanding subject, combined with proper training, would produce exceptional ability. He and his wife Klára homeschooled their three daughters, Zsuzsa (Susan), Zsófia, and Judit, with chess as the primary subject from early childhood.

This was unconventional enough in 1970s Hungary that the government initially refused to permit the homeschooling. László appealed and eventually won the right to educate his daughters outside the state system.

Zsuzsa became the Women’s World Champion in 1996. Zsófia became an International Master. Judit exceeded both.

She learned chess before age 5. At 10, she was rated among the top players in Hungary regardless of age or gender. She was giving simultaneous exhibitions and drawing serious attention by the time she was 12.

Breaking the record

Fischer had become a grandmaster on August 17, 1958, at 15 years, 6 months, and 1 day. That record stood for 33 years.

On December 20, 1991, Judit completed the final grandmaster norm required for the title. She was 15 years, 4 months, and 28 days old. The record fell by 33 days.

The chess world’s response was, by modern standards, mixed. Some commentators suggested she was a product of her father’s experiment rather than a natural talent. Others pointed out that the result of the experiment was a 15-year-old who had just broken one of chess’s most enduring records.

Competing at the highest level

Between 1992 and her retirement in 2014, Polgar competed in major open tournaments (Linares, Wijk aan Zee, the Grand Prix circuit) against the strongest players in the world. She was ranked among the top ten players globally for significant stretches of her career.

The world champions she is credited with defeating in classical or rapid games include Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Ruslan Ponomariov, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen, and others. The exact count depends on which games and time controls are included. Eleven is the commonly cited figure.

The Kasparov win deserves a specific note. At Linares in 1994, Polgar beat Kasparov, then the strongest player in the world, in a classical game. Kasparov won the tournament; the Polgar game was one of his losses. He had previously beaten her consistently in their encounters. She was 17 at the time of the Linares win.

Retirement and after

Polgar retired from competitive chess in August 2014, announcing that she wanted to focus on chess promotion and education. She was 38. Her FIDE rating at retirement was still above 2685. She was still a world-class player by any standard. She left while she was still near the top.

Since retiring, she has run the Judit Polgar Chess Foundation in Hungary, which promotes chess in schools. She has served as a chess ambassador and participated in various world-record simultaneous exhibition events.

She has not played in the women’s world championship circuit during or after her career. Whether she would have won it is a hypothetical that no one can answer.

Frequently asked questions

What is Judit Polgar’s peak rating? 2735, reached in July 2005. It is the highest FIDE rating ever recorded by a woman player.

Did Judit Polgar break Fischer’s record? Yes. Fischer became a grandmaster at 15 years, 6 months, and 1 day in 1958. Polgar earned the title on December 20, 1991, at 15 years, 4 months, and 28 days: 33 days younger.

How many world champions did Judit Polgar beat? Eleven, by the most commonly cited count, depending on which time controls and game types are included. The list includes Kasparov, Karpov, Spassky, Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, and Carlsen, among others.

Why did Judit Polgar never play in the Women’s World Championship? She chose to compete in open events against men her entire career. She has stated that she saw no point in a separate circuit and wanted to compete at the highest level available.

Sources

• FIDE official rating history for Judit Polgar
• Polgar, Judit. How I Beat Fischer’s Record. Everett House Publishers, 1997.
• Polgar, László. Bring Up Genius! Kossuth Kiadó, 1989.

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