Judit Polgar

Judit Polgár is the number 1 female chess player in the world. Polgár was the first, and so far the only woman to smash chess' glass ceiling by competing for the World Chess Championship title and entering the FIDE's Top 100 Players list, even to the top 10, with 2735 rating and the number 8 position. However, not all of Polgar's records are gender related. The Hungarian Princess of Chess was also the youngest International Master, claiming the title at the age of 12 and at 15 the youngest Grandmaster in history of chess.

Polgar Sisters

The story of Judit Polgar is not complete without mentioning her father's parenting mission: to breed wunderkinds. Laszlo Polgar, an educational psychologist and a mediocre chess players who, in order to prove his point that "geniuses are made, not born", excluded his three daughters from the school system and instead put them in a homemade chess training program, which included 8 hours of chess a day and some Esperanto.

The results did not delayed for long: Susan, the older sister, won her first chess tournament, the Budapest Girl's Under-11 Championship, when she was 4 years old, and was later ranked at number 1 on FIDE's rating list for women chess players when she was only 15. Sofia, the middle sister, amazed the chess world outplaying several chess grandmasters at the Rome 1989 chess tournament that became known as the "sack of Rome" at the age of 14.

Judit Polgar, the youngest prodigy, rose above the record-breaking achievements of her elder sisters, as she became the first woman chess player to enter FIDE Top 10 at 19. But even before, Polgar had intentionally avoided the Women's World Chess Championship and focused on getting into the regular, male dominated World Chess Championships.

Judit Polgar at the World Chess Championship 2005

The events that preceded Judit Polgar groundbreaking participation at the World Chess Championship 2005 included strong performances at the Chorus chess tournament and finishing third at the 2005 Sofia chess event, which together bounced her rating points to their 2735 peak. Nevertheless, her highly anticipated performance at the World Chess Championship 2005 in Potrero de los Funes, Argentina had disappointed her fans, as she finished at last with 4.5/14 score.

Judit Polgar Chess Playing Style

Judit Polgar is known for her aggressive playing style and her tendency to track the opponents' weaker points and attack them. In more than one interview, she emphasized the psychological aspect of the game saying she prefers learning the opponent's playing style so she can play intentionally against him, then playing chess in an objective manner.