GMJudit Polgar

Judit Polgár was born in Budapest in 1976, the youngest of the three Polgár sisters. Her parents, László and Klára, educated the sisters at home with chess as a central subject. She became the highest-rated woman in the world at twelve. Together with Susan and Sofia, she helped Hungary win the Women’s Olympiad in 1988 and 1990. Thereafter she concentrated on open competition. By winning the Hungarian championship in December 1991, she became a grandmaster at fifteen years and four months, breaking Bobby Fischer’s age record.

Polgár reached eighth place in the overall world rankings and became the first woman to exceed a classical rating of 2700. Her tournament successes included Madrid in 1994 and a share of first place at the 1998 US Open. In 2002 she defeated Garry Kasparov in a rapid game in Moscow while he was world number one. She played in the eight-player FIDE world championship tournament at San Luis in 2005. Across classical and rapid play, her victories included games against eleven current or former world champions. She won team silver with Hungary in the open Olympiad in 2014, the year she retired from regular competition.

After retirement, Polgár worked as a commentator, author and chess educator. She became captain of Hungary’s open national team in 2015. Her foundation develops educational programmes that use chess to teach children problem-solving and other skills. She founded the Global Chess Festival and wrote the three-volume Judit Polgar Teaches Chess series, combining instruction with her career story. She was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2021.