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Judit Polgar
J Polgar 
Photo copyright © 2009 Jaksa Timea.  

Number of games in database: 1,809
Years covered: 1984 to 2022
Last FIDE rating: 2675 (2646 rapid, 2736 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2735
Overall record: +462 -268 =498 (57.9%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 581 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (341) 
    B90 B93 B33 B32 B30
 Ruy Lopez (203) 
    C67 C78 C89 C65 C92
 French Defense (114) 
    C11 C18 C10 C12 C15
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (98) 
    C89 C92 C95 C90 C84
 Sicilian Najdorf (89) 
    B90 B93 B92 B99 B94
 Caro-Kann (73) 
    B14 B17 B18 B13 B12
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (326) 
    B47 B90 B22 B40 B32
 King's Indian (171) 
    E97 E62 E81 E92 E73
 Sicilian Taimanov (72) 
    B47 B48 B46 B45 B49
 Queen's Indian (60) 
    E15 E12 E17 E16 E14
 Nimzo Indian (49) 
    E32 E21 E49 E53 E48
 Sicilian Najdorf (44) 
    B90 B92 B98 B99 B97
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   J Polgar vs F Berkes, 2003 1-0
   Shirov vs J Polgar, 1994 0-1
   J Polgar vs Anand, 1999 1-0
   J Polgar vs Mamedyarov, 2002 1-0
   J Polgar vs P Chilingirova, 1988 1-0
   J Polgar vs Karpov, 2003 1-0
   J Polgar vs Shirov, 1995 1-0
   J Polgar vs Kasparov, 2002 1-0
   J Polgar vs Kasimdzhanov, 2005 1-0
   Ljubojevic vs J Polgar, 1994 0-1

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament (1999)
   FIDE World Championship Tournament (2005)

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Hastings Challengers 1988/89 (1988)
   Superstars Hotel Bali (2002)
   Villa de Canada de Calatrava (2007)
   Aruba (1992)
   Thessaloniki Olympiad (Women) (1988)
   Hastings 1992/93 (1992)
   Istanbul Olympiad (2000)
   99th US Open (1998)
   Novi Sad Olympiad (Women) (1990)
   European Championship (2011)
   Amsterdam OHRA (1989)
   European Championship (2001)
   SKA-Mephisto Tournament (1991)
   FIDE Moscow Grand Prix (2002)
   World Cup (2011)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by fredthebear
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by enog
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by Okavango
   Polgar Power Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by rpn4
   Polgar Power Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by Patca63
   Zsuzsa (Susan), Zsofia, and Judit Polgar by wanabe2000
   The Princess of Chess - Judit Polgar by rpn4
   The Princess of Chess - Judit Polgar by Resignation Trap
   The Princess of Chess - Judit Polgar by rpn4
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 95 by 0ZeR0
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 94 by 0ZeR0
   JUDIT AND SUSAN POLGAR by rpn4
   JUDIT AND SUSAN POLGAR by vaskolon
   JUDIT AND SUSAN POLGAR by rpn4

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Offhand 3-minute blitz
   J Polgar vs Carlsen (Jul-02-22) 1-0, blitz
   Shankland vs J Polgar (Aug-10-14) 1-0
   J Polgar vs V Akopian (Aug-09-14) 1/2-1/2
   J Polgar vs H Nguyen (Aug-08-14) 1-0
   J Polgar vs H Santos (Aug-05-14) 1-0

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Judit Polgar
Search Google for Judit Polgar
FIDE player card for Judit Polgar

JUDIT POLGAR
(born Jul-23-1976, 48 years old) Hungary
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]

Judit Polgar is universally considered the strongest woman chess player ever. She was #1 woman player in the world for an unbroken period of over 26 years starting from the age of 12 in 1989 when she burst into the world's top 100 until her retirement from competitive chess in August 2014, aged 38, and into 2015 while her rating was still active.

She was born in Hungary in 1976. Her childhood included an extensive chess education from her father, Laszlo, and her sisters. Beginning international competition as early as 1984, Polgar first defeated an International Master in Adelaide in 1986, when she beat Dolfi Drimer, and a year later the then 11 year old girl defeated her first grandmaster, Lev Gutman. In 1988 she won the U12 Boys World Championship, and in 1990, the U14 Boys World Championship. In 1991 she became an International Grandmaster by winning the "men's" Hungarian championship and at the age of fifteen years and five months, she was the youngest grandmaster in history, breaking a record that Robert James Fischer had held for over 30 years. She has been the highest-rated woman ever since FIDE's January 1990 list, and in 2003 she entered the overall top ten. In 2005, she became the first woman to take part in the final of an open world championship cycle when she participated in the FIDE World Championship Tournament (2005). Although she finished last, her participation in this event seeded her into the 2007 Candidates playoff for the World Championship Tournament in Mexico City, but she bowed out in the Candidates Match: Polgar - Bareev (2007) by 3.5-2.5.

Polgar's career-best tournament performances include four victories at Essent (twice shared), first in London 1988, first in Varna 1988, equal first with Bareev in Hastings 1992/93, clear first at Madrid 1994, first at the Isle of Lewis 1995 (1), equal first in the 1998 US Open, first at the VAM Tournament in Hoogeveen in 1998, first at the category 16 Japfa Classic in Bali in 2000, first at the the Sigeman & Company International Tournament in Malmo, equal first at the Najdorf Chess Festival 2000, fourth in the 2001 European Championship which fielded 143 GMs in a 13-round Swiss-system tournament, first at Superstars Hotel Bali (2002), clear second at Corus at Corus Group A (2003) and equal first at the European Championship (2011), the first time a woman has stood on the podium in this immensely competitive tournament that on this occasion attracted 167 grandmasters; her result also qualified her for participation in the World Cup (2011), where she defeated Cuban GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez, Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian, and Russian GM Sergey Karjakin and Cuban GM, Leinier Dominguez Perez in the first four rounds, but lost her quarter final match against the eventual winner, Russian GM Peter Svidler, to exit the contest. She was one of the President's nominees to play in the World Cup (2013), where she faced Cuban #4 player, GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez in the first round, losing the first game and drawing the second.

Polgar represented Hungary at the (open) Olympiads in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. During that time she won two team silver medals, and an individual bronze medal, both occurring at the 2002 Olympiad and the second team silver in 2014. During the Istanbul Olympiad (2012) held in Istanbul, she played on board 3 scoring 7.5/10 which yielded a TPR of 2744, her best result since the Istanbul Olympiad of 2000. Her overall game results from her participation in Olympiads now amounts to 85 games (+35 =35 -15) with a winning percentage of 61.8%. She represented Hungary twice in the European Team Championships, once in 1989 and then again in 1999, on the latter occasion helping her team to its best result, a silver medal, and also winning an individual silver medal for her result on board 2.

In rapids, Polgar's best results include equal first with Viswanathan Anand in the Wydra rapid in Israel in 1998, defeating David Navara 6-2 in a rapid match in the Czech Republic in 2010, and defeating Vassily Ivanchuk 2.5-1.5 and Veselin Topalov 3.5-0.5 to win the rapid Ajedrez UNAM Quadrangular (2010). She won an invitational rapid tournament, Festa da Uva (Grape Celebration), in Caxias do Sul in Brazil in early 2012, ahead of Henrique Mecking, Gilberto Milos and Andres Rodriguez Vila the contest was a round robin featuring 2 game mini-matches between each player, with one rapid and one blitz game in each match. (2) She played in the European Championship (2014) but only scored 6.5/11, losing a couple of games in the last few rounds of the tournament and failing to qualify for the World Cup 2015.

Polgar first entered the top 100 in January 1989 at the age of 12 when her rating skyrocketed to 2555 and number 55 in the world, and she has remained in the top 100 since then. She remains the youngest player by far to enter the top 100. Her standard rating as of 1 February 2015 is 2675 making her the world's top rated woman, Hungary's #4 player, and world #66; her peak rating was 2735 in 2005, when she was ranked #8 in the world. She is rated 2646 in rapid (world #100 and Women's world #1) and 2736 (world #30 & women's world #1) in blitz.

She lives in Budapest with her husband, veterinarian Gusztav Font, and their two children, Oliver and Hanna who were born in 2004 and 2006 respectively. In late 2012, she released her autobiography "How I Beat Fischer's Record". (3) In August 2014, she announced her retirement from competitive chess after 25 years as the top rated woman in chess. (4)

***

(1) 365chess: http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...
(2) Chessbase "Grape Celebration with Judit Polgar" http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...
(3) Chessbase "Judit Polgar: How I beat Fischer's record" http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...
(4) Chessbase "Judit Polgar to retire from competitive chess" http://en.chessbase.com/post/judit-...

- Article in the Independent dated 24 November 2012: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...
- Personal website: http://www.polgarjudit.com/index_en...
- Psychology Today article titled "The Grandmaster Experiment" http://www.psychologytoday.com/arti...
- John Miller's (User: wanabe2000) collection of games and tournaments of the Polgar sisters: Game Collection: Zsuzsa (Susan), Zsofia, and Judit Polgar
- Live rating: http://www.2700chess.com/women
- Polgar's Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/GMJuditPolgar
- Q & A between Polgar and fans: http://www.crestbook.com/en/node/1668
- https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast... (2017 podcast interview with Ben Johnson of Perpetual Chess)
- Audio-visual collage of Polgar Chessday 2009: http://www.timeapictures.com/en/jud... (link in print underneath photo array)
- Wikipedia article: Judit Polgar

Last updated: 2021-07-23 08:34:41

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 73; games 1-25 of 1,809  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. J Polgar vs Szendrei 1-0211984BudapestB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
2. I Balogh vs J Polgar 0-1281984BudapestB30 Sicilian
3. J Polgar vs H Grooten 1-0221984Blindfold gameB83 Sicilian
4. J Polgar vs T Halasz 1-0261985Training gameB01 Scandinavian
5. J Polgar vs T Hutters 1-0411986CopenhagenB32 Sicilian
6. J Polgar vs Z Simic  1-0421986New York Open Section VIIC10 French
7. J Polgar vs S Villegas  1-0451986Wch U16 GirlsC30 King's Gambit Declined
8. V Alvarez vs J Polgar  0-1371986Wch U16 GirlsB20 Sicilian
9. J Polgar vs O Capo Iturrieta 0-1591986Wch U16 GirlsB83 Sicilian
10. J Polgar vs N Bojkovic 1-0711986Wch U16 GirlsB30 Sicilian
11. J Polgar vs S Nagabhusanam  1-0491986Wch U16 GirlsB53 Sicilian
12. I Majul vs J Polgar 0-1641986Wch U16 GirlsA37 English, Symmetrical
13. J Polgar vs I Kientzler-Guerlain 1-0341986Wch U16 GirlsB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
14. M Riofrio Palma vs J Polgar  0-1231986Wch U16 GirlsA46 Queen's Pawn Game
15. A Hernandez Bonilla vs J Polgar 0-1361986Wch U16 GirlsA36 English
16. J Polgar vs S Djuric 0-1451986Australian Open 1986/87C30 King's Gambit Declined
17. J Polgar vs E Mednis 0-1441987Australian Open 1986/87C15 French, Winawer
18. J Polgar vs D Drimer 1-0621987Australian Open 1986/87B45 Sicilian, Taimanov
19. J Polgar vs K Hornung 1-0541987Australian Open 1986/87C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
20. T Hay vs J Polgar 1-0311987Australian Open 1986/87B83 Sicilian
21. B Leverett vs J Polgar 0-1301987New York Open U-2400A57 Benko Gambit
22. J Polgar vs A Huss 0-1521987Biel MixC15 French, Winawer
23. J Costa vs J Polgar 0-1221987Biel MixA31 English, Symmetrical, Benoni Formation
24. C Landenbergue vs J Polgar  0-1441987Biel MixA04 Reti Opening
25. J Polgar vs J Costa 1-0321987Biel MixC33 King's Gambit Accepted
 page 1 of 73; games 1-25 of 1,809  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Polgar wins | Polgar loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 24 OF 77 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Aug-08-05  percyblakeney: Both Chessbase and Zsuzsa Polgar said just before the tournament that Polgar would be playing at the European Team Championship, I wonder why she didn't.
Aug-08-05  lamont: I should have written that Mme. Curie won two unshared Nobel Prizes "in the sciences," Chemistry & Physics. If I am mistaken, please let me know with whom she shared either. In any case, "Go, Judi, Judi, Judi!"
Aug-08-05  Orbitkind: <Rocafella: <OrbitKind> Approximately, how long did your profile take? :-) 300th POST!> I was writing that profile when you were still in nappies. But then again, that might not be so long ago ; )
Aug-08-05  Orbitkind: I hope Judit wins the Argentina tournament and becomes the first female world champion. I don't see how this situation differs from when Fischer was stripped of his title after farting around with FIDE for several years; Kramnik has done the same thing.
Aug-08-05  Chunkey Monkey: According to the Nobel prize site
the Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 (please see http://nobelprize.org/physics/laure...) was shared with one full half to the redoubtable Antoine Henri Becquerel and then our heroine Marie Curie née Sklodowska and her man Pierre Curie one quarter each. What about the brillaint Rosalind Franklin too as an example of inspirational achievement of the very highest order. Frankiln of course did the X-ray diffraction work to find A and B-form DNA and Watson and Crick "appropriated" here results!! Of course Linus Pauling was involved in this hunt too and would have probably got a third NP for finding the double helical structure and he really was a seriously brainy man as Einstein himself said famously one time. I alwyas thought it bizarre Pauling had already conceived of double and even triple helices for the muscle proteins but for some chemical reason decided on other structures for the nucleic acids. I agree too OrbitKind VK is faffing around and not doing very much. I have to tell you (as of now) I am starting a movement to have Judka as president of Europe if Gazza is taking over in Moscow! You know where to send all your opening ideas!! GM J Polgar is so attacking you never really want to reign in that panache for the game but I must say of the 14 (?) WCs since Steinitz how would you categorise them. The 7th Misha Tal was an obvious example of a force of nature attacking-wise and Alekhine and Kasparov too but they could mix with the best of the positional boa constrictors too when needed of course!! I really and sincerely hope she does it. Is mise le meas! CM
Aug-08-05  lamont: Rosalind Franklin gathered salient data that guaranteed her a Nobel, or a shared Nobel with Watson & Crick, who built on her work, but she died before the award was given...and a Nobel cannot be granted posthumasly...However the English lady, whose name I should remember, who discovered Pulsar stars, was swindled out of a Nobel by the Machismo Elite... I was indeed wrong about Mme. Curie wining 2 unshared Nobels...As Chunky Monkey notes, the Physics Prize was shared with a Frenchman...Her daughter & her husband shared a Physics prize with another...Too bad Greer Garson didn't do a sequel...

Aug-08-05  lamont: Can anyone tell me the name of the famous French painter (DaDa School) who gave up painting to play chess? I used to see him at The Henry Hudson Hotel, wearing his trademark beret, watching Fischer playing for the U.S. Championship... I believe his most famous painting was "Nude Descending a Staircase.".....Anybody??
Aug-08-05  sire: <lamont> His name is Marcel Duchamp. Here is a link with some information:
http://www.biogs.com/famous/duchamp...
Aug-08-05  Rocafella: <Orbitkind> So what if I wore nappys only 3 years ago, who's counting!
Aug-09-05  Orbitkind: Lol. .
Aug-11-05  Rocafella: :D lol
Aug-16-05  Orbitkind: Judit Polgar is nice. She is clever because of chess, and she is pretty because she is a Polgar. I hope Polgar becomes the 1st female world champion. The other people I'd hope to be world champion are perhaps Kasparov (though I think his 15 year reign and 20 years of number 1 is good enough), and I think Topalov deserves it over the drawmasterismic Anand the lame. Also I think that although Svidler is the Fischerandom champion, he is a drawmaster in chess, and Leko is a drawmaster, and Adams is a drawmaster (despite me being English), but Morozevich is cool, Kasimdzhanov is not in their league. It's the ultimate double-round-robin though, and the winner is truly the champion. Kramnik can go and an alise a grass hopper etc, becase he is a pooh of chess.
Aug-16-05  hintza: Damn it, he's actually English :(
Aug-20-05  Chunkey Monkey: Very interesting post Lamont! I was previously unaware of the story of Jocelyn Bell Burnell who according to wikipedia was the woman who discovered pulsars with Ryle. She is from Northern Ireland incidentally and didnt share the Nobel prize in physics in 1974 which was very controversial apparently. The late great Fred Hoyle was furious about this and rightly so (he was another pariah of course) and this is another clear example of misogyny in areas of the highest human endeavour. I dont want to get pedagogic about this but look at the story of another wronged heroine Lise Meitner too who among other things discovered nuclear fission and unfortunately Leo Szilard and Einstein et al. did the rest in that famour letter which we now live with to this day. What the world might have been like if Meitner could have been involved early in the development of these weapons but maybe in another world..Otto Hahn was awarded the '44 Nobel for Chemistry and the fact Meitner was Jewish probably didnt help. The point I'm tlabouring to make is the world is difficult enough to succeed in as you well know regardless of sex, creed, nationality etc. in and whether you believe the world is a meritocratic one or not (it is not I worry) one of the great beauties of chess to me is that it is a pure alliance of art and science and Caissa is notoriously indifferent to who comes to her as muse during a game. However if only it was so simple and for the first time we see GM J Polgar fight for the title and I for one cant wait! The closer it comes to the showdown in Argentina I fear Leko, Anand and Topalov are going to have too much in the way of opening TNs and again her endgame but we live in hope!! Go Judka!!! Go Judka!!!
Aug-20-05  Prisoner of Zelda: <
who >

Thats an interesting photo, your moniker--it looks like a silouette of Kaspy. Am I right?

Aug-24-05  percyblakeney: Polgar's turn to answer the ten questions, one of them:

9. Why should spectators not miss this championship?

Because it is a historical world championship and now that Kasparov has retired and Kramnik is playing unstable in recent times, people will consider having a World Champion again, even if some of great players are missing for this event.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

Aug-24-05  acirce: <“Every game can be extremely hard”, she stated, revealing one of her training methods: “I am preparing against my opponents one by one with both colors”.>

Groundbreaking!

Aug-24-05  csmath: Spectacular perhaps? Like Kramnik?
Aug-24-05  sergeidave: So Judit is preparing, huh? That's great! Hopefully she gives us a nice surprise!
Aug-24-05  Robin001: Even though she is the only "she" in the tournament, I believe there is little pressure on her due to the fact that she is not a favorite to win it. Therefore, I think she is going to play some sharp lines.
Aug-25-05  Speed Zamboni Driver: Will "plus 2" win this event?

Any betting lines out, in Vegas?

Aug-25-05  iron maiden: Plus 2 probably won't win it, but +3 might be good enough for a share of first.
Aug-26-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: hmmm, can't even find my last post ...
Sep-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  BishopBerkeley: This is a duplicate of a message I posted over on the Robert James Fischer message board. But since it is equally relevant to Ms. J. Polgar, I have posted it here...

I note that Boris Spassky 's record against Robert James Fischer for the year 1992 was

17% wins, 33% losses, 50% draws,

while Mr. Spassky's record against Judit Polgar from 1993-1995 was

14% wins, 36% losses, and 50% draws.

Spassky vs. Fischer, 1992, (+5 =15 -10):
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

Spassky vs. J. Polgar, 1993-1995, (+2 =7 -5): (all the games in our database between these two): http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

So, if these games are reasonably representative of Mr. Spassky's playing strength in the early 1990s, we might conclude that Robert James Fischer and Judit Polgar were playing at similar strength in the early 1990s.

An imperfect comparison, but interesting!

(: Bishop Berkeley :)

Sep-02-05  Perkins: I think you are right Bishop. JP didnt quite continue at her earlier rate of acceleration, although she obviously became a very strong GM. I'm thinking that with rating inflations Fischer would have been playing at 2900 at his peak years in the early 70s.
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