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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 4 OF 77 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-24-03  Spitecheck: Yes indeed, perhaps players who have been at some stage amongst the top 10 players in the world (as per FIDE classical chess ratings list) should be accorded the title of Super (Supreme) Grandmaster.

Spitecheck

Dec-24-03  shadowmaster: <Polgar's colossal 2715 peak ELO> Polgar’s elo as of October 2003 is 2722: http://www.fide.com/ratings/toparc.... . And she was ranked number 10 in April 2003: http://www.fide.com/ratings/toparc.... , so by Spitecheck’s definition, she qualifies as a <Super (Supreme) Grandmaster>.

<Rating inflation> <in 1972 there was only 1 2700 player in the world, Fischer, now in 2003 there are 17 of them> Kasparov said the following regarding comparison of players from different epochs: "It’s extremely unfair because we know more now and also because my opponents are stronger than those Fischer had to face." What do people here think of Kasparov’s statement? Has the strength of players and their play improved since Fischer’s time (e.g. the top ten of 2003 vs. the top ten of 1972)?

Dec-24-03  CapablancaRules: I think Kasparov in his prime would beat Fischer very easilly...
Dec-24-03  Marnoff Mirlony: Fischer would drop Kasparov like a bad habit.
Dec-24-03  youngplayer11: kasparov in his prime might beat fischer but NOT easily.
Dec-24-03  Marnoff Mirlony: Spitecheck, the only problem with that title is the inevitable fact that eventually we're going to have the top players in the 2800s, then the 2900s, 3000s, etc.. The rating inflation will never stop as more players begin to play Chess. The only thing I can see being done is making rating points harder to achieve (which may not solve the problem anyway) or raise the bar for becoming a titled player.

Take Fischer of 1972 and drop him in here... he was so far ahead of everyone in his time. What's to say with all of the extra means of studying these days that he wouldn't blow his opponents out of the water again? All speculation but I submit it would be a repeat performance of how he did it before.

Dec-24-03  CapablancaRules: MM, you really need to take your medicine after say such a thing...
Dec-24-03  PizzatheHut: I think that Kasparov in the present would be Fischer in 1972 simply because chess theory has progressed so much. However, I think that if Fischer was born at the same time as Kasparov, Fischer would be the World Champion. I tend to have more respect for players such as Fischer, Spassky, Botvinnik, Smyslov, etc., who had no help from the computers. I think that the level of play they got to is much more impressive than the current players because of the lack of resources. As far as Kasparov's statement <It’s extremely unfair because we know more now and also because my opponents are stronger than those Fischer had to face> I think that he's right, the players now are stronger. I don't agree though that it is unfair, because Fischer and the players of his day were all on the same level, with the same resources available. Kasparov and the current guys are all on the same level, so he has nothing to complain about. As a sidenote, Fischer had a ELO gap between him as #1 and the #2 player larger than Kasparov could ever achieve. I even have more respect for Fischer's acheivement because he became so strong in a country with a USCF membership around 5000, which offered him little. Kasparov on the other hand, went to Botvinnik's school, and has had nothing but the finest teaching his whole life. I don't know what he's complaining about being unfair.
Dec-24-03  Marnoff Mirlony: The players of 1972 and prior were grinders. The players of today are politicians. It makes me sick.
Dec-24-03  CapablancaRules: "Forget politics, think Chess". Do you know who said this, MM?
Dec-24-03  shadowmaster: <MM <Spitecheck, the only problem with that title is the inevitable fact that eventually we're going to have the top players in the 2800s, then the 2900s, 3000s, etc..>>

You’re confused. Spitecheck's requirement for the <Super (Supreme) Grandmaster> title is not based on a particular elo. He only requires that a player be ranked FIDE top ten for the title. Therefore his specification for that title is independent of elo inflation. Indeed, as more and more people play, it will tend to get tougher to get the title Spitecheck proposes.

Dec-24-03  Marnoff Mirlony: Thanks for the clarification, Spitecheck's proposed system makes sense then. If a player reaches Top Ten, then drops out, does he then keep his SGM title?
Dec-24-03  CapablancaRules: Guys, you should talk about this in another place... this space is reserved to Judit
Dec-24-03  CapablancaRules: "I think Kasparov in his prime would beat Fischer very easilly..." and sorry about this, I was very precipitated
Dec-24-03  Benjamin Lau: Shadowmaster, thanks for the correction. When I said Polgar had a peak ELO of 2715, I was looking at chessgames.com's statistics, which apparently are not up to date.

Marnoff, I think they should get to keep their GM title. Otherwise, it would be very confusing. It's like "oh yeah, Polgar is a SGM." "Oh wait, nevermind, she's only ranked #11 now." "Oh, but did you hear, blah blah blah" and so on, it's be utterly confusing.

Dec-24-03  Marnoff Mirlony: Funny how you started the whole Fischer over Kasparov debate and yet you're the one to scold others, CapablancaRules.

I like the idea of a title to distinguish the top players... but it is almost stupid to think that there will be something higher than "Grandmaster" for a title. Nevertheless, something obviously has to be done.

Dec-24-03  Spitecheck: Another thing I don't know why FIDE can't work out the inflation in their elo system and increase the difficulty to obtain norms on that basis.

If governments can pull the wool over our eyes with such things as the CPI (Consumer Price Index) than why can't FIDE.

The guys at chessmetrics or whatever it is must be doing something similiar in there attempts to compare Steinitz with Kasparov :).

As for keeping the SGM title Marnoff, obviously you would in some sense, but like the anomaly with the GM title, if you're level of play decreases significantly as in the case of Bent Larsen for example, one should be aware that the players past made his title not his end. That said I have no problem calling a legend like Bent Larsen a Super Grand Master regardless of the fact Kasparov could "drop" (fave phrase around here LOL) him 12 zip.

Spitecheck

Dec-25-03  Marnoff Mirlony: I doubt very much that Kasparov would be dropping Larsen 12-0 in his prime.
Dec-26-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  jaime gallegos: according to chessmetrics the higher ranking ever reached for a chessplayer is 2921 and was Capablanca who did it in 1921 !!! then follows Fischer 2914 (1971) , Kasparov 2895 (1999), Lasker 2886 (1919) and Morphy 2840 (1864). Capablanca was the best ranked player in periods of 1-3-5-9 years and is second in the 15 years period ( 1st place is G. Kasparov )
Dec-26-03  PinkPanther: <according to chessmetrics the higher ranking ever reached for a chessplayer is 2921 and was Capablanca who did it in 1921 !!! then follows Fischer 2914 (1971) , Kasparov 2895 (1999), Lasker 2886 (1919) and Morphy 2840 (1864). Capablanca was the best ranked player in periods of 1-3-5-9 years and is second in the 15 years period ( 1st place is G. Kasparov )>

No, Fischer also hit 2921, 4/30/1972. The only thing I can't understand is how Fischer's rating goes up and down a little bit during his inactive period.

Dec-26-03  Benjamin Lau: Pinkpanther:
I suspect it has to do with inflation correction.

Spitecheck, I doubt Kasparov would beat Larsen 12-0 too. 11-1 seems a bit more realistic. I'm sure Larsen could sneaky away with two draws.

Jaime + Pinkpanther:
Jaime is correct when the rating peak is calculated in terms of single *year* peaks. Fischer only manages a 2914 for a single month I believe, and it occurs during a period of inactive play (due to rating inflation corrections), so it's hard to know if it should be counted. Capablanca has the highest chessmetric rating for a single month: 2921 (12/31/1921).

Dec-26-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  jaime gallegos: thanks Benjamin, however this is the Judith Polgar site ! Again, according to chessmetrics is interesting to see that in terms of 1-3-5-9 there is only one russian player among the top 5 ... Kasparov off course !!! and at the 15 years period exists three: Kasparov, Karpov and Botvinnik. Someday if heavens exists, I will go to the chessclub there to see my chess heroes playing ! Can you imagine that show ?
Dec-26-03  Benjamin Lau: Yeah, that is a good point, how did we ever manage to deviate from J. Polgar to Fischer and Capablanca??? Lol.

Yes, I can imagine that show... Endless bragging and playing between the generations. :-)

Jan-02-04  MoonlitKnight: Judit Polgar is now ranked 8th in the world with 2728 FIDE. Most impressive.
Jan-02-04  matein8: Woohoo!, Way to go, Judit!!
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