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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 5 OF 77 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-03-04  Benjamin Lau: I hope she'll become world champ one day (maybe a stupid hope, considering the competition, but hey). Her style is easily the most interesting and provocative of any top player. Unfortunately, according to her coach, it may also be both her source of strength and weakness.

"Judith showed she can play excellent tactical and attacking chess, but only the last few years she has proved she can also play normal chess."

Jan-03-04  PinkPanther: <I hope she'll become world champ one day (maybe a stupid hope, considering the competition, but hey). Her style is easily the most interesting and provocative of any top player. Unfortunately, according to her coach, it may also be both her source of strength and weakness. "Judith showed she can play excellent tactical and attacking chess, but only the last few years she has proved she can also play normal chess.">

Never gonna happen. There are just too many people at the top of the chess world (Kasparov, Anand, Gelfand, especially Kramnik) that she can't get past, and whom she would inevitably have to get past to win the championship.

But I don't agree that her syle is the most interesting, that's an opinion and she be treated as such, instead of saying "her style is easily....player". I think Shirov, Morozevich, Kasparov, Anand, and Svidler would have a thing or two to say about that.

Jan-03-04  Benjamin Lau: PinkPanther, obviously it was an opinion. Perhaps I exaggerated a bit with "easily" but I still find her style more interesting than any other player before. Kasparov, Anand, Shirov, Morozevich, etc are all wonderful players but I see their style as more in the category of "cool" than "interesting." Polgar is constantly playing wild and bizarrely wonderful chess. Her style is highly original and innovative. Contrast this to Shirov, who comes from a legacy of Tal, or Kasparov, a composite world champion who borrowed elements from Alekhine, Fischer, Tal, and Botvinnik mainly. It's not that I consider Polgar's chess necessarily more *exciting,* but it is in my opinion more interesting, more original.
Jan-03-04  matein8: It's unlikely that Judit will be WCH but who cares! She plays scintillating chess and she has proven she can hang with the boys. I wouldn't be surprised if she cracks the top 5 eventually.
Jan-03-04  PinkPanther: <It's unlikely that Judit will be WCH but who cares! She plays scintillating chess and she has proven she can hang with the boys. I wouldn't be surprised if she cracks the top 5 eventually.>

Hahaha, no disrespect to Judit, but if she makes it that high, I'll eat my hat.

Jan-03-04  matein8: <PinkPanther> Lol, I'll remember that. You can season it with salt and pepper ;p
Jan-03-04  MoonlitKnight: Yes, we'll see about that when the april and october ratings are published.
Jan-04-04  zapzowie: I think its highly unlikely that Capablanca could have beaten Fischer in a long match.
Jan-04-04  Minor Piece Activity: I hereby award zapzowie for the most relevant post of the day.
Jan-04-04  wakeupbomb: I don't see any reason Judit couldn't make the top five, considering she's currently ranked only 8 points short of the top five, and has beaten the current number five, Shirov, ten times, according to this database.
Jan-04-04  PinkPanther: <I don't see any reason Judit couldn't make the top five, considering she's currently ranked only 8 points short of the top five, and has beaten the current number five, Shirov, ten times, according to this database.>

Yeah, but that whole thing with Shirov is an anomoly of sorts. Anyway, she doesn't fare so well against the rest of the top five, she's a collective 11-50. And the wins she got against Svidler were at a time when he wasn't a top five player in the world, so it's questionable as to whether or not that should be counted.

Jan-04-04  refutor: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... shirov has owned polgar since 1999 beating her 7 wins to 1
Jan-04-04  PinkPanther: <shirov has owned polgar since 1999 beating her 7 wins to 1>

Good point, I could swear for the longest time that the chessgames.com database had Polgar beating Shirov overall. I guess they must have updated it or something.

Jan-04-04  wakeupbomb: It's a fair point that Shirov leads Polgar 7 - 1 since '99, however, I feel that Judit has made significant strides in the last few years, much more so than Shirov - a player who is much older than Judit - and if you look at their last 6 games, which span June 2000 - the present day, they both have 1 win each with 4 draws. The last decisive game was won my Polgar.

Shirov is still rightly a little ahead of Polgar, the point I was making was that it's not beyond the realms of possibility that she could make the top five. Michael Adams, for example, has been ranked in the top five, and he is currently ranked 11, I think, certainly behind Judit, and has not beaten her for four years (according to this database).

I cannot, however, see her troubling the current top three too much.

Jan-06-04  Marnoff Mirlony: Judit? World Champion? Make me laugh a little harder? Come on, be realistic. Benjamin Lau... Benjamin Lau... do you really take her coach's quote so seriously? Coaches like to boast about their students because it reflects on them if the student is doing well. I don't care if Judit makes it to Top 5, she'll never be World Champion.
Jan-06-04  Benjamin Lau: Marnoff, I'm laughing too, if only at you. Don't tell me how to be realistic. Do you know who the following quote is from?

"It would be quite easy to forge those photographs. I've seen them. Big deal. What's to say the ones with the Jews inside of their cell blocks aren't in another place in the world? Who says they are from a Concentration Camp within Poland, controlled by Nazis? The evidence looks to have holes big enough in it to drive a Mack truck through it."

Marnoff, do yourself a favor- smack yourself a couple of times and then try to wake up.

Jan-06-04  Marnoff Mirlony: ...I don't get it.
Jan-06-04  Benjamin Lau: You already forgot what you wrote on the Fischer page several months ago? That's pretty sad.
Jan-06-04  Marnoff Mirlony: When did I say I forgot? I see what you're saying and the connection you're attempting to make... but it just isn't making any logical sense.
Jan-06-04  Benjamin Lau: To say that there are holes in history (the holocaust or not) is obvious, but you were beyond unrealistic, you were practically insane (or maybe just naive) when you bluntly asserted that the evidence had holes big enough "to drive a Mack truck through." That's simply foolishness at best. Protect Fischer all you want, but don't be a nut Marnoff.
Jan-06-04  Benjamin Lau: Doh, I just realized we're going off topic again. Look Marnoff, say all the absurd things you want, but just realize that the more nonsense you spout, the less seriously people will take you. That's my last comment about this on this page. The next time I kibitz on Polgar's page, I'm kibitzing about Polgar.
Jan-06-04  ughaibu: How about a feature whereby other members can "kibitz" about a fellow member on their profile page?
Jan-06-04  PinkPanther: <How about a feature whereby other members can "kibitz" about a fellow member on their profile page?>

I thought about that in the past. But in hindsight, I realized my page would probably get swamped with threatening posts and kibitzing :-) No, in all seriousness, it's a good idea, I think.

Jan-06-04  square dance: <judit polgar as world champ> i think she has a chance to be one if fide keeps running these bogus ko tourneys. i mean ponomariov is or was fide champ and hes about the same caliber as judit. didn't she make it to the semi-finals of one of those events?
Jan-07-04  Marnoff Mirlony: Benjamin Lau... the "Mack truck" quote is an expression. Obviously I didn't mean literally because you can't drive trucks through thoughts or expressions. Hopefully that helps deal with your misconception of how trucks operate when driving through evidence.
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