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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 67 OF 77 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Oct-19-12  Lambda: Chessmetrics has her as the 67th best player from 1840-2005, by peak three-year average.
Oct-23-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Have any women beaten her since she turned 18, besides the recent loss to Hou Yifan?
Oct-23-12  waustad: Her sister beat her in a rapid game the year she turned 18. At 19 she played one of the Scheveninngen style tournaments in Czechoslovakia where she and Pia Cramling led with +3, but they wouldn't have played each other, both being on the same team. http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Sing...
Oct-23-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Thanks, <Waustad>. An amazing record.
Nov-15-12  wordfunph: "I felt deeply honoured when Vassily Smyslov called me "Tal in a skirt", comparing me with arguably the most brilliant World Champion ever. I was less pleased when Korchnoi described me as a "coffee house player"!

- GM Judit Polgar

Source: How I Beat Fischer's Record by Judit Polgar

Nov-29-12  SimonWebbsTiger: Judit in "The Independent" newspaper

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...

Dec-01-12  Karpova: <Judit gave up the game entirely for two years, around the time of the births of her and Gusztav's two children, Oliver in 2004 and Hanna in 2006. Lying with her shoeless feet tucked underneath her on a vast red leather chaise longue, Judit explained: "Actually we wanted to have kids earlier. But in 2002 I had a miscarriage, at 13 weeks. And funnily enough after that I had my best-ever tournament result, in January 2003. That was when my international rating reached its peak [she achieved the ranking of world number 8]. So it was a terrible time personally but a great time professionally. It was then that I decided to stop playing… I thought, perhaps if I stop playing then I will be able to get pregnant again.">

Interview with Dominic Lawson in 'The Independent', 2012.11.24

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...

Dec-22-12  12.12.12: <Conrad93>

<A 2700 FIDE rating is nothing to boast about.>

This guy's stupidity is over 9000!

Dec-22-12  haydn20: <12.12.12: <Conrad93>

<A 2700 FIDE rating is nothing to boast about.>

This guy's stupidity is over 9000!> Oh, but you forget he's looking down from his 2800+ rating, his Nobel Prize, his Fields Medal.

Dec-22-12  Absentee: I assume he meant that in comparison with the top players.
Dec-22-12  whiteshark: Xmas is approaching. Keep increasing the medication!
Dec-22-12  parmetd: love the over 9000 comment

@Absentee even if he meant relative... it does not make the comment any less dumb.

Dec-22-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <haydn20> Somehow I suspect that you are guilty of underestimating <Conrad>'s immense talent, notwithstanding the impressive array you mentioned. Of course, we the unwashed masses are incapable of comprehending such surpassing brilliance.

<12.12.12> has the right figure in my opinion; whether it signifies trolling capabilities, stupidity or both, I am not sure.

Dec-23-12  parmetd: perfidious, the over 9000 comment is an obtuse reference to dragon ball z abridged (a parody of the actual anime show dragon ball z): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5uY...
Dec-23-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <parmetd> Don't know the first thing about dragon ball, but it is well known that <Conrad> is immensely strong at the chessboard, so that these great players are mediocrities compared to his immense presence.
Dec-23-12  parmetd: Well I linked you to the youtube video in question but the summary of said joke goes something like this: At the start of the show, 1000 is amazing number. Later its 6000 and onwards and upwards to 9000 til eventually a million is considered a good number... (you may as well think of this as ELO)...

So by the time the parody occurs early in the show, they add this exasperated hilariousness concerning the fact that 9000 has been reached.

Anyways, agreed concerning Conrad. I wish I could be so strong as him!

Jan-04-13  Jim Bartle: From an interview in Macleans, talking about the impact of computers on chess:

A: Before, we were using our minds and creating by ourselves. But for the last 15 years, we’ve been using analyzing engines. Every single person in the profession has an engine as a helper now. The engines contain six or seven million games, searchable by opening move, player, country, time control. That makes it possible to really research your opponent. Engines also calculate better and they don’t make big blunders. So big blunders are completely avoided. People have more self-confidence now, because they have an engine to rely on. The engines also give ideas. Because of that, the game has changed a lot. Chess still has its creativity, but it’s different. We have creativity to give guidelines to the engines on where to look for new ideas.

The last few years have been tricky. There are three or four or five different engines to train with, and each evaluates situations in different ways. So if you know that somebody is working with this or that engine, you can say: “Ah, he’ll probably go more technical.” So the preparations are on a really advanced level. That said, if you just rely on the engine, you might end up in a situation where, say, you prepare up to move 22—and then at move 23 you look down at the board and you don’t understand what’s going on.

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/201...

Jan-04-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  northernfox: <Jim Bartle> Thank you for bringing this article to our attention. Even though it is rather brief, it does manage to capture some of the spirit that I so much admire in Judit Polgar.

I have to add that, as a Canadian, I probably should be (slightly) embarrased about not knowing about an article like this in Macleans; but there you are--one of the benefits of CG.com.

Jan-26-13  IoftheHungarianTiger: Thanks <SimonWebbsTiger> & <Karpova> for linking the article from the Independent! I hadn’t come across it before and it was a very interesting read. I’m really glad that despite the prejudices that she’s endured, Judit Polgar is a strong, confident individual who has overcome the adversity, and I’m very happy that she appears to be doing so well … with a loving husband and her two children.
Feb-02-13  Interbond: Interview with Judit Polgar in the Scandinavian tv show Skavlan

Go to 37:10 < http://tv.nrk.no/serie/skavlan/kmte...>

Feb-03-13  waustad: Thanks. That's a decent interview for a mainstream talkshow.
Feb-03-13  PhilFeeley: <Interbond> It's nice how they switched from Norwegian to English.
Feb-03-13  andrewjsacks: <Interbond> Thank you so much for posting the link to this fascinating interview.
Feb-25-13  PhilFeeley: I don't know whether this was posted before but it's a nice collection of Q&A with Judit:

http://www.crestbook.com/en/node/16...

Feb-25-13  PhilFeeley: Nice vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W142...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...

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