Judit Polgar occupies a unique position in world chess. As well as simply being one of the best players around, she’s also living proof there’s no genetic barrier to women competing with men in chess. As the latest grandmaster to take part in the “KC-Conference” series you can now ask her virtually anything.
Twelve renowned chess figures have so far answered readers’ questions for the Russian-based Crestbook website, providing perhaps the best available insight into life at the top of world chess. The last three, Peter Svidler, Ruslan Ponomariov and Levon Aronian, also answered questions posed in English here at Chess in Translation. Judit Polgar has now kindly agreed to be the next in line.
The way it works is as follows:
- You can leave your questions for Judit Polgar in the comments section below (or in Russian at Crestbook, or now also in Spanish at Ajedrez De Entrenamiento). Please only post questions there.
- You can ask up to 10 questions, on any topic whatsoever, but remember to be polite and that Judit will have limited time. Also try to read through the earlier questions to avoid too much repetition.
- The deadline for questions is Sunday, 27 November.
- After that deadline Judit will be sent all the questions. The only editorial control might be to correct obvious spelling/grammar mistakes and group them thematically.
- As soon as Judit has answered your questions we’ll get down to translating, editing and publishing the results.
The comments section is below this post, but first you’ll first find an introduction to Judit Polgar written for this occasion by Sergey Shipov (grandmaster, commentator extraordinaire and Crestbook’s editor-in-chief), and below that a short (or as short as Judit’s achievements allow it to be!) biography of the world’s best female chess player. Both may serve as inspiration for your questions!
Sergey Shipov on Judit Polgar
Judit Polgar is the greatest female chess player of all time. She’s never been, and is unlikely ever to become, the Women’s World Champion, as that’s a goal that makes no sense. The Hungarian queen is so superior to all other women (including her sister Susan Polgar), that you can only talk about her in the context of men’s chess.
Judit has spent her whole career only playing against men and I see that as one of the reasons for her rise. The stronger your opponents, the greater the demands, and the more you have to push yourself to achieve your goal. But that factor is only third in order of importance. What comes first is still the colossal natural talent of the youngest Polgar. Her extraordinary abilities. As they say, it’s God given – and that’s that!
The second reason for her success is the unique family in which Judit grew up. The atmosphere of chess fanaticism created by Laszlo Polgar, the head of the family, and his older daughters, was the fertile soil on which the divine seed fell. The talented child had no doubt why she’d come into the world. From childhood onwards she studied with the best coaches, worked a lot and devoted herself entirely to her goal – which is why she became great.
If you created such conditions for the youngest child in millions of multiple-children families it’s by no means certain that even a single one of them would grow into a chess player… never mind a chess player of Judit Polgar’s level. She’s a phenomenon. Unique.
Judit Polgar’s mission on Earth has, by and large, already been completed – she’s successfully destroyed the remnants of male chauvinism. She’s proved that women are capable of competing with men at the very highest level. All the preconceived notions about the fundamental superiority of the stronger sex above the weaker in chess, and about an upper limit for women, have turned out to be wrong.
I’ve commented on many of Polgar’s games and I’ve never found myself bored. She always plays with great invention and is capable of seeing hidden resources in positions and posing her opponents unexpected problems.
Judit’s natural style is dynamic – she plays for complications and is always ready to sacrifice for the initiative. Her attacking potential is great and multi-faceted. However, her long stay among the elite has forced the warlike Amazon to moderate her fervour and master all the means of combat, including stubborn defence, patience and taking the psychology of her opponents into account. Of course, Polgar never became a technician on Kramnik’s level, but she was still able to grow into a player almost devoid of weaknesses. Except, perhaps, that her sense of danger isn’t at the elite level. Sometimes she gets carried away with activity, though that recklessness merely adds to the number of her fans. Bold play, shooting from the hip – what could be more beautiful in chess?
I’m endlessly amazed by the fact that getting married and giving birth to children hasn’t led to a serious lowering of Judit Polgar’s level of chess. Who could have imagined that family matters and an entirely natural lack of time and energy for preparation wouldn’t be reflected in her results? But that’s how it is.
I was there in person to see our Madonna play at the 2011 European Championship in Aix-les-Bains and also at the 2011 World Cup in Khanty-Mansisyk. It was simply incredible! Judit demonstrated colossal drive, a will to win and high class chess. Just as in her best years… though it’s still not certain which years will be considered her best.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself and predict how Judit the grandmother will play chess. I hope many of us will live to see and appreciate that.
One way or another, after centuries have passed all of us will be registered in small print in the Great Book of Life as contemporaries of the great Polgar.
Judit Polgar knocked rating favourite Sergey Karjakin out of the 2011 World Cup | photo: FIDE
Short Biographical Sketch
Judit Polgar was born on the 23rd July 1976 in Budapest. Unquestionably the strongest female chess player in history, she’s achieved outstanding success in men’s competitions. She can claim wins against World Champions Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand and FIDE World Champions Alexander Khalifman, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov, as well as against many other leading grandmasters. She’s been awarded seven Chess Oscars, and been named “Women’s Chess Player of the 20th Century”. She lives with her husband Gusztav Font (a veterinary surgeon) and two children, Oliver and Hanna.
The Hungarian chess player became a men’s international master in 1988 and a men’s grandmaster in 1992. Her current Elo rating is 2710 (35th in the world). Her highest rating is 2735 (July and October 2005, 8th in the world). She’s headed the female rating list since 1989.
Judit and her sisters Susan and Sofia were brought up according to a unique system worked out by their father, Laszlo, and mother, Klara, who were both teachers. The sisters didn’t go to school but were instead educated at home. As well as their general studies they worked on chess, with the older sisters also becoming strong chess players. Grandmaster Susan Polgar achieved outstanding results, and after winning a match against the Chinese player Xie Jun in 1995 she became the 8th Women’s World Champion. She now lives in the USA. Sofia Polgar is an international master and lives in Israel.
The greatest success, however, was achieved by the youngest sister – Judit. Her talent was soon evident – at six years of age she started to play in tournaments and by nine the Hungarian Chess Federation had established her rating at 2080. At seven Judit played blindfold games against masters, while at 11 she beat Grandmaster Vladimir Kovacevich in a tournament game. Judit won her first international tournament when she was nine, and at 12 and 14 she won the Boy’s World Championships in those age groups. She claimed her first prize of $1000 when she was nine, winning one of the tournaments of the New York Open.
In the Women’s Chess Olympiads of 1988 and 1990 she became an Olympic Champion as part of the Hungarian team (together with her sisters Susan and Sofia, and also Ildiko Madl), posting the best individual results (in 1988 on board two she conceded her opponents only half a point in 13 games!). After the second Olympiad win (aged 14!) Judit began to play exclusively in men’s tournaments. That decision looked natural, as already as a 12-year-old Judit had achieved a rating of 2555, which was 35 points higher than the rating of the then Women’s World Champion, Maia Chiburdanidze.
Judit was awarded the title of (men’s!) international grandmaster in 1992 at the age of 15 four months and 28 days, becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world at that point, and surpassing Bobby Fischer’s achievement by a month. In January 1996 Judit’s rating reached 2675 and she entered the World Top 10 for the first time.
She’s taken part in the official men’s World Championship qualifying cycle on a number of occasions. Back in 1993 she became the first female chess player to qualify to take part in an interzonal tournament. In the 1999 FIDE World Championship in Las Vegas she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to the future winner, Alexander Khalifman. In 2005 she took part in the “tournament of eight” in San Luis (Argentina), finishing eighth. She narrowly lost a 6-game Candidates Match to Evgeny Bareev in Elista in 2007. At the 2009 FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk Polgar lost on tie-breaks in the third round to the future winner, Gelfand (inflicting the only defeat he suffered in the whole tournament). She finished 4th at the 2001 European Championship in Ohrid.
Polgar has won or finished among the prizes in a great number of international tournaments, including those at the highest level. Her most notable successes are winning: the Hungarian Championship (1991), Hastings (1992), Madrid (1994 – with a 2778 performance, 1.5 points ahead of Kamsky, Bareev and Salov), Leon, Spain (1996), the US Open (1998), the Hoogeveen tournament (1998, 2001 and 2003), Bali, Indonesia (2000 – ahead of the then reigning FIDE World Champion Khalifman and his predecessor Karpov), Malmo (2000). Among her significant successes are: the OHRA Open in Amsterdam (1989, sharing 3rd place with Gelfand), the Madrid International in Linares (1992, sharing 2nd place behind Karpov), the Reshevsky Memorial in Manhattan (1992, 2nd place), the Donner Memorial in Amsterdam (1995, 3rd place ahead of Seirawan, Khalifman, Morozevich, Salov and Shirov), Vienna (1996, sharing 3rd place with Kramnik and Leko behind Karpov, Topalov and Gelfand), Linares (1997, 5th place ahead of Ivanchuk, Short, Gelfand and Shirov – Kasparov was the winner), Dortmund (1997, 5th place ahead of the then FIDE World Champion Karpov), Wijk-aan-Zee (1998, sharing 6th place and winning a game against the overall winner Anand), Merida (2000, 2nd place behind Shirov), Linares (2001, sharing 2-6th places behind Kasparov, against whom she drew both her games).
Judit’s greatest achievement might be considered to be her second place at the Wijk aan Zee tournament in 2003 (8/13, with no losses). Only Anand finished half a point ahead of her, while a point or more behind were Kramnik, Topalov, Karpov, Ponomariov, Grischuk, Ivanchuk, Shirov and Radjabov.
On her return to chess after an extended break connected to the birth of her son Oliver, Judit played in the super-tournaments in Wijk aan Zee (2005, shared 4th place with Kramnik, Adams and Grischuk – Leko was the winner) and in Sofia (2005, shared 3rd place with Ponomariov, behind Topalov and Anand but ahead of Kramnik and Adams). After another break from chess activity due to the birth of her daughter Hanna Judit successfully appeared at the small but prestigious Essent tournament in Hoogeveen (2006, shared 1st place with Mamedyarov, winning both games against the then leader of the world rating list, Topalov), and then in Biel (2007, shared 3rd place, Carlsen was the winner). In a 6-player tournament in Vitoria, Spain, Judit shared 3rd place behind Topalov and Ponomariov and ahead of Kasimdzhanov and Karpov. Her last appearance to date at Wijk aan Zee was in 2008, when she finished in 9th place with a 50% score.
Judit celebrated her 35th birthday at the World Team Championship in Ningbo, China | photo: FIDE
Judit has frequently represented Hungary at team events. The greatest success came in the 2002 Olympiad in Bled, when the Hungarian team won silver medals (Judit had the 3rd best result on the 2nd board, after also playing a few games on the 1st). In 1999 the Hungarian team finished 2nd at the European Team Chess Championship (Judit had the best individual result on the 2nd board). At the 2000 Olympiad the Hungarian team finished without medals, but Polgar had the best performance on the 2nd board (2772). Great interest was aroused by Judit’s rapid chess victory over Garry Kasparov in the Russia – Rest of the World match that took place in Moscow in 2002, as it was the first time in history (and not only in chess but also in other sports) that the highest rated man had lost to the highest rated woman.
She’s played in a number of high profile exhibition matches. In 1993 she won a match against former World Champion Boris Spassky 5.5:4.5. In 1995 she defeated Dutch grandmaster Jeroen Piket 6:2. In 1996 she won a match against Junior – the computer World Champion at that time. A rapid chess match in 1998 against Anatoly Karpov, who was then the official FIDE World Champion, ended with Judit winning 5:3. Another rapid chess match against Viswanathan Anand in Mainz in 2003 was a fierce struggle without a single draw and finished with Judit losing 3:5.
Judit has always taken an interest in non-classical forms of chess. She’s played a few times in the Amber Tournament in Monaco (her best result was 5th place in 1993). In 1998 she shared 1st place with Anand at the prestigious Wydra Memorial (rapid chess) in Israel. In 2007 Polgar finished 4th at the Blindfold World Cup (6 chess players took part and the winner was Bu Xiangzhi, who Judit beat). In the 2001 Rapid Chess World Cup in Cannes, France, Judit reached the semi-final, where she lost to Bareev (who lost to Kasparov in the final). In the Blitz World Championship in Israel (2006) she shared 5th place with Gelfand (the winner was Svidler).
After that period of moderate chess activity related to the birth and taking care of her two small children, 2010 marked the fully-fledged return of Judit Polgar to contemporary chess. Among her greatest successes were: winning a rapid chess exhibition tournament in Mexico (2010, winning matches against Ivanchuk and Topalov), a crushing victory in a rapid chess match against David Navara (Prague, 2010) with a score of 6:2, sharing 1st-4th (3rd on tiebreakers – there were 167 grandmasters in the tournament) at the 2011 European Championship in Aix-les-Bains, France and, finally, getting into the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup 2011 in Khanty-Mansiysk, where after defeating such well-known grandmasters as Movsesian, the tournament’s rating favourite Karjakin and Dominguez, Judit, in what’s already become a tradition, lost to the tournament’s future winner, Svidler. The numerous fans of this wonderful chess player admire her combative and creative style of play, and don’t doubt there’s still a lot more to come.
Books and documentaries have been produced about Judit Polgar, while she recently published her own book aimed at children (with illustrations by her sister Sofia), called “Chess Playground”. http://juditpolgar.com/book_en.html
Judit Polgar’s official website can be found at: http://www.polgarjudit.com/index_en.html
The best way of seeing how the “KC-Conferences” work in practice is to read through some of the earlier examples. Those currently available in English are:
- Levon Aronian: Part 1, Part 2
- Ruslan Ponomariov: Part 1, Part 2
- Peter Svidler: Part 1, Part 2
- Alexei Shirov
- Alexander Grischuk
- Michal Krasenkow
- Alexander Khalifman: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Judit back in the limelight at the 2011 World Cup | photo: FIDE
The comments section below is now open until Sunday 27 November for your questions for Judit Polgar!
Please post your questions for Judit Polgar by using the “Leave a Reply” option below! After Sunday 27 November this comments section will be closed and all the questions sent to Judit. Thank you!
Hi, Judit. You and Michael Adams are my two favorite players. Even though you have very different styles, you both have a direct and simple way of playing that almost makes it look easy. So of course I bought the book of your games Judit Polgar: The Princess of Chess by Tibor Karolyi and I’m enjoying your games very much.
My question is, do you plan on releasing a games collection soon with your own annotations? That would really be something. Don’t deprive us of your insights into attacking play! :)
Thanks, Mike S.
Hi Judit,
I am fan of your attacking CHESS.
I want to know , In your opinion who is the most attacking player you have ever met?
regards,
suman
Hi Judit,
I am fan of your attacking CHESS.
Please tell me your view about Indian GM Vishy Anand.
He is famous for his defensive game
regards,
suman
Questions for Judit Polgar:
– Your sister Susan has stated that you acheived a higher standard at chess than her and Sofia becuase you worked hardest at the game. Do you agree with this? Also is it obvious to you which of you had the most natural talent, or is it simply impossible to tell?
– What methods do you use to prepare these days, and how does your time split between studying different things, e.g. your previous games, general opening preparation, specifc preparation for specifc opponents, middlegame practice and endgame study?
– Do you think any of the current women’s elite can equal or surpass your acheivements? How long do you think it will be before another woman reaches the world’s top 100 or even the top 10?
1) you are obviously the most accomplished of the Polgar sisters. Do you feel any pressure because you are the only one still competing?
2) You have stayed away from the womens only tournaments while girls only tournaments in the US have been encouraged to get more girls involved in chess. What is your reasoning for not competing in women’s only tournaments? Especially the world champion spot?
3) How often do you speak to your sisters? How long do your study chess daily?
Hi, brazilian fan here.
1) I would like to know if you, or any other chessplayer you know, linked the chess atitudes (thinking, planning, absolute patience and pursuit the victory) to another part of their lives, in the rest days. For me, it´s matches perfect with videogames, where the instincts of chessblitz suits so well…
2) Why the most adds always show the board in the “wrong position”, with a black square in the right of players? It´s amuse me a while, almost like a hobby…
3) Any book with your classic (and fantastic) games in the future? The world of chess needs games like you played…
Hungary has produced many great players in the past-Szen, Maroczy, Charousek for example.
Were you aware of them growing up, and did you see yourself as especially Hungarian in your understanding of chess?
du u plan on playing n e more tournments this yr or next yr im huge fan of urs
Hi Judit,
What’s your opinion about the future of chess? Chess has entered the computer era during the last decades, which has a profound influence on over the board creativity. Personally I like the idea of Fischerandom or Chess960. It doesn’t seem to make a break through, though.
Kind regards,
Johan
When Bobby fischer visited you & your family,in Hungary, did you or anyone of your sisters, play and kind of chess with him ? (Fischer Random or regular chess) What where the results ??
Also, I loved the documentary My Brillant Brain, on your sister, !
Thanks,
Greg
Would you agree to a match vs. Hou if the money was right?
Do you have a current chess coach or do you prepare yourself?
Who is your second during tournament play?
Madam Judith, who do you consider to be the strongest player among the active grandmasters and may i know please the most difficult opponent you u have played with? thank you
Hi, Judith, I’m one of your million fans and I come from Greece.
Do you think talent, hard work, good coaches are the recipe for success? Which is more important?
Is it true that young girls are almost equally strong with young boys but after the age of 14-16 they start to diverge and fall behind?
Hi Judith,
What are the basics from where to start with Chess training for Kids and what could be some of the steps for progression?
Do you have any high level overview of how to achieve the same?
Regards
Narayanan
Hello Judith!
It’s great to be able to ask a GM questions about play. I’ve always liked your attacking style.
What I’d like to know is: what openings as white and black do you favour and why? Which ones do you recommend a non-expert to play in order to get a playable position, one that doesn’t end up with too many weaknesses in the middle game?
Best regards,
Philip
1. Do you feel motherhood has so far inhibited or delayed you from reaching your full chess potential?
2. Do you believe female chessplayers have a disadvantage vs. men in this sense, since to a greater extent than male players, female players (such as yourself) tend to take time off from chess to raise their children?
3. Do you believe you can still rise to your highest potential, i.e. surpass your previous #8 ranking and/or rise above your previous record 2735 rating?
Thank you for sharing–you are my favorite living player.
Hi Judit,
All my admiration and support are for you. Always.
As your absolute fan, may I hope you’ll always fight for conquering the world champion title?
It’s hard I know but I believe you can. At least, you are the only woman that can reach it.
Angelo (Italy)
Judit:
Thank you for taking our questions.
1) You first topped 2700 on the FIDE list in January, 2003, and then you did it again in September, 2011. Was one of those milestones more pleasing for you than the other? If so, which one, and why?
2) In selecting a move, how much of your decision is guided by your objective evaluation of the position, and how much is guided by what you know of your opponent’s playing tendencies?
3) I’ve started a chess club at my elementary school (K-5) where I teach music. We have 73 members from a student population of 600. This is a brand new club (as of September). Some are complete beginners, some know how to castle queenside, and some have heard about capturing en passant. Do you have a recommended curriculum for an academic setting for this age group?
Thank you.
Jim Cheyne
Hi Judit,
First of all, hearty congratulations to you in your spectacular display in the recently held World Cup.
Below are the three questions, I wanted to ask you:
1. Did you ever wanted to trade your attacking style of chess to a more positional and strategic style of chess like that of Karpov, Kramnik?
2.Who are the 3 toughest GMs you have ever faced and what particular problems did you have with those?
3. Are you having any future goals like breaking 2750 ELO rating or any other unfulfilled chess desire?
Wishing you all the best in your personal and professional life.
Thanks.
judit, greetings.
1) when will you take part in the world women’s chess ch.,?
2) why don’t you visit India and play in the grandmaster-tmts., organised here (your previous and only visit so far is to new delhi, say a decade back!)
sundararajan ganesan
tamil nadu, india
En que consistia tu entrenamiento mientras estabas creciendo como jugadora tanto como antes de llegar a profesional como despues.Y quien era tu idolo
Greetings GM Judit Polgar you are the best female chess player ever and top 10 best chess player, would you win Women Chess Championship for us fans? we all enjoy your play and certainly would like to see you win.
Best regards.
Hello Judit
How would you decribe your thinking process/ technique during the game? Is there an cognitive algoritm you use?
Could you describe a structure of your thoughts during tha game? Do you support -making a move- with verbalizing you thoughts inside your head? Does it resemble a quiet dialogue inside you? Or maybe it is rather intuitive?
My best regards
Marcin Tymrakiewcz
Do you think chess should be mandatory education for all children?
Hi Judithmadam:
I have been following your career since last several years and hope you will be soon again in the Top Ten at least if not in the Top 3!
I am interested to know your views on the Qualifying System for the World Championship Match by FIDE.
First I will give my opinion on the BEST System and only then ask your opinion as to how far you agree or disagree with me, and your objections to it.
The System: First FIDE MUST make one method permanent as there have been too many changes in the recent past, the latest being the introduction of the round robin all-play-all.
There should be three matches viz QF, SF and Finals for the World Championship. This should be over a two year period consisting of 8, 12 and 16 games respectively. The current World Champion must be given Seed No. 1 in the QFs and the defeated player in the last Championship Match the No. 2 seed. Under the present method the reigning Champion has a great advantage as he is required to play only one match and win to retain his title. Of course he won in the present system and hence he will be required to sacrifice if the new system is adopted. But someone has to sacrifice for the larger good and I have no doubt that Anand being a true sport will readily agree if the new System is adopted.
For the remaining 6 slots, two places should be reserved for Nos 1 and 2 in the latest FIDE rating list. For the remaining four slots the first three players in the Grand Prix series should qualify and the 8th place should be for the winner of the World Cup. The seedings for nos. 3 to 8 should be placed as per Ratings of these players in the Rating List.
QF pairings 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7 etc.
SF: Match 1 Winner of (1 vs 8) vs Winner ( 4 vs 5)
Match 2:Winner ( 2 vs 7) vs winner ( 3 vs 6)
Finals: Winner Match 1 vs winner Match 2.
..
This process should be repeated so that we will have the Match for the world championship every alternate year. Minimum 6 months gap between the QF and SF, and another 6 months between SF and Finals.
There are several advantages in this System.
Firstly, the eventual champions would be required to win three matches as against only ONE Match as at present. Thus he will be required to beat three players of different styles.
In the match just finished Hou decisively beat Humpy. This may be perhaps because of the ‘difficult opponent’ factor i.e. Fischer of Geller, Alekhine of Yates and Humpy of Hou etc.
Thus under the match system if a Fischer finds himself vs a Geller, he will have to re-double his efforts in preparing for the match, and in the match itself leaving us with exciting chess. Also, in the all-play-all if a person is hugely successful in the first half i.e. Topalov some years ago he can coast to a win solely by drawing all the games in the second half which is not too difficult whereas the other players are engaged in a serious struggle thus giving the leader a great advantage and the second half would have little sporting significance, as far as the determination of the winner of the ty. is concerned. Also, even if this does NOT happen, the winner in a round-robin is one of the best of the players whereas under the three match method the winner is the BEST having won three different matches with world-class players.
..
My question is: In case you disagree the reasons thereof?
Kind regards
D.M.Modak
26th November 2011. 1330 hrs.
Dear Judith
In my view the future of chess lies entirely in recruiting more girls and women to the game. Do you think we soon will have more women playing on an absolute top level soon? Do you see any candidates now? What does it take to have more world elite woman players?
Thank you for all the joy you give us!
Anders Iversen
Ms. Polgar,
What are your hopes for the game of chess in the long term? Do you like the idea of non-classical games like random, Fischer, and reduced-time chess?
Thank you. Your chess is monumental, and I respect you for doing it.
Are there any other things that you think are like chess in that regard?
Hey Judi,
I appreciate your enrichment of the chess database.
First, what is your best advise a chess trainer must have, and what are the best tools in order to teach chess to 7-10 years old kids?
Secondly, how many hours you spend in playing and training per week?
Hello Judit,
I just want to know what everybody else wants to know.
Of all the World Champions (from Steinitz to Anand, Khalifman to Topalov) who do you find most attractive as a man?
Have you ever dated a chess player?
Kind regards,
Hi Judit!
Best wishes. We all love you! Keep going.
Hello Judit,
I would like to know what your favourite chess book is
And when you were you young, was there any player whose games you would study in particular? Was there any player whose style you wanted to adopt/imitate?
Thank you kindly for your time to provide the answers to these questions. Best wishes,
Redmar Damsma,(the Netherlands)
Hello Judit,
There seems to be a ‘glass ceiling’ of 2600 elo points for women players (you excluded!). They can be in the top of the junior lists before they get 15-16, and then they fail to break through. The male juniors that were their equals around that age keep on progressing and ‘easily’ go on to at least 2650. This is more a feeling, I must admit, than backed up by statistics, but look at Lahno, Koneru, Hou (and numerous other girls): between 16 and 22 most other (male) players are progressing and they are not.
What is the reason for this, you think?
Second question:
One of the reasons given that female chess players can’t get to the top is that they get children and have to look after them. I’ve always wondered whether male chess players never get children… What do you think, is this just a point of imperfect distribution of tasks in relationships of woman chess players?
Third question:
I have the impression that women were always more than welcome in the predominantly male chess world, although they sometimes get the welcome of an alien. Of course there is the well known exception of the Grumpy Old Grandmaster. What are your experiences?
Hello Mrs. Polgar,
Here on the internet, we have a plethora of info about how to go about improving at chess. I’d like your opinion on how to construct a plan for someone who is tired to the bone of their lack of progress and is willing to bring everything to the table in order to make master. In short, I am looking for the opposite of an easy, steady process method of study. I need a program that is tough, demanding and efficient. Help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Sam
Hello Judith:
Did you ever think that the title of world champion was within your reach? If so, what prevented you from getting there?
Thank you.
Dear Judit,
First of all, I would like to say that I saw you performing 12½ out 13 in Thessaloniki 1988. Even if you were only 12 at that moment and I was in my twenties, back then it was almost impossible not to fall in love with you! Seriously now, I have been since then a big fan of yours.
My questions:
1) Which strong chess player in history do you admire most: (a) as a player, and (b) as an overall person? Who has been the best in history in your view?
2) Do you have any slight regret regarding the way you and your sisters were brought up by your parents?
3) If you were a man, and didn’t have to be the mother of two babies, do you think that at this moment you would still be among the top 10?
4) What aspects of your play do you think you should try to improve?
5) What should FIDE and National Federations do to help advance further the level of women’s chess?
The current Women’s Grand Prix Tournaments are great as well as are the other Women’s Tournaments and Championship Cycles, but they simply prevent the best female players from facing stronger male opponents in other tournaments. If the best female players keep themselves in the comfort of those tournaments, I would think that none of them would reach the next level (2700). But who (besides you) wouldn’t want to fight for the Women’s World Champion, defend her title, and win the prices from the Woman’s Grand Prix Tournaments? And so, no much time left for other mixt tournaments. Do you have any suggestion?
6) Do you like the idea of rapid and blitz rating lists? Do you have any personal idea on modernizing chess?
7) Are you optimistic about the future of chess?
8) Do you have any personal suggestion regarding the problems of cheating in chess?
Thank you Judit, and my very best wishes to you!
Hello Mrs.Polgar,
Just a simple question, what motivates you to play chess? thank you.
Hello Judit . First of all , I just went through your short bio here , many impressive details I was unaware of! Also , greetings on your very successful return to leet chess , keep it going – we desperately need more fighters @ the top .
Question : Lets say that you have to play the game starting @ 14:00 , and lasting , supposedly , for 4-5 hours or more. Assuming that It`s not professional secret , I would like to know the following:
How , approximately , does your tournament regime of that day look like , namely , when you go to sleep the previous night , when do you get up, when and what/how much do you eat , walk etc . Also few advices about energy (eating + drinking) during the game , in order to keep one`s brain working , plus – are you using Yoga for concentration @ any moment during the game , including moments before it starts – or any other way to additionally improve the concentration.
PS On a second read of my question , I am most likely asking (waay) too much , in fact any preparation tips will suffice =)
Copied from ChessVibes
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Soviet School:
Were you trained in any different ways to your sisters?
what was your experience of Bobby Fischer when he was with your family?
what is your favourite time control?
thanks Judit
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sean lawler:
Why do you have such a hard time against Kramnik?
Judit,
In an earlier KC-Conference Boris Gelfand said:
“There are players at the very highest level who from their first steps in chess solved combinations – and only that! I think that’s how it was for Polgar and Mamedyarov.”
Is Gelfand right to assume your chess education was almost totally focussed on tactics? Or did your style become highly tactical because of personal choice/temperament and/or because that was the area where your talent was greatest?
More generally, in your later career did you regret anything about that education? (e.g. a lack of training in openings, positional play, endings)
Hello Judit,
I would like to know if you like the football score (3-1-0) and what tiebreak system you find more resonable: rapid matches, S-B, number of wins, …?
Thanks,
Brian Chalega da Silva. São Paulo, Brasil.
Thank you to everyone who submitted questions! This section is now closed and the questions will be sent to Judit Polgar. As soon as the finished interview is published at Crestbook (http://www.crestbook.com/en) I’ll also announce it here.