Polgar, Judith (23.07.1976)

Hungarian Grandmaster and Women’s Grandmaster (1988). The best ever female player in chess.
World Champion U12 in 1988,  and Hungarian Champion (men) in 1991. From 1989 until 2014, she was the number 1 woman player in the world for an unbroken period of over 26 years.

A member of the Hungarian women’s team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Olympiad and the silver at the 2014 Olympiad.

She defeated almost all the leading chess players of the world.

She became famous in 1988, when at 12, she received the chess “Oscar” for women.
In March 2013, the State of Hungary awarded her the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary Commander’s Cross with Star, one of Hungary’s, in August 2015, she received the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, the highest State Order that can be made to a Hungarian civilian.

Best results: won or shared first at London IM 1988, Hastings II 1988-89, Amsterdam II 1990, Hastings 1992-93, Madrid 1994, Leon 1996, US Open 1998, Hoogeveen 1999, 2001 and 2003, Jafta 2000, Sigeman 2000.

In a match, she beat Spassky 5½–4½ in 1993, beat J. Piket 6-2, A. Karpov 5-3 in 1998, lost to V. Anand 5-3 in 2003, lost to V. Topalov (blindfold) 3.5-2.5, lost to E. Bareev 2½-3½ in 2007 and she beat D. Navara 6-2 in 2010.

Author of: How I Beat Fischer’s Record (2012), From GM to Top Ten: Judit Polgar Teaches Chess (2013) and Chess Playground. In recent years, Judith is running the Judith Polgar foundation promoting a chess programme for the older students of  kindergarten schools in Hungary.

Peak rating: 2725 in 2005, she was then the eighth-ranked player in the world.