Susan Polgar

Full name	Zsuzsanna Polgár
Country	Hungary  United States
Born	April 19, 1969 (1969-04-19) (age 38) Budapest, Hungary
Title	Grandmaster
Women's World Champion	1996–1999

Grandmaster Susan Polgar (born April 19, 1969, as Zsuzsanna "Zsuzsa" Polgár (nee Polgar Zsuzsanna)) is a Hungarian-born American chess player. In 1984, at age 15, she became the top-ranked female player in the world and remained so for many years. She was the first woman to earn the title of International Grandmaster in regular competition. She was the Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 until 1999. In October 2005 Polgar had an Elo rating of 2577, making her still the second-ranked female player in the world, after her sister Judit Polgar. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (918x1122, 98 KB) I took this picture at a simal she played. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to superb chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. It is a lifetime title, in chess literature usually abbreviated as GM or IGM (this is in contrast to WGM for Woman Grandmaster and IM for International Master). ... The Womens World Chess Championship is played to determine the womens world champion in chess. ... The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ... The Womens World Chess Championship is played to determine the womens world champion in chess. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The ELO rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess player. ...

She was born and brought up in Budapest, and now lives in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, where she runs the the Polgar Chess Center primarily for children. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Station Square, home to Forest Hills striking Long Island Rail Road station. ...

Chess career

Polgár is Jewish and is from Budapest. Members of her family perished in the Holocaust, and her grandmother was a survivor of Auschwitz.[1] For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ...

She and her two younger sisters, Grandmaster Judit and International Master Zsófia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, who sought to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born," was László's thesis. He and his wife Klara educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject. The father also taught his three daughters i.a., the international language Esperanto. Most of her family eventually emigrated to Israel, but Susan Polgar moved to New York after marrying an American in 1994. Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess player. ... The title International Master is awarded to outstanding chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The title is open to both men and women. ... Zsófia Polgár (, born November 27, 1974) is a Hungarian/Israeli chess player. ... László Polgár (b. ... Look up Esperanto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... NY redirects here. ...

At age 4, Polgar won her first chess tournament, the Budapest Girl's Under-11 Championship, with a 10-0 score. Despite restrictions on her freedom to play in international tournaments, by 1984 at age 15 Polgar had become the top-rated female chess player in the world. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In November 1986, FIDE decided to grant 100 bonus ELO rating points to all active female players except Polgar, which knocked her from the top spot in the January, 1987 FIDE ratings list. The rationale was that the FIDE ratings of women were not commensurate with the ratings of the men because the women tended to play in women-only tournaments, Polgar being an exception because up to that point she had played mainly against men. The statistical evidence supporting this decision was disputed because the data on which it was based was a small subset of the available data, and Polgar and others alleged that the move was politically motivated and had been contrived to displace her from the top spot. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chess Go The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess and Go. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In January 1991, Polgar became the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title in the conventional way -- that is, by achieving three GM norms and a rating over 2500. (Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze had earlier been awarded the title automatically by virtue of being Women's World Champions). Zsuzsa's younger sister Judit earned the title of Grandmaster later, in December 1991. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... In order to qualify for the title of Grandmaster of chess, a title awarded by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, one must in most cases achieve three grandmaster norms totaling a minimum of 24 games. ... Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili (born May 3, 1941) is a Georgian chess player, and the sixth womens world chess champion (1962-1978). ... Maia Chiburdanidze Maia Chiburdanidze (born January 17, 1961) is a Georgian chess player. ... The Womens World Chess Championship is played to determine the womens world champion in chess. ...

Zsuzsa Polgar for the first time competed for the Women's World Championship during the 1996 cycle, having previously played primarily against men. She was successful and became the classical Women's World Champion in 1996. Two years later, when her title defense against Xie Jun of China should have occurred, FIDE was initially unable to find a sponsor. Ultimately, in 1999, a match was arranged, but under conditions to which Polgar objected -- firstly because she had recently had a child and had not had sufficient time to recuperate, and secondly because the match was to be held entirely in China, the home country of her challenger. When Polgar refused to play under these conditions, FIDE declared that she had forfeited the title. Polgar sued in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland for monetary damages and the restoration of her title. In March 2001 the court ruled in favor of Polgar, ordering FIDE to pay Polgar $25,000 in damages. However, since Xie Jun had already been crowned Women's World Champion, FIDE could not restore the title to Polgar. She has not participated in subsequent Women's World Championship cycles. Xie Jun (谢军 in pinyin: Xiè Jūn) (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess player. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; Tribunal Arbitral du Sport or TAS in French) is an arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports. ... Waterfront view of Ouchy, just south of Lausanne Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman), across from Évian-les-Bains, France, and about 60 km northeast of Geneva. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Move to America

In 1994, Polgar got married and moved to New York. She has two sons, Tom and Leeam. Polgar is now divorced.

The United States Chess Federation named Polgar "Grandmaster of the Year" in 2003, the first time a woman has won that honor. In that same year (2003), Polgar also became the first woman to win the US Open Blitz Championship, against a field which included seven grandmasters. She won that title again in 2005 and in 2006. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled to... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

She helped train and played the top board for the United States women's team at the 2004 Chess Olympiad held in October in Majorca, Spain, winning the gold medal for highest performance rating in the women's event and most point scores. She has a total of ten Olympiad Medals (five Gold, four Silver, and one Bronze). She has played 56 games in the Olympiads, never losing a single game. (Redirected from 2004 Chess Olympiad) The 36th Chess Olympiad took place from October 14th to 31st, 2004, in Calvia (Majorca, Spain). ... Location Location of Majorca in Balearic Islands Coordinates : 39° 30’N , 3°0E Time Zone : CET (UTC+1) - summer: CEST (UTC+2) General information Native name Mallorca (Catalan) Spanish name Mallorca Postal code 07001-07691 Area code 34 (Spain) + 971 (Illes Balears) Website http://www. ... Gold Medal is an album by American band The Donnas, released in 2004. ...

In July 2005, Polgar played a large simultaneous exhibition in Palm Beach, Florida, breaking four records: the largest number of simultaneous games played (326, with 309 won, 14 drawn, and 3 lost); consecutive games played (1,131); highest number of games won; and highest percentage of wins (96.93%). 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Being largely seasonal, downtown Palm Beachs streets are virtually vacant in the summer. ...

In October 2005, Polgar joined former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and former World Champion Anatoly Karpov in Lindsborg, Kansas to promote "Chess For Peace." Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ), surname more accurately romanized as Gorbachyov; born March 2, 1931) is a Russian politician. ... The 1984 World Chess Championship was between Anatoly Karpov (left) and Garry Kasparov (right). ... Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: ) (born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. ... Lindsborg is a city located in McPherson County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 3,321. ...

Polgar also participated in the second Clash of the Titans - Battle of the Genders match against Karpov at the same venue, with Gorbachev making the first move for Karpov. The match ended in a 3-3 tie, with each player winning two games and two draws. Their first match took place in September 2004. That also ended up in a 3-3 tie.

In June 2006, Polgar organized and played in the 2006 New York City Mayor's Cup, the highest-rated double round robin tournament in US history. She finished second, behind Gata Kamsky and ahead of Alex Onischuk, Boris Gulko, Ildar Ibragimov, and Alex Stripunsky. In July 2006, Polgar represented the US in the Women's World Chess Cup in Dresden, Germany. She easily captured the Women's World Chess Cup by defeating International Master Elizabeth Pahtz in the final. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The term round-robin describes correspondence authored or signed by numerous individuals to a single addressee. ... Gata Kamsky (Tatar:Äžataulla Kamski) (born June 2, 1974) is an American chess grandmaster. ... Boris Gulko Boris Gulko (b. ... Brühls Terrace and the Frauenkirche Dresden [ˈdreːsdn̩] (Sorbian/Lusatian Drježdźany), the capital city of the German federal state of Saxony, is situated in a valley on the river Elbe. ... The title International Master is awarded to outstanding chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. The title is open to both men and women. ...

Composer

Susan Polgar composed her first chess problem (see diagram) at the age of four. She is considered the youngest chess composer of a published problem. Formerly, the record was held by Elliot Franklin Eichholtz.

Zsuzsa Polgár
Source unknown, 1973

Mate in 2

Solution:

1.Ke1-d1 Kg1-f1
2.Qh4-e1 mate Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess (and in other boardgames of the chaturanga family) in which one players king is under attack and there is no way to meet that threat; it is a check from which there is no escape. ...

Author

Polgar has written several books, often in conjunction with Paul Truong, her business manager: This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

• Queen of the King's Game (as Zsuzsa Polgar) (1997) ISBN 0-9657059-7-8
• Teach Yourself Chess in 24 Hours (2003)
• World Champion's Guide to Chess (2005) ISBN 0-8129-3653-1
• Breaking Through (2005) ISBN 0-02-864408-5
• Chess Tactics for Champions (2006) ISBN 0-8129-3671-X

Polgar is also chess journalist, with columns in Chess Life, Chess Life for Kids, ChessCafe, Chess Horizons, Georgia Chess, Chessville, Empire Chess, School Mates, etc., and she publishes a blog with daily updates about chess news and daily chess exercise problems. She has released a series of 11 instructional chess DVDs. Chess Life is the official publication of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), and reaches more than a quarter of a million readers every month. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Election Campaign

In December, 2006, she announced on one of her blogs that she is running for USCF election primarily to "clean up the USCF". The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is the governing chess organization within the United States and is one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled due to interest in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Championship. ...

Personal

Beside her mother tongue, Hungarian, Susan Polgar speaks 6 languages fluently: Esperanto, Bulgarian, German, Russian, Spanish, English, and Hebrew. First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ... Look up Esperanto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

Xie Jun (谢军 in pinyin: Xiè Jūn) (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess player. ... The Womens World Chess Championship is played to determine the womens world champion in chess. ... Xie Jun (谢军 in pinyin: Xiè Jūn) (born October 30, 1970) is a Chinese chess player. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Zsuzsa Polgár

• Polgar Chess Center
  • Susan's Chess Blog
  • Susan's Blog for Girls
  • Susan's Chess for Peace Blog
  • Polgar Chess Center Blog
• Susan Polgar at ChessGames.com
• FIDE rating card for Susan Polgar
• Polgar biography at Jewish Virtual Library
• The Grandmaster Experiment, Carlin Flora, Psychology Today Magazine, July/August 2005