In our series Champion Born On This Date, today we are going to see the success story of Judit Polgar- the woman player who became the youngest International Grandmaster at 15 years, breaking the record of Bobby Fischer.
Judit Polgar never played any Women’s World Championship cycle but qualified to the last eight in the Open (For both Men & Women) World Chess Championship cycle. She is rightly regarded as the strongest woman player of all times.
Early Life
Judit Polgár was born on 23 July 1976 in Budapest to a Hungarian-Jewish family. Her parents, Laszio and Klára educated her, along with two other daughters, at home, with Chess as the specialist subject. Her father’s theory was ‘Geniuses are made, not born.’
Thus, Judit and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, became part of this educational experiment carried out by their father. The three sisters proved their father right that if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age , then a child could become exceptional achievers.
Judit Polgar- An exceptional talent
Judit showed extraordinary talent in Chess from a very early age. In 1991, at the age of 15 years and 4 months, she became the youngest International Grandmaster in the history, breaking the record by former world champion Bobby Fischer. (This record was broken by Koneru Humpy in 2003).
Judit was also the youngest player ever to break into the FIDE top 100 players rating list at the age of 12. She became WorldNo. 55 in the January 1989 rating list.
Judit Polgar is the only woman to have surpassed 2700 Elo, reaching a peak world ranking of No. 8 in 2004 and peak rating of 2735 in 2005. She was the No. 1 rated woman in the world from January 1989 until her retirement on 13 August 2014. She is the only woman to be have qualified to play the World Championship comprising top 8 players in the world, a feat she achieved in 2005.
Polgar has defeated 11 World Champions, namely Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Vishwanathan Anand, Rusian Ponomarioy, Alexander Khalifman and Rustam Kasimdzhanoy.
On 20 August 2015, she received Hungary’s highest decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary. In 2021, Polgár was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Learn from the Champion
Today we will see a victory by Judit Polgar over a mighty opponent, Vassily Ivanchuk, who had once been considered to be a contender for World Crown. White’s quality of play is astonishingly poor but Black’s accuracy and sense of initiative teaches us a lot about attack & aggressive play.
Vassily Ivanchuk (2740) – Judit Polgar,Judit (2645) [D77]
Linares 14th Linares (4), 07.02.1997
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0–0 5.Bg2 d5 6.0–0 Nc6?!
A rarely played variation which can be questioned for it’s strategic soundness. 6…c5 is the right way, for example, 7.dxc5 dxc4 8.Na3 c3 etc.
7.Nc3?
7.cxd5! is logical and strong. 7…Nxd5 8.e4 Nb6 9.d5! The Point! BN on ‘c6’ is awkwardly placed now. 9…Na5 10.Qe1! Nac4 11.Nc3 e6 12.Bg5! f6 13.Bc1! Re8 14.dxe6 …Bxe6 15.b3 Nd6 16.Be3 With the ‘f’ Pawn on f6, Black is in a bad way.
7…dxc4 8.d5?
Forcing Black to play the winning moves. White has sacrificed a Pawn and the priority should be to get it back.
8.h3! was called for, planning e2–e4.
8.e3 Nd7 9.Qe2 Nb6 10.Nd2 would have been inadequate to win back the Pawn due to 10…e5! 11.d5 Nb4 12.Nxc4 N4xd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Rd1 Be6 15.Bxd5 15…Bxd5 16.e4! Bxc4 17.Qc2! Qe7 18.Qxc4 Rfd8
8.e4?! was bad on account of Bg4!
Judit Polgar
Vassily Ivanchuk
8…Nb4!
Stronger than 8…Na5 9.Qa4 c6 10.dxc6 Nxc6 11.Qxc4 1–0 (17) Roos,J-Schmitt,A/French tch 1994
9.e4?
A dubious Novelty. White has closed diagonal h1–a8 and further creates a weakness on d3.
9.Ne5!? had been tried before, with a minimal edge for Black after 9…Nbxd5!
(9…e6 is not so good. 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Bxb7 Rb8 12.Bg2 Qd6 13.a3 with equality.)
10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxf7 Kxf7! 12.Bxd5+ Be6 13.Bxe6+ Kxe6 14.Qc2 Qd5
9.Ne1! can be tried After 9….c6! 10.dxc6 Nxc6 11.Qa4 Nd4 12.Qxc4 Be6 13.Qd3 Bg4 14.Bxb7 14…Rb8 15.Qa6 Qd7! 16.Bf316…h5 Black is slightly better.
9…e6! 10.Bg5
10.Qa4? fails to 10…a5 11.a3 Bd7 12.Qd1 Nd3–+
10.a3 loses to 10…Nd3 11.Nd2 exd5 12.exd5 b5! 13.Nxb5 Bg4 14.f3 …Bf5 15.g4 Nxc1 16.Qxc1 Bd3. The readers my analyse alternatives themselves.
10…h6! 11.Be3!
11.Bxf6? would have led to a very difficult position after 11…Qxf6 12.e5 …Qd8 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Qa4 Nd3
11…Nd3?
An inaccuracy. An exchange sacrifice 11…exd5! would have won easily. For example, 12.Bc5 Nd3 13.Bxf8 Kxf8 14.Nxd5 Nxb2 15.Qe2 Nxd5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Rfe1 Be6 18.Nh4 Qg5! 19.Bxb7 Rd8–+
12.dxe6?
12.Ne1 is possible but Black has a formidable position after 12…exd5!
13.exd5 …Bf5;
12.Qd2! is the best option but Black has a big advantage after 12….exd5 13.exd5 Nxd5.
12…Bxe6 13.h3
13.Nd2? loses to 13….Ng4–+
13…Qd7!? 14.Qd2
What else?
If 14.Kh2 then Nxb2 15.Qc2 Nd3;
Or if 14.e5 then 14….Nd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5–+
14…Bxh3 15.Bxh6 Rae8!–+ [White has been completely busted.]
16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Ng5
17.Bxh3 was no better. 17…Qxh3 18.Ng5 Qg4 19.Kg2 Re5 20.Nf3 Nh5!! 21.Nxe5 Nhf4+ 22.Kg1 Qh3 23.gxf4 Rh8.
17.b3 would have lost to 17…Rh8! 18.Ng5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Ng4 20.bxc4 Rh2+ 21.Kg1 Reh8 etc.
17…Bxg2 18.Kxg2
Judit Polgar
Vassily Ivanchuk
18…Nh5!
Threatening 19….Ndf4 ch. followed by 20….Qxd2.
18…Rh8 19.Rh1 b5 was another way of winning the game.
19.Qe3
19.Rfd1 fails to 19…Qg4 20.Nh3 f5!? 21.Qg5 Nhf4+!.
19.Rh1 is unplayable due to 19…Ndf4+.
19.Qd1 is refuted by 19…f6 20.Nh3 f5 21.exf5 Rxf5
19…Ndf4+!
White resigned as there is no satisfactory continuation. For example,
19…Ndf4+ 20.Kf3
(20.gxf4 loses to 20…Qg4+ 21.Kh2 Rh8! 22.Nh3 Nxf4–+;
20.Kh2 fails to 20…Rh8.
20.Kg1 allows 20…Qg4 21.Nf3 Nxg3–+)
20…f6! 21.gxf4…fxg5 22.f5 Rxf5+! 23.exf5 Qxf5+ 24.Kg2 Nf4+–+ 25.Kg1 Rxe3 26.fxe3 Qg4+ 27.Kf2 Nd3#!
0–1
