Judit Polgar–Hungarian Chess Whiz

When my brother was younger, he would play chess competitively, attending tournaments in and around Vancouver. I was never too great at the game. I know how to play it, but my brother was a much better player.

I just found out last week that the world’s best female chess player is Hungarian by the name of Judit Polgar. She achieved the title of Grandmaster when she was 15 years old (1992), breaking the record previously held by Bobby Fisher (time to make a movie about her I think!). Currently she is ranked number 42 in the world and number 1 woman. She has managed to keep her number 1 woman ranking since 1989! Her highest ranking on the men’s table was 8th in 2005. Either way, that is pretty impressive.

Her parents started training her from the moment she was born:

Based on educational studies, our parents decided that their children’s lives and careers would be a living example, that would prove that any healthy child – if taught early and intensively – can be brought up to be exceptionally successful in any field. In our case, this meant having a chess career. – Judit Polgar

Check out a video about her.

Guess Tiger parents are definitely not just Chinese.