Famous Jewish athletes and sports leaders
in Hungary

 

Every week, Maccabi VAC presents a Hungarian Jewish athlete, sports leader, pruner, coach, who played a decisive role in Hungarian and universal sports.

Polgar Judit

(1976- )

 

The best female chess player of all time

 

The best female chess player in history won her first international tournament at the age of 9, was a world age champion among boys, and won the title of international grandmaster at the age of 15, breaking the legendary Bobby Fischer’s record to become the youngest grandmaster of all time.

During her incredible career, she has successfully defeated the top player of international chess, including several world champions like Kasparov, Carlsent, Spassky, and Karpov. She was able to play for the men’s world title at the 2005 World Cup. She set a Guinness record by leading the women’s world rankings consistently for more than 26 years. As a member of the women’s team, she won two Olympic championship titles, received the Chess Oscar eight times, was chosen as the chess player of the century, and was awarded the title of Ambassador of Hungarian Talent. She was elected as a member of the General Assembly of the Association of Immortal Hungarian Athletes and received the Prima Primissima award in the sports category. After 2002, she won a silver medal at the 2014 Chess Olympics in the absolute category with her male teammates, after which she retired from competition chess.

Since then, she has focused his attention on promoting the sport, caring for her foundation, developing her educational program, and family. Launched in 2012, the Polgár Judit Chess Foundation has developed the Chess Playground and Chess Palace Program, an exceptional educational methodology for preschool and primary school children, which has been included in the official National Core Curriculum. She did not distance herself from competitive sports either: at the 2015 European Championships, she led the national team to the podium as the captain of the Hungarian men’s chess team. In 2015, she was given the Order of St. Stephen of Hungary award. From November 2016, as the UN Women Planet 50-50 Champion, she will personally take part in the action for equal opportunities. In May 2017, she received the James Joyce Award from University College Dublin, and from the end of 2018 she was Honorary Vice President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). At the Golden Pawn Award ceremony in Monaco in 2019, she received the Chess Legend of Europe award.