BBC World Service. Today we have the story of the Hungarian chess prodigy Judit
Polgar, who fought her way to the very top of a male dominated
game. In 2015, she spoke to Robert Nicholson.
Welcome to Round four of the American Chess Challenge,
featuring Judit Polgar and Ron Henley.
In the seventies and eighties, the world of chess was
dominated by the great Russian grandmasters Spassky, Korchnoi,
Karpov and Kasparov, all national heroes, champions
in the
ultimate mental game. But in 1991, just a few years
after Hungary had freed itself from Soviet control and established its own
democratic system, a teenage girl from Budapest achieved something
extraordinary. At the age of just 15, Judit Polgar became
the youngest grandmaster in chess history.
It was very special as I broke Fischer's record with that
achievement being the youngest grandmaster at the time. But I
knew it already then that I could have probably done it a year
earlier or a year and a half, because I was very, very close
already to achieve that title. So that was a fantastic event
for me. But
Judit’s achievements split the world of chess. She
was too young to compete. She was too impetuous, and
she was a woman, they said. The most scathing criticism came
from the world number one himself
In a 1990 interview, Garry Kasparov launched an extraordinary
attack on the 14 year old Judit.
It's inevitable that nature will work against her and very
soon. She has fantastic chess talent, but she is, after all, a
woman. It all comes down to the imperfections of the feminine
psyche. No woman can sustain a prolonged battle. She will
never be a great grandmaster. Judit’s
parents, Laszlo and Klara had also been the target of
attacks. They brought up
Judit and her two sisters in what
some people saw as an unhealthy hothouse
environment. Kept out
of school
they played chess for hours every day. The communist authorities thought their individualistic
methods were
unsocialist. Western commentators saw it as
neglectful and cruel. Her parents, Laszlo and Klara,
defended their approach
I had to fight because of not understanding
from the people.
First in the family not understand why the child is playing
chess and not in the sand or with
the dolls. And they had very intensive teaching. All the players
Karpov
Kasparov
Spassky
Very early and having a lot of practice.
When you were growing up, there was some controversy about how
you were being raised and and even some opposition from the
government. Were you aware of those kind of problems
or were you insulated from it?
My father was also always discussing this and we were involved
with this. What kind of negative articles were published or
what difficulties
we had. And I think it strengthened us even
that we had so many difficulties. It was even more tasty to
have the success. Like her parents
Judit ignored her critics and simply carried
on playing chess. She was the one to watch at every
championship. Admired for her bold moves and killer instinct.
People started to recognise me on the street, and sometimes we
wanted to hide. But then I learned that it's simply part of my
life from a very, very young age. She played in championship matches in the
United Kingdom, catching the interest of the BBC.
A 12 year old schoolgirl has won a big international chess
tournament in London, and Judit Polgar from Hungary has made
history. She is the first female to win the World Mixed
Challenge against many grandmasters. How long have you been playing?
I started five. And you practice how many hours
a day? Six, Seven.
At the age of 11
, she beat her first grandmaster, the 42 year
old Latvian Lev Gutmann. It was a very good game and my opponent was
very upset and he was hitting his head after the game to the
elevator. So I made a very special effect on him.
The players are starting out very basically developing their
pieces quickly. Judit is now attacking the bishop.
Then in 1994, the long anticipated confrontation, she came
face to face with the man who had been so dismissive of her
talent, the Linares International Chess Tournament in Spain,
her first chance to compete directly against the world
champion Garry Kasparov. It was a very strange situation that I'm playing
the first time in the Linares,
which was the number one event of the year in chess, and I'm playing against the
world champion. I’m
definitely the underdog, the whole world and
the public were very excited. Can I give a good challenge
to Kasparov? I was playing with the
white pieces
and I had a
very bad
position already, but we were kind of short on time
already. And then Kasparov made the mistake a blunder,
and he released his hand from the piece, but only from a fraction
of a second. The rule says that if you release your hand,
no matter for how
long, then you cannot touch the piece again and move it to
somewhere else. And then Kasparov moved the piece back to
the initial square, and then he was thinking nobody was saying
anything. But actually, by the rule, it was me who had to
say something. And I had to say that I think he released his
hands from the piece. So he has to make that move.
But that mistake of Kasparov's, if someone had seen it, could
have brought you back into the game. Why didn't you speak up?
Well, I was kind of shy and I didn't understand the situation,
what I should really do. I'm only 17 years old,
am I want to
claim that he made an illegal move ?
Because probably it would
have been rejected anyway, and then I would not be able to
prove it. When an official looked back at the video
footage of the incident
Judit was vindicated.
And an arbiter came there and said, can
he help me? I said :
“It would be possible to see the film, which was
done during the game
? I would be happy to see.
” And then
they proved it that I was I was right. And he really released
his hands for a fraction of a second.
I'm not sure what she's doing with only a couple of pieces
intercepted
, John, but I know she's known to kill a king and
she'll bring everything she can over there in order to do
that. Seven years later,
Judit was back in
Linares . Now, with a
mature and well -
rounded game, she had the chance to get even.
That was the biggest happiness for me. Even I made two draws
in both games. But those games were really bloody. Chess,
extremely fighting
chess. Kasparov was really in good form. He really gave everything into those games. I
was using the strategy specially prepared against him, his
own strategy ,
by attacking him and by playing his own preparation
system. Those
are the games which gave me a lot of self -
confidence and real pleasure.
A year later, she finished the job . At
the Russia versus the
Rest of the World tournament ,
billed as the match of the new century, Polgar completed a thorough dismantling
of Kasparov, which signalled the end of centuries of Russian
chess dominance.
When I beat him
, actually, I was extremely happy that I beat
him in a rapid game. It was also great success. So those years
already, it was very clear that already on the top level
players also agreed that I belonged there. The top players and chess authorities were
at last convinced of
Judit’s ability. Even Garry Kasparov was forced to
give in. In a
passage in his autobiography, he finally withdrew his
earlier attack on the young Polgar. The Polgars
have showed us that there are no inherent limitations to their aptitude. It is an idea
that many male players refused to accept until they had unceremoniously
been crushed by a 12
year old with a ponytail.