Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is widely regarded as the strongest female chess player in history and the only woman to have consistently competed on equal terms with the world’s best, reaching a world ranking of No. 8.
A global ambassador for chess in education, she is the founder of the Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival, a TED speaker, and the author of a widely acclaimed three-volume autobiography that blends world-class chess mastery with personal storytelling. She also created the Judit Polgar Method, helping children develop key skills through chess.
Judit Polgár began playing chess at the age of five. In 1989, at just twelve years old, she became the No. 1–ranked woman in the world – a position she held for the next 26 years. By fourteen, she had already won five gold medals at the Women’s Chess Olympiads. After 1990, she competed exclusively in open events, facing the strongest players in the world.
In 1991, at 15 years and 4 months, she became a grandmaster, breaking Bobby Fischer’s record. She later competed for the World Championship title and became the first and only woman to surpass 2700 rating and enter the world’s top 10. Throughout her career, she defeated eleven world champions, including Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, and Boris Spassky.
Since retiring from competitive chess in 2014, she has focused on education and global outreach through the Judit Polgar Chess Foundation, promoting chess as a tool for learning and development.
Today, her story is reaching a new global audience through the Netflix documentary Queen of Chess, bringing her extraordinary career and life journey back into the spotlight – and making her appearance at ChessParty especially timely.
At ChessParty, Judit Polgár will give a special talk about her life and career, sharing insights from her journey to the very top of the chess world.
She will also take part in an on-stage conversation together with Pia Cramling and Anna Cramling, exploring women’s chess, recruitment, and the future of the game.
This is a rare opportunity to hear from one of the greatest players in history – both through her personal story and her perspective on the future of chess.
Watch Queen of Chess trailer:
