Sofia Polgar

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Sofia Polgar
Sofivdk.jpg
Full namePolgár Zsófia
CountryHungary
Born (1974-11-02) November 2, 1974 (age 46)
Budapest, Hungary
TitleInternational Master
Woman Grandmaster
FIDE rating2450 (August 2021) [inactive]
Peak rating2505 (July 1998)
The native form of this personal name is Polgár Zsófia. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Sofia Polgar (Hungarian: Polgár Zsófia, pronounced [ˈpolɡaːr ˈʒoːfiɒ]); (born November 2, 1974) is an internationally renowned Hungarian and Israeli chess player, teacher, and artist. She is a former chess prodigy.[1] She holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster and is the middle sister of Grandmasters Susan and Judit Polgár. She lives in Israel. She and a team won a gold medal in the 1988 Chess Olympics. She and a team won a gold medal and she individually won a gold medal in the 1990 Chess Olympics. She and a team won a gold medal and she individually won two gold medals in the 1994 Chess Olympics. She worked as a chess teacher and artist.

Biography[]

Polgar was born into a Jewish family in Budapest. She and her two sisters were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in specialist subjects from a very early age—László's thesis being that "geniuses are made, not born". He and his wife Klara educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject.[2] They also taught their daughters the international language Esperanto.

Sofia Polgar (on the right) with her sister Judit in 1988

In the 1986 World under-14 championship she finished second to Joël Lautier and was declared world under-14 girls champion.[3]

In 1989, at the age of 14, she stunned the chess world by her performance in a tournament in Rome, which became known as the "Sack of Rome". She won the tournament, which included several strong grandmasters, with a score of 8½ out of 9. Her performance rating according to New in Chess was 2879, one of the strongest performances in history.[4]

Polgar finished second to Helgi Gretarsson at the World Junior Chess Championship 1994 in Matinhos, Brazil.[5]

On February 7, 1999, Polgar married the Israeli Grandmaster Yona Kosashvili and moved to Israel. They have two children, Alon and Yoav. Polgar's parents later joined them in Israel. She and her family lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a while so her husband could pursue his studies and medical specialty. Subsequently, in 2012 they returned to Israel and settled near Tel Aviv.[6]

For a time, Polgar ranked as the sixth-strongest female player in the world. She has played very little FIDE-rated chess since 2003, and (as of January 2020) none since 2010.[7] At one point she beat Viktor Korchnoi at a game of fast chess.[8]

During the summer of 1993, Bobby Fischer visited László Polgár and his family in Hungary. All of the Polgar sisters (Judit Polgár, Susan Polgar and Sofia Polgar) played many games of Fischer random chess with Fischer. At one point Sofia beat Fischer three games in a row.[citation needed]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ As she uses the anglicized form of her name on her website we may assume this is the form she now prefers. In Hungarian she is sometimes known by the familiar form Zsófi.
  2. ^ Shvidler, Eli (November 22, 2007). "All the right moves". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007.
  3. ^ San Juan 1986 - 2° World Championship u14 (boys/girls) BrasilBase
  4. ^ Polgar, Susan; Truong, Paul (1 August 2005). Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess. Everyman Chess.
  5. ^ Matinhos 1994 - 33° Campeonato Mundial Juvenil BrasilBase
  6. ^ This is according to her Facebook page.
  7. ^ Rating Progress Chart - Sofia Polgar, FIDE
  8. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxeiGipoFSE Video of Sofia Polgar defeating Victor Korchnoi

External links[]

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