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Susan Polgar
S Polgar 
Photograph courtesy of www.SusanPolgar.com    

Number of games in database: 1,017
Years covered: 1976 to 2006
Highest rating achieved in database: 2577
Overall record: +325 -169 =426 (58.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 97 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (88) 
    A46 A41 D05 A40 D02
 King's Indian (70) 
    E62 E60 E71 E67 E97
 Queen's Indian (45) 
    E14 E15 E16 E12 E17
 Queen's Gambit Declined (35) 
    D37 D30 D38 D35 D31
 Grunfeld (30) 
    D85 D87 D86 D80 D76
 Semi-Slav (27) 
    D47 D43 D45 D46
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (116) 
    B32 B33 B22 B30 B25
 King's Indian (58) 
    E92 E80 E66 E62 E81
 Queen's Gambit Accepted (56) 
    D20 D21 D24 D26 D27
 Ruy Lopez (33) 
    C67 C60 C97 C99 C84
 English, 1 c4 e5 (26) 
    A25 A20 A27 A28 A21
 French Defense (21) 
    C07 C05 C00 C19 C02
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   S Polgar vs P Hardicsay, 1985 1-0
   J Horvath vs S Polgar, 1981 0-1
   I De Los Santos vs S Polgar, 1990 0-1
   S Polgar vs Chiburdanidze, 2004 1-0
   S Polgar vs Z Kiss, 1980 1-0
   I Hausner vs S Polgar, 1983 0-1
   S Polgar vs J Costa, 1987 1-0
   S Polgar vs V Dimitrov, 1984 1-0
   S Polgar vs Yudasin, 1991 1-0
   S Polgar vs Thi Thanh Huong Mai, 1990 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Leon (1989)
   Novi Sad Olympiad (Women) (1990)
   Calvia Olympiad (Women) (2004)
   Tilburg Candidates (Women) (1994)
   Portoroz/Nova Gorica (1991)
   Moscow Olympiad (Women) (1994)
   Women-Veterans (1993)
   Thessaloniki Olympiad (Women) (1988)
   Aruba (1992)
   Plaza (1988)
   Women-Veterans (1992)
   San Sebastian Open (1991)
   Australian Open 1986/87 (1986)
   Reykjavik Open (1988)
   World Junior Championship (1989)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by enog
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by Okavango
   Polgars Powers Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by fredthebear
   Polgar Power Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by rpn4
   Polgar Power Originally Compiled by wanabe2000 by Patca63
   Zsuzsa (Susan), Zsofia, and Judit Polgar by wanabe2000
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 94 by 0ZeR0
   Zsuzsa! by larrewl
   Melody Amber 1993 by amadeus
   Zsuzsa Polgar by Carlos Javier
   1994 (women's) candidates tournament by gauer
   vaskolon's favorite games by vaskolon
   Women WCC Index [1996: S. Polgar - Xie Jun] by chessmoron
   1989 World Junior chess championship by gauer

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Susan Polgar
Search Google for Susan Polgar
FIDE player card for Susan Polgar

SUSAN POLGAR
(born Apr-19-1969, 56 years old) Hungary
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]

GM (and WIM) Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgár was born in Budapest, Hungary, and along with her two younger sisters, Judit Polgar and Sofia Polgar, she was taught chess by her father, Laszlo Polgár. By 1984 she became the top-rated woman chess player in the world. Later that year, FIDE, in a controversial decision, granted 100 rating points to every female player except Zsuzsa.

In 1991, Susan achieved the men's grandmaster title, and later that year, her sister Judit Polgar earned the title as well. She is a FIDE Senior Trainer. In 1996, Susan won the Women's World Championship, but refused to defend her title in 1999 against Jun Xie, because she believed the conditions were unfair. In 2004 she competed in the 36th Chess Olympiad, winning gold medals for points and for the highest performance rating. In total, she has won ten Olympiad medals during her career, and has never lost a single game in any Olympiad. Her highest-ever FIDE rating (2577) was achieved on the January 2005 list. This list also returned her to her position as the number one active female player in the world. In 2005, she broke Andrew D Martin 's 2004 world record by playing 326 opponents in a simultaneous exhibition, with a 309 wins, 14 draws and 3 losses for a 96.93% result.* This record stood for 5 years before being broken by Kiril Georgiev.

Susan lived for many years in New York City, where she ran the Polgár Chess Center (http://www.polgarchess.com). She also resided in Lubbock, Texas, where she served as coach to the Texas Tech University chess team - but has since moved to the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. She is one of the best-selling chess authors worldwide, and she speaks seven languages fluently. She posts at Chessgames as User: Susan Polgar. She is the mother of National Master Tom Polgar-Shutzman.

* http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

Wikipedia article: Susan Polgar

Last updated: 2023-01-17 21:09:36

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 41; games 1-25 of 1,017  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. NN vs S Polgar  0-191976BudapestC20 King's Pawn Game
2. J Gruz vs S Polgar 0-1311977BudapestC02 French, Advance
3. S Polgar vs Endrody 1-0251977BudapestB08 Pirc, Classical
4. S Polgar vs Sirko 1-0281977BudapestB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
5. I Pataky vs S Polgar 0-1191978corrA02 Bird's Opening
6. G Mathe vs S Polgar 0-1231979HUNA58 Benko Gambit
7. I Zsogony vs S Polgar  0-1271979HUN-ch sf (Women)A56 Benoni Defense
8. S Polgar vs E Mate 1-0251979Hungarian Championship (Women)B06 Robatsch
9. S Polgar vs Koronghi  1-0421980HUNA42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System
10. S Polgar vs J Kelemen 1-0761980BudapestE15 Queen's Indian
11. S Polgar vs Z Kiss 1-0361980BudapestE87 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox
12. S Polgar vs T Pfeifer  1-0321980HUND58 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst
13. Smirnov vs S Polgar 0-1351981TetevenA27 English, Three Knights System
14. S Polgar vs Cirakov 1-0211981TargovisteA88 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with c6
15. L Meyer vs S Polgar 0-1191981ENGC07 French, Tarrasch
16. B Vujic vs S Polgar 0-1361981PanonijaC00 French Defense
17. J Horvath vs S Polgar 0-1221981HUNC00 French Defense
18. S Polgar vs S Horvath  1-0401981BudapestA87 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation
19. S Polgar vs E Ivanov 1-0151981Varna OpenA57 Benko Gambit
20. S Lalic vs S Polgar  0-1361981Wch u16gC07 French, Tarrasch
21. T Needham vs S Polgar 0-1231981Wch u16gB33 Sicilian
22. S Polgar vs J Harmsen  1-0241981Wch u16gA87 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation
23. S Polgar vs J Leszczynska  1-0591981Wch u16gD58 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst
24. G Czeripp vs S Polgar  ½-½391981HUN-OpenC07 French, Tarrasch
25. Le Clercq vs S Polgar 0-1131982LondonB22 Sicilian, Alapin
 page 1 of 41; games 1-25 of 1,017  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Polgar wins | Polgar loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 225 OF 264 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-13-06  Karpova: <ahmadov>
just on a sidenote: there was a time when the two rated highest female chessplayers (apart from Judit) were Zsuzsa and Xie Jun - rated 2500+ and for other women it was already quite good to reach 2400 (Zsofia was still quite high in the rating list though she didn't even play). but now it's quite normal to exceed 2400 and even 2500 (like Humpy or Kosteniuk) while 2300 is not so unique anylonger. so it's probably a slow process.
Dec-13-06  ahmadov: <Karpova: <ahmadov> just on a sidenote: there was a time when the two rated highest female chessplayers (apart from Judit) were Zsuzsa and Xie Jun - rated 2500+ and for other women it was already quite good to reach 2400 (Zsofia was still quite high in the rating list though she didn't even play). but now it's quite normal to exceed 2400 and even 2500 (like Humpy or Kosteniuk) while 2300 is not so unique anylonger. so it's probably a slow process.> Some people would call this "inflation of rating points". But I do not know to what extent they would be right.
Dec-14-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: <Robert Tanner of Arizona resigned Monday from the Executive Board, the seven-member group that sets policy for the U.S. Chess Federation. A week before, Tanner had received an official reprimand from the USCF Ethics committee.

Tanner, a longtime tournament director, came under suspicion for submitting reports of private tournaments he conducted in the 1990s. Most of his opponents never competed in other tournaments. There is doubt if they even exist. By compiling excellent scores against these players, Tanner attained a master rating and eventually earned the Life Master title.

Tanner admitted that he ran the tournaments to manipulate the rating system, but he contended that his behavior was legal. He claimed that all of his opponents were real players and that the games actually occurred, although under casual conditions.

The USCF has occasionally had to expel unscrupulous directors who report blatantly phony tournament results. Tanner's case is murkier, but certainly unworthy of a high-ranking USCF official.

Although several other members of the Executive Board praised Tanner for his years of service to the USCF, they privately urged him to resign. He complied, and simultaneously relinquished his post as Zonal president for the World Chess Federation. In his letter of resignation, he wrote that he hoped to "focus on reactivating myself as a serious chess player.">

From Dec 10 The LAtimes.

Dec-14-06  Karpova: <He claimed that all of his opponents were real players and that the games actually occurred, although under casual conditions.> Did he play against Robert Schinkman?
Dec-14-06  code13: "Tanner admitted that he ran the tournaments to manipulate the rating system, but he contended that his behavior was legal. He claimed that all of his opponents were real players and that the games actually occurred, although under casual conditions."

Claude Bloodgood showed how the system could be manipulated when he "earned" a 2600 rating playing fellow prisoners.

One of the morals of these tales is that all elo ratings are estimates of strength and dependent on the opposition you play. For example, Hydra, Rybka and Fritz all have estimated ratings but they only make real comparative sense if a substantial part of those ratings is against humans who play a wide range of players.

Similarly top players can maintain high ratings playing a handful games a year against other top rated players, where even if they lose the games they lose few rating points.

I think we should pay a lot less attention to ratings. Certainly, the arguments such as "player x is 3 points higher than player y so obviously better" are absurd.

Dec-14-06  Karpova: <ahmadov: Some people would call this "inflation of rating points". But I do not know to what extent they would be right.>

At least Galliamova's rating didn't inflate:
http://www.fide.com/ratings/id.phtm...
And she's just 34 years old.

Dec-14-06  euripides: Is this anything to do with Roscoe Tanner who couldn't really play tennis but had an unreturnable serve and almost beat Borg in a Wimbledon final ?
Dec-14-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: <euripedes> Roscoe Tanner who lost to Bjorn Borg in the 1979 Wimbledon Final? I doubt it.
Dec-15-06  gabisrael: Dear Susan,
I wanted to ask you about your ties with Israel. As a jewish woman haven't you considered making Alliah? Does your small sister live in Israel?
Dec-20-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Susan Polgar: gabisrael,

No, I am not. My children are born in the US. This is now my home. I cannot just pack up and go anywhere I want.

My sister Sofia lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and 2 boys.

Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
www.PolgarChess.com
www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com

Dec-25-06  vonKrolock: <Susan> kellemes chanukah, karácsonyt & szilveszter for You and Yours; still about a Chess Problem that You composed at four. for whatt I see in Mr.Winter's records page http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... that contains one by a 5-boy, yours (it's number 2587 in 5333+1 ?!: < b) A Two-Mover by Zsu. Polgár, 1973, number 2587 FEN


click for larger view

sol. 1.Kd1! c) A Two-Mover by Zsó. Polgár, 1981, the 'plus 1' hors-texte in a bigger diagram FEN


click for larger view

sol.: 1.Qb2> It would be interesting to assert the date and quelle of the first appearence of Your two-mover (and Zsó.'s too - it's also a wunderkind composition - Best Regards, ZK

Dec-26-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Susan Polgar: Happy Holidays! I wish you and your families a wonderful Holiday season and a Happy and Healthy 2007!

Susan Polgar
www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com
www.SusanPolgar.com

Dec-26-06  Albertan: Happy Holidays to you Susan. I wish you and your family the best in 2007.Thanks for your fabulous contribution to Chessgames.com and thanks for creating your wonderful chess blog. Thank you for your dedication to the world of Chess and best wishes to you in your journey to become a member of the USCF Executive board.
Dec-27-06  AbhinavAsthana: I didn't know that Susan Polgar is also a member of chessgames.com! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year <Susan Polgar>.
Dec-27-06  slomarko: are we sure this is the real <Susan>?
Dec-27-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  chessgames.com: Don't be silly. Chessgames doesn't tolerate imposters.
Dec-27-06  ahmadov: I think the last two posts (posts by slomarko and CG) are just jokes.
Dec-27-06  ahmadov: <AbhinavAsthana> Yes, there are a handful of well-known chess players who are registered users in this web site. I personally hope that the number of them will increase in 2007.
Dec-27-06  slomarko: which players are also here? is Garry also a member too?
Dec-27-06  ahmadov: No, Garry is busy with Putin ;)
Dec-27-06  ahmadov: Apart from Susan, Eric Schiller, Ray Keene, Yelena Dembo and Arno Nickel are CG users. (I hope I have not forgetten anyone.)
Dec-27-06  JustAFish: ahmadov, Lawrence Day is a member as well.
Dec-27-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Susan Polgar: I am me and I also play me on TV :) Happy Holidays to you!

Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com
www.SusanPolgar.com

Dec-27-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: Dear Susan,

Will you be at the 2007 National Open (Las Vegas) and doing Simul again?

Wish you and your family a great 2007! I very much enjoyed the article in ChessLife about you and your family.

Dec-27-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Susan Polgar: <WannaBe> Yes. I will have a big event there for boys and girls with lots of prizes and scholarships.

Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
www.SusanPolgar.blogspot.com
www.SusanPolgar.com

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