♟️ Chess · Grandmaster

Judit Polgár

Hungary · 1984–2014

The strongest female player in history — who only ever played the open field.

2735
Peak rating: 8
Peak world rank: 15
Grandmaster at: 11
World champions beaten

Career

Polgár refused to enter women's-only events throughout her career and reached world number eight, beating eleven current or former world champions along the way. She became a grandmaster at fifteen, younger than Fischer had, as part of an explicit educational experiment by her parents.

Honours

Highest-rated female player in history
Youngest grandmaster in the world at the time, aged 15
Beat Kasparov, Karpov, Anand and eight other world champions
Only woman to reach the world top ten

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