THE SISTERS OF DESTRUCTION

 The Polgar Sisters

 

Once a dominant force of their generation, the 'sisters of destruction' Judit, Susan & Sofia Polgar & Janos Tompa, (Hungarian coach) are pictured here at the Thessaloniki Olympiad in 1988.

In a game by far dominated by males, the Polgar Sisters challenged the status quo by by playing at the level only thought to be reserved for their male counterparts.In this vein,the Polgárs showed that there are no inherent limitations to their aptitude and strengthened the argument for nurture over nature!

 

It is thus no surprising that they are numerous books and articles in the pages of history about the Polgar sisters, making them famous even outside of the world of chess. In 1989, American President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara met with the Polgárs during their visit to Hungary.

 

But it would be Judith who would by far scale the heights of greatness on the chess horizon by positioning herself among the elitist pool of global chess personalities. The only woman to qualify for a World Championship tournament which she achieved in 2005, Judith also the only woman to date to cross the 2700 Elo rating barrier by achieving her career-high Elo rating of 2735.

 

American GM Robert Byrne in his New York Times column of Aug, 26,1997 wrote about Judith:

"There has long been a lively debate about who is the strongest player of all". "Prominent candidates are Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine or Emanuel Lasker. But there is no argument about the greatest female player: she is 21-year-old Judit Polgár."

 

SO WHERE ARE THEY?

While Judit remained in Hungary, the rest of her family eventually emigrated: Sofia and her parents to Israel and later to Canada, and Susan to the United States.

 

 

Photo:LarsGrahn @SusanPolgar