Who is Judit Polgár, the chess player whose story resembles that of the protagonist of “The Queen’s Gambit”

Shortly after the premiere, The Queen’s Gambit became the most watched miniseries on Netflix, with 62 million views in the first 28 days, available on the streaming service. streaming🇧🇷 The story of chess player Elizabeth Harmon enchanted viewers around the world and achieved an even more extraordinary feat: popularizing chess among people of different ages and nationalities.

Although the series is not based on real events, it is undeniable to see similarities with the story of Judit Polgár, who was once considered the best player in the world. Today the awesome.club tells you some details of Judit’s biography and shows the similarities and differences between the chess player’s life and that of the character Beth Harmon.

“Geniuses are not born, they are made”. This idea, defended by the famous player’s father, would mark the fate of the sisters Susan, Sofia and Judit. László Polgár has always defended that children are capable of exceptional achievements when they receive a specialized education from an early age. He and his wife Klára, both pedagogues, educated their three daughters at home in a town in Hungary, and one of the things they taught the girls was to play chess.

The three didn’t take long to show great skills for the game and after some training they started to participate in tournaments. Both Susan and Sofia won important titles in the world of chess (Grand Master and International Master); however, the youngest sister, Judit, was the one who stood out the most. Called a wonder girl, she is considered by many to be the best chess player of all time.

When she was very young, Judit couldn’t stay in the same room as her sisters while they practiced chess, as the condition was that she must learn before she can participate. And that’s what she did. During the learning process, she and her sisters had to face many professional players, invited by their parents to challenge them.

One night, during a game between Susan and an International Master, there was a kind of stalemate and the two had to wake up Judit to ask for help. Still a little sleepy, the youngest daughter gave the answer they were looking for and went back to bed, leaving everyone impressed with her intelligence and her readiness for the game.

At just five years old, Judit beat a family friend without even looking at the board. At seven, she and her sister (then nine) competed blindfolded and beat two masters, and still complained that their opponents were too slow. When she turned nine, Judit played her first tournament in the United States and at age 12 won the title of International Master, the youngest player in history to accomplish this feat.

Judit was a girl in a world of grown men and there was no shortage of people who underestimated her power. His calm and modest demeanor during games contrasted with the intensity of his plays. One journalist even wrote about his “killer” eyes: “The iris is so gray, so dark, that it is almost indistinguishable from the pupils. The contrast with red hair creates a surprising effect.”

Judit was just 13 years old when she joined the list of the 100 best chess players in the world and 15 when she became the youngest International Grandmaster in history. The Polgár sisters’ achievements have become the subject of many books and articles, which has propelled them to fame far beyond the world of chess.

The young Judit participated in numerous championships and was occupying higher and higher positions in the world of chess. In 1997, Grandmaster Robert Byrne wrote in New York Times that there was a big debate about who was the best player in the world; however, regarding the best player, he made it clear: “there is no discussion about the best player: Judit Polgás, 21 years old”.

In 2004, Judit decided to take a break from chess to have her first child. Meanwhile, her sister Susan has returned to competition and has become the best player in the world. Judit returned the following year and her results placed her eighth among the best in the world (men and women included).

In 2006, Judit had her second child and once again withdrew from competitions. Some time later, she stated that “compared to motherhood, chess is like a vacation” and decided to return to the games, as they were a fundamental part of her life.

Judit retired from competition in 2014, but not from the chess world; she wrote a number of children’s books and her sister Sofia was in charge of the illustrations. In addition, she created Judit Polgár Chess Foundation and fought for chess to be placed as part of the national curriculum in Hungary. According to her, the game awakens important skills in children, including problem solving and strategic thinking.

Elizabeth Harmon is the protagonist of The Queen’s Gambit, book written in 1983 by the American Walter Tevis, which served as the basis for the eponymous miniseries. Although the fictional character is not based on Judit Polgár, the similarities between them are undeniable.

Beth Harmon is new to the chess world and doesn’t understand why men and women can’t play together. Judit Polgár, on the other hand, rarely participated in all-female competitions, always at the encouragement of László Polgár. “Women can achieve similar results to men in intellectual pursuits. In that sense, we refuse any discrimination,” she wrote.

In the series, Beth’s biggest rivals are men, and many comment on the player’s gender; however, according to Judit herself “they are very kind to her (to Beth)”. In real life, the chess player had to face prejudiced comments and much crueler jokes. She said that there were players who refused to give her a hand and one even hit his head on the board after being defeated.

Despite all the changes since Judit started competing, the series served to open up the debate from a gender perspective, which ends up making people start to question whether the best players in the world are men for a matter of skill or no; that is, whether there is a sociocultural context that affects women’s outcomes.

In the series, the great rival that Beth struggles to win is a player named Vasily Borgov. Judit Polgár faced great players, but the matches against Garry Kasparov, one of the best in history, are the most famous and interesting. In 1994, they were the subject of a controversy because the Russian player allegedly changed his mind about the movement of a knight and moved the piece to another square, which is not allowed.

Polgár said nothing, as he didn’t want to fight the world champion and because he was afraid his claim would be refused. Judit lost the game, an emotional blow that ended up affecting many games that followed. Something similar happens with the character Beth, after a defeat against Borgov in the miniseries.

In 2002, Judit Polgár finally beat Kasparov in a simply outstanding game. The match went down in history for being the first time a player won the world number one.

Interestingly, Garry Kasparov was one of the players consulted for the realization of the miniseries The Queen’s Gambit🇧🇷

Another similarity between Beth Harmon and Judit Polgár is the style of play, as both are particularly aggressive in their openings and use techniques and attacks that are always very daring. Kasparov himself, when referring to Polgár’s game, said: “the game of a woman in chess is synonymous with relentless aggression”.

A difference worth mentioning is that Judit Polgár always showed a good performance in fast games, unlike Beth who, in the series, is defeated more than once for not feeling very comfortable in this style of play. However, as time passes, she manages to adapt and starts to conquer many victories.

The character Beth Harmon and the player Judit Polgár have very different life stories and were not born at the same time. However, they both possess unquestionable talent, have faced similar challenges with regards to competition, and have redefined expectations for women in the chess world.

Have you watched the series The Queen’s Gambit🇧🇷 Can you see similarities and differences between the character Beth Harmon and Judit Polgár?