Everybody knows who the greatest female chess player ever is. BUT…
Imagine for a moment that this post is one of those fun online discussions, which challenges you to “name” a celebrity — without actually mentioning their name. I love how those threads uncover lesser-known gems and fun facts about our favorite personalities…and I’ve got plenty in store for you.
If you’re new to chess — and don’t know who the strongest-ever female chess player is — then read on and allow me to introduce you to a true genius of the game. If you do know her, then read on anyway. Your tactics and attacking technique might just thank you for it.
Let’s get started!
(Note: For simplicity’s sake, I will refer to the strongest female chess player of all time as the “Wonder Woman of chess” — at least until the name reveal at the end of this post.)
Training To Become A Genius
Once upon a time, a young girl from Hungary saw her dad play chess. She asked for a game…discovered that she’s a natural-born grandmaster…wiped the floor with her old man and…
Nope, that’s not what happened.
The Wonder Woman of chess is the youngest among three chess-playing daughters. And their father — an educational psychologist — is on a mission to transform them into geniuses.
“I grew up in a very special atmosphere. Everything was about chess,” she said in an interview.
And by “everything was about chess,” she meant devoting five to six hours to the game every single day. She meant starting the day by taking on 30 exercise positions on a real chess board. She meant searching for their wall full of file cabinets for games to analyze, puzzles to solve, and ‘intel’ on potential opponents. She meant skipping the playground and TV in favor of blindfold blitz.
She meant battling the authorities for their right to homeschool, so they can live and breathe chess.
If the following puzzles are any indication, then their father’s chess training methods have been wickedly effective. (Press play to reveal the answer.)
[Event “Targoviste”] [Site “?”] [Date “1984.??.??”] [Round “?”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Kralcev, Georgy”] [Result “1-0”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “rnb2rk1/ppq2ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2NB1N2/PP3PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w – – 0 9”] [PlyCount “15”] [EventDate “1984.??.??”] [SourceVersionDate “2021.08.24”] 9. Nb5 $1 {Not only does the knight leap threaten the queen which just moved. But without the possibility of …Bxc3, the b4-bishop is in danger of being trapped.} Qc6 $6 (9… Qd8 10. c5 {reveals another advantage of 9.Nb5. White will play Nd6 on the next move. Nevertheless, this is the lesser evil.}) 10. Ne5 Qb6 11. c5 $1 {Hits the queen…takes firm control of d6…and stops the bishop from retreating to safety.} Qa5 $6 12. a3 {Now the bishop falls.} Nbd7 13. Bg5 a6 14. axb4 Qxb4 15. Ra4 Qxb2 16. Bc1 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
[Event “Hungarian League”] [Site “?”] [Date “1984.??.??”] [Round “?”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Vandor, Balazs”] [Result “1-0”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “r1b1r1k1/p1qn1ppp/1p2pn2/2Pp2B1/3P4/2PB1N2/P2Q1PPP/R4RK1 w – – 0 13”] [PlyCount “7”] [EventDate “1984.??.??”] [SourceVersionDate “2021.08.24”] 13. Bf4 $1 {Capitalizing on her lead in development and punishing the enemy queen’s lack of safe squares.} Qc6 14. Rab1 $1 {Further increasing her lead in development and threatening 15.Bb5 and 16.c6, winning material.} bxc5 $2 (14…Bb7 {was necessary to stay in the game.}) 15. Bb5 Qb7 16. dxc5 {And Black resigns. He doesn’t want to wait for c5-c6, leading to a huge material advantage for White.} 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
[Event “Targoviste”] [Site “?”] [Date “1984.??.??”] [Round “?”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Spassov, Vasil”] [Result “1-0”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “rn1qkbnr/pp1b1ppp/8/1B2p3/3NN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq – 0 8”] [PlyCount “11”] [EventDate “1984.??.??”] [SourceVersionDate “2021.08.24”] {White has a huge lead in development but 7…Bd7 intends to neutralize that advantage by swapping off pieces. How should White play?} 8. Qe2 $1 {Indirectly defending the d4-knight.} Be7 {Reinstating the threat of …exd4. But the bishop left a square undefended.} ({Of course not} 8… exd4 $4 9. Nd6#) 9. Nf5 {Hitting the now hanging g7-pawn.} Qa5+ $6 {White’s pieces are too well-placed for this queen sortie to work.} 10. Bd2 $1 {Developing with tempo is almost always a good idea.} Bxb5 11. Nfd6+ {The point. White regains the piece with a decisive attack.} Bxd6 (11… Kf8 12. Qf3) 12. Nxd6+ Kf8 13. Nxb5 {The crushing Bb4+ or Nc7 will soon follow. Black resigns.} 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
Becoming A Grandmaster At A Record-Breaking Age
By the way, the smooth combinations you just saw were played by an eight-year-old!
The Wonder Woman of chess loved to attack, even as a kid. When she’s playing, everyone — from fans…journalists…to grandmasters — would stop by and watch her set the board on fire with her sizzling tactics and “cut and thrust” moves.
In April 1986, at 9 years of age, she played and won her first rated international tournament — finishing first in the unrated section of the New York Open and taking home $1,000 for her splendid effort. Now, that may not impress you because the tournament was for unrated, untested players. But…
In the same year, at age 10, the Wonder Woman of chess defeated an International Master for the first time. She took down the 52-year-old Dolfi Drimer after 62 moves.
[Event “Australian Open 1986/87”] [Site “Adelaide AUS”] [Date “1987.01.07”] [Round “9”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Drimer, Dolfi”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “B45”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “3Q1R2/6p1/4q1k1/4p2p/2b1rp2/2P1P2P/2N3P1/7K w – – 0 45”] [PlyCount “35”] [EventDate “1987.??.??”] {After being slightly better for the majority of the game, Black gave White the advantage on a silver platter. What would you play?} 45. h4 {With the threat of 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxh5+ Qh6 48.Qe8 or 48.Qf5+, followed by 49.Qxe4.} Kh7 $4 {A huge blunder.} ({The computer recommends} 45… Be2 {to keep White’s advantage to a minimum.}) 46. Rh8+ Kg6 47. Qg5+ Kf7 48. Qxh5+ Kf6 49. Rf8+ Ke7 50. Re8+ Kd6 51. Rxe6+ {Black could’ve saved time and resigned here. But he played for another 11 moves.} Bxe6 52. Qd1+ Ke7 53. Qf3 Ra4 54. Qb7+ Kf6 55. exf4 Rxf4 56. g3 Rf1+ 57. Kg2 Rc1 58. Ne3 Rxc3 59. Qf3+ Kg6 60. Qe4+ Kf6 61. g4 Rc5 62. Qb4 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
Impressive, but the breakthroughs didn’t stop coming.
The very next year, at age 11, the Wonder Woman of chess scalped a grandmaster for the first time.
She met German player Lev Gutman in the third round of the 1987 SWIFT International Chess Tournament, and gutted his favorite Sicilian in 37 moves. (Lev didn’t take the loss well and banged his head on the elevator after the game. Double ouch!)
[Event “SWIFT tournament”] [Site “Bruxelles”] [Date “1987.??.??”] [Round “3”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Lev Gutman”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “B83”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “1rb2rk1/2qn1ppp/p1pppb2/8/P3PP2/2N1B1Q1/1PP1B1PP/3R1RK1 w – – 0 15”] [PlyCount “45”] [EventDate “1987.??.??”] 15. e5 $1 {Blasting open the d-file and vacating the e4-square for her minor pieces.} dxe5 16. Ne4 $1 {With the threat of 17.Rxd7 and 18.Nxf6+, winning two pieces for a rook.} Be7 {The only move.} ({Not} 16… exf4 $4 17. Nxf6+ Nxf6 18. Bxf4 Qb6+ 19. Be3 {Both the black queen and knight are hanging.} Ne4 20. Qf4 {Winning a piece.}) (16… Kh8 $2 {doesn’t help when} 17. Nxf6 Nxf6 18. fxe5 Nd5 19. Bc5 {puts Black in a positional chokehold.}) 17. f5 exf5 18. Bh6 g6 19. Rxf5 $1 {White’s pieces come to life with tempo.} Rb4 $1 20. Bd3 f6 21. Rdf1 Rxe4 22. Bxf8 Kxf8 23. Bxe4 gxf5 24. Bxf5 Nb6 25. Bxh7 Be6 26. Be4 Nd5 27. Qh4 Nf4 28. Qh8+ Bg8 29. Rd1 Ne6 30. Kh1 Bd8 31. Bf5 Nd4 32. Bh3 Qf7 33. c3 Qb3 34. Qh6+ Ke7 35. Rf1 Ne6 36. Qxf6+ Kd6 37. Bxe6 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
By 1989, the 12-year-old Wonder Woman of chess was already rated 2555. Her rating put her at the 55th spot in the world rankings — and she wasn’t even a grandmaster yet!
But the title couldn’t elude her for long. In 1991, she won the Hungarian Super-Championship in Budapest…which made her the youngest ever grandmaster at the time at 15 years and 5 months.
Going into the final round, the Wonder Woman of chess only needed a draw to secure the title. But did we mention she loves going for the throat? That she did! She won her game against GM Tibor Tolnai and scored 6/9, securing the title and the championship.
[Event “Hungarian Super-Championship”] [Site “Budapest HUN”] [Date “1991.12.??”] [Round “9”] [White “Tibor Tolnai”] [Black “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Result “0-1”] [ECO “B43”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “8/k1r4p/p5p1/8/PRr3PP/P1p5/8/KR6 b – – 0 42”] [PlyCount “13”] [EventDate “1991.??.??”] {In this game, the Wonder Woman of chess showed great maturity by putting her desire to attack on the side. So she can press for a win in the endgame without risk. How to seal the deal?} 42… Rxb4 {Eliminating the only defender of the pawns. White cannot recapture with the rook because of …c3-c2 when the pawn queens.} (42… a5 {Forcing White to either capture on c4 or abandon the defense of the 4th rank is also good enough.}) 43. axb4 Rc4 44. h5 $2 {Trying to liquidate the kingside pawns to ease his defensive task, but…} a5 $1 {Black wins an important pawn.} 45. hxg6 ({Not} 45. bxa5 $4 Rxa4#) 45… hxg6 46. Ka2 Rxb4 47. Rg1 c2 48. g5 Kb6 {White may try to round-up the c2-pawn. But the black king is in time to pick up another pawn and win the game.} 0-1your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
Playing With The Elite
The year 1994 marked the first time the Wonder Woman of chess competed with the world’s best players. Only 17 years old at the time, she crossed swords with 13 of the best grandmasters in the world in XII Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Linares”.
The event was marred by controversy when the 14th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov broke the touch-move rule in his game against our heroine. The fiasco shook the Wonder Woman of chess, and the next six rounds saw her drop five games and salvage a draw. Although she managed to score 1.5 points in the last three rounds, it’s clear that she didn’t play up to her potential in Linares 1994.
The rest of the decade was full of ups and downs for the Wonder Woman of chess.
She reached plenty of highs, such as winning shared or clear first in:
- Madrid International 1994: Finished 1.5 points ahead of second place. Earned a tournament performance rating of 2778 against a host of top GMs, such as Gata Kamsky, Evgeny Bareev, Valery Salov, and Ivan Sokolov.
- León Masters 1996: Scored 3.5/6 and shared first place with Veselin Topalov. She had the pleasure of drawing “first blood” against her co-winner — slaying the Sicilian Dragon in 36 moves.
- U.S. Open 1998: Scored 8/9 alongside Boris Gulko and became the first woman to ever win the U.S. Open Chess Championship. Many of her opponents were happy to get away with a draw. But the Wonder Woman of chess either ground them down in the endgame, or set sneaky traps which they duly fell for.
- VAM Hoogeveen 1998: Scored 5/6 and finished clear first, with the second place 1.5 points behind. In the second round, she took Tal Shaked to a masterclass in harmonizing tactics and positional play…winning the game in 34 moves.
In between these bright spots, however, the Wonder Woman of chess also suffered setbacks and “middle of the pack” performances in top-level tournaments, including…
- The “super tournament” of Linares in 1997
- Dos Hermanas 1997
- The 6th Torneo Magistral in 1997
- Dortmund International Tournament 1997
- The Annual Hoogovens Chess Tournament in 1998
- And many more
In January 1996 — with a rating of 2675 — the Wonder Woman of chess became the first and so far only female to break into the top 10. But the the next six months saw her lose that prestigious spot, followed by a steady descent in the rating list for almost two years.
Invitations to the best tournaments became farther and fewer as a result. But…
When your entire childhood is an educational experiment on building killer chess skills, unwavering discipline, and ironclad resilience, even the most serious of setbacks isn’t enough to stop you!
Returning To Form And Making History
While the 90’s were shaky for a player of her caliber, the Wonder Woman roared back in the 2000’s.
She began the decade by winning the…
- Sigeman & Company International Tournament 2000: Scored 4/6 to finish clear first in the the four-player double round robin event. Round three saw the Wonder Woman of chess on the cusp of losing. But her opponent, Jan Timman from the Netherlands, blinked…and that’s all she needed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
- Japfa Classic 2000: Another nail-biter. She scored 6.5/9 to secure clear first and the $20,000-prize…but only after winning the last round on demand. The victory broke the four-way tie between her, Brazilian GM Gilberto Milos, then-FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman, and 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov.
- Najdorf Chess Festival 2000: Scored 6.5/9 — four wins, five draws, and no losses — to share first place with Viktor Bologan. She finished ahead of World Championship Challenger Nigel Short and Anatoly Karpov, who scored 6/9 and 5.5/9 respectively.
The Wonder Woman of chess also slugged it out with 143 Grandmasters and 38 International Masters in the European Individual Chess Championship 2001. She came in fourth, missing a top three finish by a hair’s breadth. Still, her strong showing catapulted her rating from 2678 to 2686 — and from here, she swiftly rose to the top.
In the closing months of 2002, the Wonder Woman of chess played on Hungary’s second board in the 35th Chess Olympiad.
Her score of 8.5/12 helped their team secure silver. But she had to settle for the individual bronze medal for board two. That said, her win against Shakhiryar Mamedyarov is worth its weight in gold:
[Event “Bled Olympiad”] [Site “Bled SLO”] [Date “2002.10.29”] [Round “4”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Shakhriyar Mamedyarov”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “C80”] [WhiteElo “2685”] [BlackElo “2580”] [Annotator “PCUser”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “r2qkb1r/2p2ppp/p1n5/1pnbP1N1/3p4/1BP5/PP1N1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w kq – 0 12”] [PlyCount “24”] [EventDate “2002.10.26”] 12. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 ({Of course not} 12… Bxf7 13. Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Qf3+ {when White regains the piece, wins a pawn, and maintains a decisive attack.}) 13. Qf3+ {Using the pin on the bishop to drag the king to the center of the board.} Ke6 14. Qg4+ Kf7 $2 {Allows White to reposition her queen closer to the enemy king with tempo.} (14… Ke7 15. e6 {is by no means pleasant. But it’s way better than what happened in the game.}) 15. Qf5+ Ke7 16. e6 $1 {Unmasking an attack on the bishop and threatening Qf7+ in some lines.} Bxe6 ({Taking the bishop with the knight doesn’t help. Instead, it allows the bishop on c1 to get into play and connect the rooks. In her analysis, the Wonder Woman of chess gives:} 16… Nxb3 17. Nxb3 Bxe6 18. Re1 Qc8 19. Bg5+ Kd6 20. Bf4+ Ke7 21. Nc5 Nd8 22. Rxe6+ Nxe6 23. Re1 {Pin it and win it!}) 17. Re1 Qd6 18. Bxe6 Nxe6 19. Ne4 $1 {Brings her pieces out with the gain of time.} Qe5 20. Bg5+ $1 Kd7 21. Nc5+ Bxc5 22. Qf7+ Kd6 (22… Kc8 23. Rxe5 Nxe5 24. Qxe6+ {is as good as resignation.}) 23. Be7+ Kd5 {It’s mate in three. Black resigned.} 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
Her strong performances the said Olympiad, Polish League Super Cup 2002, and the 18th European Club Cup brought her just a point over the 2700-rating mark. Yet another first for our heroine and women’s chess.
But the Wonder Woman of chess isn’t done yet.
In the 65th Corus Chess Tournament, she achieved what was perhaps her finest result — an undefeated score of 8/13 and a clear second place in a field with an average rating of 2701. She finished half a point behind future World Champion Vishy Anand and left four World Champions in the dust.
In the fourth round of the tournament, the Wonder Woman of chess played one of her best games — crushing Anatoly Karpov with an opening novelty she came up with over the board.
[Event “65th Corus Chess Tournament”] [Site “Wijk aan Zee NED”] [Date “2003.01.15”] [Round “4”] [White “Anatoly Karpov”] [Black “Wonder Woman of Chess”] [Result “0-1”] [ECO “E12”] [WhiteElo “2688”] [BlackElo “2700”] [Annotator “Jabe from Chessable”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “2rq1rk1/3nbpp1/1pb1p2p/pB6/3P4/PQ2PN2/1B3PPP/3RK2R b K – 0 16”] [PlyCount “35”] [EventDate “2003.01.11”] {Black to play and make sure she gets to torture White all game long.} 16… Bb4+ $1 {After this move, castling becomes impossible for White.} 17. axb4 Bxb5 18. bxa5 Bc4 19. Qa3 bxa5 20. Qd6 Bb5 21. d5 Rc2 22. Rd2 Qc8 ({Cashing in with } 22… Rxd2 {is also possible:} 23. Kxd2 Nb6 24. Qxd8 Rxd8 25. Rc1 Rxd5+ {with an extra passed pawn. But the Wonder Woman of chess is known to eschew the win of material to keep her attack – and chances for a knockout – going.}) 23. Qa3 Rxd2 24. Kxd2 Nb6 25. Qc3 Nc4+ 26. Kc2 e5 27. Kb1 Qg4 28. Rc1 Rb8 29. Rc2 f6 30. d6 Qxg2 31. Nd2 Qh1+ 32. Ka2 Nxd6 33. Qc5 Rc8 0-1your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
Top three finishes at the Vth Enhein Masters, Talent & Courage GM Super Tournament, and the Essent Crown Group 2004 skyrocketed her up the rating list some more. In January 2004, the Wonder Woman of chess reached her peak ranking of #8 in the world.
And while she had to take a break from chess for the rest of 2004 to make progress in motherhood, the Wonder Woman of chess bounced back in May 2005…finishing third in MTel Masters and bringing her peak rating to 2735.
Check out her round six game, where she wrestled the initiative from English number one Michael Adams and ground him down in 52 moves.
[Event “MTel Masters”] [Site “Sofia BUL”] [Date “2005.05.18”] [Round “6”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Michael Adams”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “C42”] [Annotator “PCUser”] [SetUp “1”] [FEN “5rk1/p1pb2pp/4r3/1p3pq1/3PP3/P1P1bBP1/1NQ1R1KP/1R6 w – – 0 27”] [PlyCount “51”] [EventDate “2005.??.??”] {The black bishop on e3 doesn’t have many squares to go to. So Black played 26…f5 intending …f4 to blast open White’s kingside. What did the Wonder Woman of chess play?} 27. h4 $1 {First, she chases away the queen from the g4-square.} Qh6 28. exf5 {Just like that, White wins a pawn. She’s only slightly better according to the computer, but the onus is on Black to prove he has enough compensation for the material deficit.} Ree8 29. Qb3+ Kh8 30. Qd5 Bxf5 31. Rbe1 Re6 $4 {The losing move.} 32. Nd1 Rd6 33. Qxb5 $6 ({Perhaps both players missed} 33. Qc5 $1 {not allowing the f5-bishop to vacate the f-file – which unmasks an attack on the f3-bishop – and reposition to a better square with tempo.} {If } Bd2 {then White punishes Black’s backrank with} 34. Re8 Qf6 35. Rxf8+ Qxf8 36. Re2 ({Not} 36. Qxf5 {right away, when} Rf6 37. Qxb5 Bxe1 {when Black is better.}) 36… Bh6 37. Qxf5 {White is clearly winning.}) 33… Bd7 34. Qe5 Bd2 35. Rf1 Rdf6 36. Rff2 Ba4 37. Rxd2 Rxf3 38. Ne3 R3f6 39. Qg5 Rxf2+ 40. Rxf2 Qc6+ 41. d5 Rxf2+ 42. Kxf2 Qd6 43. Qf4 Qxf4+ 44. gxf4 Kg8 45. Kf3 Kf7 46. c4 Bd7 47. f5 Kf6 48. Kf4 h5 49. c5 c6 50. Ke4 Be8 51. dxc6 Bxc6+ 52. Nd5+ 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
A Crownless Queen Humbling Kings
Perhaps you may have noticed that — despite the Wonder Woman of chess’ record-breaking results — we haven’t talked about her reign as a Women’s World Chess Champion.
Well, that’s because she never played for the title…not even once!
In gaming lingo, the Wonder Woman of chess is too “overpowered” for female-only competitions. When she reached her peak rating in 2005, she outranked the women’s world #2 by a whopping 158 rating points.
Recognizing this — and being the fierce and fair competitor she is — the Wonder Woman of chess turned down what might’ve been “easy wins” and squared-up against the toughest opposition possible.
No doubt, her principled approach to competing have locked her out of a world title. The closest she ever came to winning the crown was in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 in San Luis, Argentina — an eight-player, double-round robin event which saw the Bulgarian Veselin Topalov emerge as the winner.
But do you really need a world title when you’re the only female player to have won against 11 reigning and former world champions?
Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, and Viswanathan Anand — the Wonder Woman of chess defeated all of them and more…and in stunning blowouts no less!
I’ll let her games do the talking.
[Event “Russia – The Rest of the World”] [Site “Moscow RUS”] [Date “2002.09.09”] [EventDate “2002.09.08”] [Round “5”] [Result “1-0”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Garry Kasparov”] [ECO “C67”] [WhiteElo “2681”] [BlackElo “2838”] [PlyCount “84”] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. h3 Be7 12. Ne2 Nh4 13. Nxh4 Bxh4 14. Be3 Bf5 15. Nd4 Bh7 16. g4 Be7 17. Kg2 h5 18. Nf5 Bf8 19. Kf3 Bg6 20. Rd2 hxg4+ 21. hxg4 Rh3+ 22. Kg2 Rh7 23. Kg3 f6 24. Bf4 Bxf5 25. gxf5 fxe5 26. Re1 Bd6 27. Bxe5 Kd7 28. c4 c5 29. Bxd6 cxd6 30. Re6 Rah8 31. Rexd6+ Kc8 32. R2d5 Rh3+ 33. Kg2 Rh2+ 34. Kf3 R2h3+ 35. Ke4 b6 36. Rc6+ Kb8 37. Rd7 Rh2 38. Ke3 Rf8 39. Rcc7 Rxf5 40. Rb7+ Kc8 41. Rdc7+ Kd8 42. Rxg7 Kc8 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
[Event “Dos Hermanas”] [Site “Dos Hermanas ESP”] [Date “1999.04.06”] [EventDate “1999.04.06”] [Round “1”] [Result “1-0”] [White “Wonder Woman of chess”] [Black “Viswanathan Anand”] [ECO “B81”] [WhiteElo “2677”] [BlackElo “2781”] [PlyCount “67”] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 e5 8. Nf5 g6 9. g5 gxf5 10. exf5 d5 11. Qf3 d4 12. O-O-O Nbd7 13. Bd2 dxc3 14. Bxc3 Bg7 15. Rg1 O-O 16. gxf6 Qxf6 17. Qe3 Kh8 18. f4 Qb6 19. Qg3 Qh6 20. Rd6 f6 21. Bd2 e4 22. Bc4 b5 23. Be6 Ra7 24. Rc6 a5 25. Be3 Rb7 26. Bd5 Rb8 27. Rc7 b4 28. b3 Rb5 29. Bc6 Rxf5 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Bxd7 Rcc5 32. Bxf5 Rxf5 33. Rd1 Kg8 34. Qg2 1-0your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
[Event “Cuadrangular UNAM”] [Site “Mexico City MEX”] [Date “2012.11.25”] [EventDate “2012.11.24”] [Round “2.1”] [Result “0-1”] [White “Magnus Carlsen”] [Black “Wonder Woman of chess”] [ECO “E90”] [WhiteElo “2848”] [BlackElo “2705”] [PlyCount “100”] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Be3 Qe8 9. g4 Nc5 10. Nd2 a5 11. Be2 c6 12. Rg1 Kh8 13. h4 Ng8 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. O-O-O cxd5 16. Nxd5 Ne6 17. h5 g5 18. Kb1 Ba4 19. b3 Bc6 20. Nb6 Rd8 21. Qc3 Nf4 22. Bf1 h6 23. Qxa5 f5 24. gxf5 Qxh5 25. Re1 Nf6 26. Nd5 Ra8 27. Qb4 Rfd8 28. f3 Qh4 29. Rc1 Bxd5 30. cxd5 N4xd5 31. Bxg5 Qxg5 32. Rxg5 Nxb4 33. Rg2 d5 34. exd5 Nfxd5 35. Ne4 Ne3 36. f6 Bf8 37. Rh2 Rac8 38. Bc4 Nxc4 39. bxc4 Kg8 40. Rb2 Rc7 41. c5 Nd3 42. Rd2 Rcd7 43. c6 bxc6 44. Rxc6 Kf7 45. Rb6 Nc5 46. Rxd7+ Rxd7 47. Nf2 h5 48. Rc6 Rd2 49. Nh3 Ne6 50. a4 Rh2 0-1your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts
The Wonder Woman of chess never wore the crown. But reign she did!
The Greatest Female Chess Player Ever – Name Reveal
Judit Polgár is the Wonder Woman of chess…the real-life Beth Harmon long before Netflix released The Queen’s Gambit…the greatest female chess player of all time.
She retired from competitive play in August 13, 2014, at the end of 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway. The announcement came during a brief interview with The Times, and fans were wondering if she was giving up chess completely.
The answer is a big fat NO.
Judit may have retired from competitive play…but her impact on the game and its community only grew exponentially!
In June 2015, through a unanimous vote, the Hungarian Chess Federation appointed her as the captain and head coach of their men’s chess team — and she led them to a bronze medal at the 2015 European Team Chess Championships in Iceland.
In the same year, Judit Polgár received Hungary’s highest state decoration, the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen. Speaking in praise of Judit, President of the Republic János Áder said:
“Her successes speak of the triumph of talent, of skill making its way across conventions without regard for sex or age.”
That said, her impact isn’t confined within Hungarian borders.
The first month of 2021 saw the Play Magnus Group sign Judit Polgár as an educational ambassador — so she can treat fans to her eye-opening commentary for top Chess24 events.
PLUS, she also agreed to create a series of interactive courses for Chessable…two of which have already been released. Alongside another stand-out author International Master Andras Toth, Judit gave users a piece of her brilliant chess mind in Master Your Chess With Judit Polgár Part One and Part Two.
Here’s what fans are saying:
“Polgár has the very rare ability to convey the information in an understandable way. It’s a lot of fun to see how some basic foundational concepts can be weaponized and used to weave elegant and beautiful mating patterns…I can finally take this knowledge from the theoretical to the practical, from concept to application.” — jsettle1
“Get the video! Judit Polgár has such a simple way of explaining concepts. I really like how she always goes over the what ifs and explains why it’s bad. This was a good refresher for basic skills I thought I had.” — pamhermano
And that wraps up our little “name a celebrity” challenge.
If you had fun reading about the greatest female chess player ever and solving the puzzle positions here, please share this post through social media or email. I’m sure your chess-playing friends will love it, too!
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