Susan Polgar, the name pronounces style, grace and determination. Chess lovers around the world have been awed at her endurance as she went ahead to break the gender constraint surrounding chess over decades. She has overturned the chess world by making her way into it with her undeterred professionalism and uncompromised passion for the game. “There is no reason why women cannot compete against men on an equal footing in a given game”… true to her words, Polgar proved that women can be beautiful, graceful and yet smart.

Susan Polgar, originally named Zsuzsanna Polgar was born on 19th April, 1969 in Budapest, Hungary. She is the eldest of the three sisters, her next two sisters known by the name of Judit and Sofia. Susan along with her two sisters went on to break all the so-called shackles of a ‘man’s world’. All three of them have secured their places in the chess world as Judit went on to become a Grandmaster, Sofia an International Master and Susan the top-rated female chess player in the world, the holder of Women's World Chess Champion title. Their initial education started with their father Laszlo Polgar and mother Klara, educating them with all the right moves in Chess. "Geniuses are made, not born," that’s what their father believed in and Susan Polgar along with her three sisters has proved every word of it.

Susan Polgar’s first marriage was to Jacob Shutzman in the year 1994 after which she moved to New York. She had two sons with him, Tom and Leeam. She married Paul Truong in the year 2006, her second marriage, who was her business manager and an old friend and settled in Queens, New York. Susan was the first woman Grandmaster who actively participated in numerous activities when she is not playing in chess tournaments.

Very few people know that she was the undergraduate commencement speaker at Texas Tech University and was also awarded an honorary Doctorate degree. She is a regular columnist for Chess Life Magazine, Chess Life, Chess Life for Kids, Chess Horizons, chesscafe.com and numerous more. Besides these, she regularly updates her blog and publishes chess problems at a regular interval. Interestingly Susan Polgar was the youngest composer of a published chess problem. It was the first chess problem that she composed at the age of 4.

It was in the year 2006, December that Polgar decided to run for the election of executive board of the United States Chess Federation. Polgar with Paul Truong and Randy Bauer were elected for the four years term. They took the office on 5th August 2007. Polgar was elected the first ever chairman of USCF.

Susan Polgar has authored several books some of which Queen of the Kings Game, Teach Yourself Chess in 24 Hours, World Champion's Guide to Chess, Breaking Through, Chess Tactics for Champions and more.

Polgar for Women Chess Players:

She is the founder of ‘Polgar Chess Center’, a chess learning school that welcomes players of all age, from all over the world, hailing from all types of background. It was opened in the year 1997 when she realized "… children who are exposed to the game are ahead of their peers who are not involved with the royal game. Chess is a wonderful tool to increase concentration, self-control, patience, imagination, creativity, logical thinking and many more important and useful life skills". ‘Susan Polgar Foundation’, a non-profit organization founded by Polgar to help more and more girls come into playing chess.

Polgar…An early bloomer

Susan Polgar started winning tournaments as early as age 4. It was her first chess tournament the ‘Girl's Under-11 Championship’, held in Budapest, with a score of 10 to 0. It was in the year 1982 that Polgar won her first under16 world title of World Chess Championship for Girls. The Communist Government limited her freedom by restricting her from playing international tournaments. But in spite of that Polgar became the top-rated female chess player in the year 1984.

Polgar became the first woman in the history, to qualify in the year 1986 for‘Men’s World Chess Championship’. Though she was not allowed to play, she will be remembered for the fact that she made FIDE change its policy and admit women players.

Susan Polgar became the first woman to win the title of men’s Grandmaster in the year 1991. She achieved 3 GM norms and a fabulous rating of over 2500. Year 1992 saw Polgar as the winner of two important championships namely Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship and Women's World Blitz.

Sad but it’s true that Susan Polgar had officially challenged to play Deep Blue but her challenge was declined. The world, however, looks forward to the match if it ever happens.

Polgar for American Chess:

Susan Polgar made a comeback in international chess in the year 2003 representing ‘The United States Chess Federation’. Polgar was titled ‘Grandmaster of the Year’ The United States Chess Federation. It was the first time that a woman won such an honor which made it a moment of supreme pride for Polgar and all women chess players over the world. It was in the same year that Polgar became the strongest contender and first woman to win the US Open Blitz Championship, an area that included seven Grandmasters.

Year 2004:

History was created in the year 2004 as the United States Women's National Team performed exceptionally well under Polgar’s leadership at the 2004 Chess Olympiad at Majorca, Spain in October. US got its first ever Women’s Olympiad medal, which was silver. Polgar’s performance was remarkable which won her two gold medals for her highest rating in the women’s event. She was also the one to score second best percentage on board 1, which got her a silver medal. She is at present the proud owner of 10 Olympiad Medals of which 5 are gold, 4 silver and a bronze. She also holds the record of not losing a single game in the Olympiads.

Her Elo rating of 2577 made her the most active female player in the US as well the world. She has the record of being on top 3 for almost 23 years now.

Year 2005:

• Largest numbers of simultaneous games played- This was marked by 326 games played of which she won 309, tied 14 and lost 3.
• Most consecutive games played- The number of games was 1,131 which were played by her.
• Highest number of games won: Polgar won almost all the games she played except a few.
• Highest percentage of wins: Polgar had the highest percentage of wins in the tournament, which was 96.93%.

It was also in the year 2005 that Polgar won the US Open Blitz title for the second time, which was held in Phoenix, Arizona. Polgar made it to the world news as she participated to promote ‘Chess for Peace’ held in Lindsborg, Kansas in the year 2005 along with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and the famous World Champion Anatoly Karpov. She was also one of the participants of the second ‘Clash of the Titans - Battle of the Genders match’, which she played against Karpov. The match however, ended on a tie.

Year 2006:

June 2006, Polgar both organized and played the Mayor's Cup in New York City, which was the most popular double RR tournament ever in the history of United States. At the end Polgar was half a point behind Gata Kamsky and ahead of the leading US champions like Boris Gulko, Ildar Ibragimov, Alex Onischuk and Alex Stripunsky.

It was in July 2006 that Polgar participated in the Women's World Chess Cup held in Dresden, Germany as a representative of the US. She was the undisputable winner of the title by winning the match against German IM Elizabeth Pahtz in the final with a score of 7 wins, 4 draws and no loss.

Polgar won the third US Open Blitz Championships on August 2006 held in Oak Brook. She was named the“Scholastic Chess Ambassador” by the ‘United States Chess Federation Scholastic Chess Council’ for the first time ever.