'I like good, star games' IE hates playing igainst women. That s - Judit Polgar, the strongest woman chess player the world has ever seen. Judit competes in men's only events and is ranked 14th in the world among men. The chess playing level of women has gone up since Judit arrived on the scene. Judit, born on July 23, 1976, is the youngest of the three Polgar sisters from Budapest. She is a Grandmaster among men, something which only a hand- ful of women have accomplished. champion Garry Kasparov in Linares tournament result the first Olympiad Her sisters Sofia and Zsuzsa are both 1994 was shrouded in controversy at Thessaloniki 1988 was important. woman Grandmasters. Sofia is also a even though it was a historical clash Later on it was Madrid 1994. There men's International Master and between the best man and woman in are a lot of them but these are the Zsuzsa, the oldest is the world the world. She won the Madrid super ones I would like to single out. women's champion and a category tournament in 1994 which Q: In the last few events you have Grandmaster among men. recorded her best rating performance. been starting very well but some- Moving between various top-level Ever since, Judit is more a part of the thing goes wrong in the second half. chess venues, Judit is today very men's fold than the women's circuit. Is this due to lack of stamina? much a professional who is in good Men players like Evgeny Bareev, A: Somehow, I get stuck when I business. She adds colour to any Vassily Ivanchuk and Nigel Short play against Kramnik or Vishy chess event in which she participates. have had horrifying moments when (Viswanathan Anand). In this tourna- Her fighting spirit is such that she she sat across them. Judit has worked ment I survived Vishy but Kramnik bagged the award for it in Dos with sister Zsuzsa more than anyone beat me. After that I forced too much Hermanas tournament. Judit, who else. No other professional sport has a against Yusupov. I think my whole moved around with her sisters and woman competing and threatening result would have been different if I parents in the past, now has her the men than Judit Polgar in chess. had made a draw against Yusupov. mother accompanying her when she She is a unique personality. There was no problem in the game. I travels. She keeps fit by swimming Judit accomplished feats which was just pushing it too hard. and playing table tennis. have never been dreamed of before Q: You and your sisters did not She made her presence felt in the by women across the world. play in the women's events. international scene for the first time Immediately after her last round Suddenly Zsuzsa has started to play. in 1988 when she teamed up with her game in the Chess Meeting '97 at What is the reason and when can we two sisters and Ildiko Madl to win the Dortmund, she gave an exclusive expect you and Sofia to join her? gold medal for Hungary in the interview to The Sportstar. Excerpts: A: Zsuzsa started to play since she Thessaloniki Olympiad and thereby Question: Which has been your felt that she did not have chances for stopping decades of Soviet suprema- most memorable chess perfor- the absolute world championship. cy. Soon, she became the No. 1 in the mance? She gave it a try and did it and now FIDE rating list. She heads the Answer: One of my first big suc- she is waiting for the next challenger. women's rating list with 2670, lead- cesses which I consider memorable is About Sofi (Sofia), I don't know. I ing second-placed Zsuzsa by a big the Hungarian championship in 1991, think she doesn't want to do it in the 105-point difference. when I won in front of Lajos Portisch, near future. For me, I don't plan it at Her first encounter with world Andras Adorjan and others. As a all. 48 THE SPORTSTAR AUGUST 2 1997 Q: Does your father decide about Q: What happened in your much- video and nothing happened. your programme or do you? publicised first game against Garry Q: How does it feel to be the A: My father gives the direction. In Kasparov in Linares 1994 when he strongest player in Hungary? the past he told us not to play took back a move? Did you miss A: Of course it is a good feeling. Of women's tournaments as it gave less beating him? course there are other players who opportunities to improve our game. It A: It was a very strange situation. are really on my neck now (laughter). is necessary to play against tougher Before that incident happened, he Zoltan Almasi, Peter Leko are all opponents. was completely winning. I was also there and any time they can be better. Nowadays it is my father who tries in time trouble. Which wasn't usual Unfortunately, in the Olympiad, I to convince me to play in the for me. I played on. He started to play didn't show my best result. women's Olympiads and the the best moves and then he took it Q: What is your ambition for the women's championships and I am back. It was a strange situation. In the year as well as for the future? tough with this. video you can see that I am looking A: I don't have any specific goals. Q: Many players like Bobby around turning my head and nobody Actually, I never had a dream either. Fischer and Anand have played says a word. But I want to play more stable chess against you? Have you been influ- On the other hand, I just couldn't and try to improve my play and be enced by any of these famous people believe it. Also there is a rule and I more secure. or by any other player? think it depends on the tournament. Q: Is Azmaiparashvili your per- A: Basically I like good, star games. If you claim something, if it is not manent second or do you just fix sec- There are lot of players whom I like: true, they give you a penalty of two onds per tournament like Chernin? Paul Keres, Boris Spassky and there minutes or on the other hand they A: Well, with Chernin I was study- are lots of them. There is no one spe- give two minutes to the opponent. ing for a short while. It was not very cific person that I can name. But I wasn't sure about this. good. Azmai worked for a year and a Q: How do you see your chances Hundreds of people sitting in the half as my trainer. Now I don't have in the coming world championship audience, the organiser is right there, any permanent trainer. cycle at Groningen? the arbiter is there and he is the world Q: Do you work during or before A: It is a sort of a lottery. It is a champion. He also knows what exact- events or all the time? knock-out system with two games. ly is going on. Somehow I didn't say A: It would be nice to have a trainer So, they are very short mini-matches. anything. full time. With Azmai, he is a foreign- I hope I have a chance. It will depend In a way it was stupid not to have er, so the trainer has to travel and this in one second in some situations. said anything. They say there is no can be a problem. But I try to train now with Lev Psakhis as much as Judit Polgar in action against former world champion Anatoly Karpov possible. * in the Chess Meeting '97 at Dortmund. ARVIND AARON THESPORTSTAR AUGUST 21997 49.