Story · 2026-10-12 · 2 min read

Judit Polgár: the girl who beat the world’s best

Trained at home by her father, she became a Grandmaster at 15 and defeated Kasparov.

Judit Polgár was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1976. Her father, László, believed that talent can be built with early, regular practice, and he taught chess to Judit and her two sisters at home.

In 1991, aged 15 years and 4 months, Judit became a Grandmaster, the youngest ever at that time, beating the record held by Bobby Fischer.

In 2002, in a rapid game in Moscow, she defeated Garry Kasparov, then the world’s top player. In 2005 she reached number 8 in the world rankings. She is widely seen as the strongest woman chess player in history, and she mostly played in the open section against the men.

Her story is a reminder for parents: practice, belief and joy matter more than "talent".