Queen of Chess Judit Polgar Recalls Some Of Her Finest Moments From Memory

GM Judit Polgar, everyone's choice for the greatest woman chess player in history, has been making the rounds since the release of Queen of Chess, the hit Netflix documentary about her life in chess. Last week, she sat down at a board with Chess.com and correctly guessed, within moments, five games of hers played between 1988 and 2022.

If you can't play the video right now, or prefer to read about it, we've summarized it for you below. But be sure to watch when you can, too!

• Beating Garry (2002)
• First GM Norm (1989)
• Youngest GM In History (1991)
• Olympiad Miniature With Kasparov Watching (1988)
• Tactics In The Park Against Magnus (2022)
• Conclusion

Beating Garry (2002)

Still settling in, Polgar only needed to see five moves before recognizing her 2002 victory against GM Garry Kasparov: "I didn't have so many memorable wins in the Berlin, I have to say!" As Polgar explains, the game came in a Russia vs. Rest of the World match... a match the Rest of the World won, 52-48. "It was a big shock," remembers Polgar. "[Losing the match] was not the reason the Russians wanted to organize this event!"

"It was surprising to me that Kasparov decided to play the Berlin," Polgar recalls, thinking. "I had the image of being a very aggressive and tactical player, but he did as well. I didn't really understand his choice. Maybe it sounds strange, but it didn't feel like the most difficult game of my life because I was just outplaying Garry."

First GM Norm

After 10 moves, Polgar recognized the second game as her first-round contest in a tournament in Amsterdam in 1989, although she picked the wrong opponent. Turns out the game came against GM Hans Ree.

"That was an amazing tournament," says Polgar. "That was my first time going to Amsterdam. It was big news when I won in round one, and I remember Nc6 was played very fast by my opponent. I was very happy."

"The tournament went incredibly well," she continues. "I made my first grandmaster norm at this tournament! After round five, the organizers decided to move the A group to a suite in the hotel. They wanted more space because there was a line outside wanting to watch me play!"

There was a line outside wanting to watch me play!

- Judit Polgar, on her first tournament appearance in Amsterdam

Youngest GM In History

This time, Polgar only needed eight moves to recognize the game and her opponent, GM Tibor Tolnai. No wonder the game was so memorable: "With this game I became the youngest grandmaster in history at the time."

Olympiad Miniature With Kasparov Watching (1988)

After seeing a third straight game starting with 1.e4 c5, Polgar jokingly remarked, "What a surprising opening!" She was on a roll by now, recognizing her game against WIM Pavlina Chilingarova at the 1988 Chess Olympiad after just three moves.

"I actually got the brilliancy prize for this game," Judit says. "Later, I learned Garry was standing behind me and watching this game. That was a big motivation and inspiration in my career, that he had started to keep on eye on my games."

Judit scored 12.5/13 in this Women's Olympiad, leading Hungary to a half-point win over the dominant Soviet Union (while Kasparov led the Soviet men's team to an easy six-point win).

Tactics In The Park Against Magnus (2022)

For the last game, anticipating that her 1994 victory over GM Alexei Shirov might have been selected, Polgar guessed that game after 2...e6. If it's good enough for her, we'll show it to you anyway:

It turned out the game that was actually picked happened in a rather more casual setting—the El Retiro Chess Park in Madrid, a three-hour drive north of the Linares super tournament halls where Polgar crushed Shirov.

Technically, 12 moves was the longest it took Polgar to recognize a game, but the casual setting probably affected that. Yet she had a good chuckle after 12...Nxg4 (which was one of Magnus's moves) and clearly had fond memories of this game, too. "That was a fun opportunity," she says, one that happened "completely by chance" while filming something else.

The cameras were rolling back for their game, too, and Judit also narrated it:

Conclusion

And so Polgar had correctly recalled her five games, dating back 28 years on average, in just 7.6 moves per game. A memory like that is just one reason she's one of the greatest chess players in history!

What is your favorite Polgar game? Let us know in the comments. And be sure to watch the video if you haven't yet!