He didn’t think he could create geniuses, he thought that if you put all your focus into one thing at a very very early age, you’d be good at it. Which isn’t a unique idea…
Polgár was born on 23 July 1976 in Budapest, to a Hungarian-Jewish family.[13] Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father, László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age.[14] “Geniuses are made, not born,” was László’s thesis. He and his wife Klára educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject
Having three daughters he trained in chess is less impressive than pretty much any other specialization.
The biggest roadblock for women in chess, was high ranking men refused to play them. And pretty much the only way to get really good at chess is to play people who are even better than you.
It’s no coincidence the youngest ended up the best, her oldest sisters were there for her to practice against.
I think I remember a NatGeo documentary called My Brilliant Brain on Judit Polgar. I think one of my favorite quotes was along the lines of: “I’ve never beaten a well man”. That’s a reference to all the men she used to beat that always had excuses like having a headache or not feeling well whenever they’d lose.
Delightful and savage.
… two of them became record-breakers and one …
… was :
Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time.Thanks for sharing, her whole life story is nothing short of incredible.
How come nobody made a film out of this?
