Meet the Chess Champion Susan Polgar

November 10, 2013

Susan Polgar must have felt like a movie star at the Hyatt Regency here on Saturday evening. People wanted to take photographs with her and journalists wanted to speak to her. She may not be in the movies, but she is a star, alright, in women’s chess. She became the World No. 1 when she was 15, she has been the World champion, has won 10 medals at the Chess Olympiad — mostly for Hungary, and taught the opening moves to the finest female player of all time, Judit Polgar, her kid sister. She is in Chennai as a commentator for the World championship. “I enjoyed my stint as a commentator today, but I lost my voice for a while after it though,” she says smiling. “Yes, I was a bit surprised with Carlsen’s choice of opening today, but wasn’t surprised that they agreed to a draw in that position.” Carlsen’s last tournament before coming to Chennai was at St. Louis, Missouri, USA, where Susan now lives. “He was devastating in that event, the Sinquefield Cup, which he won by two points,” she says. “I was quite impressed by his energy; he came to my Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Webster University and played basketball and football. He is quite good at football, you know.” She says Carlsen is incredibly strong, but Anand has the game and the experience to stop him. “I am happy to be here for this match,” she said.   ——– SOURCE: The Hindu