163: Win, Lose, or Draw [Checkmate pt.1: Judit Polgár]

Maia Warner-Langenbahn
Jul 15
3 min read

Updated: Jul 21

Some are born for greatness, others are made. For Judit Polgár and her sisters, their father was not leaving it up to chance. Raised from birth to be chess prodigies, the Polgár sisters overcame communism, misogyny, and her own self doubt to become the youngest chess grandmaster in history and the first woman to ever break into the top ten chess players in the world. Win, lose, or draw, there is no questioning her legacy. This week, on Well, I Laughed.

Chapters

00:00:00 Catch-Up

00:30:36 Win, Lose, or Draw

00:35:50 The Experiment

00:46:18 Chess Basics

00:56:42 Tournament Rules

00:58:15 Elo Rating System

01:02:01 World of Chess

01:05:15 A Genius is...Made?

01:16:39 1988 Chess Olympiad

01:24:06 Youngest Grandmaster

01:27:15 1994 Linares

01:43:47 But she's a woman?!

01:49:10 Life Outside of Chess

01:53:19 Friendship

01:58:51 Break the Cycle

02:03:43 Where are they now?

Photos & Games Referenced

Games

Judit Polg á r v Garry Kasparov Linares (1994) - Chess Games

Kasparov - Nc5

Judit Polgár v Garry Kasparov Dos Hermanas (1996) - Chess Games

Judit Polgár v Garry Kasparov Linares (2001) - Chess Games

Judit Polgár v Garry Kasparov Russia - The Rest of the World (2002) - Chess Games

a young girl with short dark hair stands in front of a tall trophy and also holds a trophy. she is smiling at the camera — *Judit after winning the New York Open at age 9 - Courtesy of Judit Polgár via CNN*

The Polgár Sisters at the 1988 Women's Chess Olympiad in Greece, from left to right: Sofia, Judit, and Susan - courtesy of Judit Polgár via Chessbase	The Polgár Sisters with their father László in 1989, from left to right: Judit, Sofia, Susan, László - courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Polgár Sisters around 2017, from left to right: Judit, Susan, and Sofia - courtesy of Timea Jaksa via Tibor Krausz	Judit Polgár with her husband Gustáv Font - courtesy of Scrkuppenheim