Susan Polgar Facts for Kids

The native form of this personal name is Polgár Zsuzsanna. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Quick facts for kids Susan Polgar
Polgar in 2018
Born	(1969-04-19) April 19, 1969 (age 56) Budapest, Hungary
Spouse(s)	Jacob Shutzman (m. 1994, divorced) Paul Truong (m. 2006)
Children	2
Chess career
Country	Hungary United States (2002–2019)
Title	Grandmaster (1991)
Women's World Champion	1996–1999
FIDE rating	2577 (July 2025) [inactive]
Peak rating	2577 (January 2005)

Susan Polgar (born April 19, 1969) is a famous Hungarian-American chess grandmaster. A grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can earn. Susan Polgar was the Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999.

When she was just 15 years old, in 1984, she became the top-ranked female chess player in the world. In 1991, she made history as the third woman ever to become a Grandmaster. She has won many awards, including eleven medals at the Women's Chess Olympiad, which is a big international team chess tournament.

Besides playing, Polgar is also a chess coach, writer, and promoter. She helps organize chess tournaments for young players. She leads the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Webster University.

About Susan Polgar
Her Amazing Chess Journey
- Playing for the United States
Chess Coach and Educator
- Coaching College Chess Teams
A Famous Game by Susan Polgar
Images for kids
See also

About Susan Polgar

Susan Polgar with Paul Truong in 2006

Susan Polgar was born in Budapest, Hungary. She grew up in a Hungarian-Jewish family. In 1994, she moved to New York after marrying Jacob Shutzman. She has two sons, Tom and Leeam. Later, she married Paul Truong in 2006. Today, she lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 2023, she received the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrant Award. This award honors people who have contributed a lot to American society.

Her Amazing Chess Journey

The Polgar sisters: Judit, Susan, and Sofia, with their father László in 1989.

Susan Polgar and her two younger sisters, Judit and Sofia, were part of a special learning project. Their father, László Polgár, believed that children could achieve amazing things if they focused on one subject from a young age. He said, "Geniuses are made, not born." He and his wife taught their three daughters at home, with chess as the main subject.

Susan started playing chess very early. At just 4 years old, she won her first chess tournament. It was the Budapest Girls' Under-11 Championship, and she won every game! In 1981, when she was 12, she won the World Under 16 Girls Championship.

By July 1984, at age 15, Susan was the top-rated female chess player in the world. In 1991, she became the third woman to earn the Grandmaster title. Her sister Judit later broke her record for the youngest female Grandmaster.

In 1992, Susan Polgar won both the Women's World Blitz and the Women's World Rapid Championship. These are faster versions of chess.

She became the Women's World Champion in 1996. Her title defense in 1999 faced problems with location and prize money. Because of these issues, she could not play, and the chess organization (FIDE) declared she had given up her title.

Playing for the United States

In 2002, Susan Polgar started playing for the United States instead of Hungary. In 2003, the United States Chess Federation named her "Grandmaster of the Year." This was the first time a woman received this honor. That same year, she also became the first woman to win the US Open Blitz Championship. She won it again in 2005 and 2006.

In 2004, she helped the US women's team win a silver medal at the 36th Chess Olympiad. She also won an individual gold medal for her great performance. She has never lost a game in the Women's Olympiads!

Susan Polgar playing many games at once in 2005.

In July 2005, Polgar set four world records in a simultaneous exhibition in Florida. This is when one player plays against many opponents at the same time. She played 326 games, winning most of them.

In October 2005, she joined former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and former World Champion Anatoly Karpov to promote "Chess For Peace." She played a match against Karpov, which ended in a tie.

In June 2019, she changed her chess federation back to Hungary.

Chess Coach and Educator

In 1997, Susan Polgar started the Polgar Chess Center in New York to teach chess to children. In 2002, she created the Susan Polgar Foundation. This foundation helps sponsor many chess tournaments for young players.

Coaching College Chess Teams

In 2007, Susan Polgar became the head coach for the Texas Tech Knight Raiders chess team. In 2011, her team won the President's Cup, which is the national college chess title. This made her the first female head coach to lead a chess team to a national championship. They won again in 2012.

In 2012, Polgar and her chess program moved to Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her team at Webster University continued to win, taking home the President's Cup five years in a row from 2013 to 2017. She also won the College Coach of the Year award in 2013.

In 2014, Polgar received the Furman Symeon medal. This award is given to the best chess coach who works with both male and female players. She was the first American coach and the first woman to receive this top coaching award from FIDE.

In March 2019, Susan Polgar was honored by being inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

A Famous Game by Susan Polgar

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Polgar vs. Hardicsay, 1985

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Position after 16...Bg4

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Position after 19...Kg8

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Final position

Here is a game Susan Polgar won when she was 16 years old:

Polgar vs. Hardicsay, Hungarian Team Championship 1985
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bf4 a6 8. e4 Bg7 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Qb3 Bg4?! 11. Qxb7 Bxf3 White has sacrificed a pawn, but Black has some good moves. 12. Qxa8! Nxe4 13. Rc1! This was a new and strong move. 13... Bd4 14. Rc2 Nxf2?! 15. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Bg4 (Look at the first diagram) 17. Bb5+! axb5 18. Re1+ Kf8 If Black plays 18...Kd7, White can win the queen with 19.Qb7+ Qc7 20.Re7+! 19. Bh6+ Kg8 (Look at the second diagram) 20. Re7! This move stops Black from making any counterattacks. The rook cannot be captured because 20...Qxe7 21.Qxb8+ leads to checkmate. 20... Bd7 21. Qxb8! Qxb8 22. Ne4! 1–0 Even though Black has a queen for a knight, they cannot stop White from delivering checkmate with 23.Nf6#.