Judit Polgar won the 2012 FIDE Caissa award – the “Oscar of Chess”. The award ceremony took place during the Opening Address of the 84th FIDE Congress in Tallinn, Estonia.
The gorgeous was cup hand made by a craftsman in Kiev, Ukraine, and is sponsored by the Classic Jewelry House Lobortas. The company’s namesake Mr. Igor Lobortas personally brought the cup and presented it to Judit this morning.
The youngest of the three Polgar sisters, Judit first became known worldwide at the tender age of 12 when she scored 12.5 out of 13 at the 1988 Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki. She played a vital role in Hungary winning the gold for the first time, ending the Soviet dominance of women’s chess.
Remarkably Judit has been the highest rated female player in the world for nearly a quarter century, ever since January 1989. She is also the first and only women player in history to enter to the magic Top 10 in the world.
When the Women’s Commission of FIDE awarded Judit the Caissa award, it was not only a recognition of her achievements in 2012, but also to celebrate her outstanding career over the years, and invaluable contribution to chess and specifically to women’s chess.
Congratulations, Judit! Your award is very well deserved! Thank you for all of your contributions to chess. I have your entire career history of games (PGN) on my iPad and constantly enjoy them!
Why not give it to Kosteniuk. She’s had a great year. She won every event she entered and she’s the chess queen.
I mentioned in a previous post that I have all of Judit’s PGN games. Susan, I also have all of yours. Thanks so much Susan for all of your VERY FINE chess journalism work!!