‘Kramnik is the toughest’
Vijay Tagore
Sunday, February 24, 2008 03:41 IST
In a big strong man’s world, she is the odd-woman out. At the outset, her aim was to win the world championship and she pursued that goal meritoriously.
Having beaten almost every big chess player in the world, including Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov,she has her priorities etched out in her mind.
Now a mother, the 32-year-old Judit Polgar, youngest of the famous Polgar sistersfrom Hungary — Susan and Zsofia are the others — has slowed down but has not given up.
Vijay Tagore catches up with her
How is it being the odd-woman out in the very elite chess players of the world?
For me it is very natural to play with men and I have been competing at top level for more then a decade. Though I must admit, it is very difficult maintain that kind of form at the top level.
How do you prepare yourself to compete against the most cerebral of the players?
I changed something in my preparation in the last few years. I make more use of my experience now and try to work more efficiently so that my efforts aren’t wasted. Usually I start making my preparation about two weeks before a tournament.
How have you managed to stay competitive for so long?
First of all, since I love chess, I have the fighting spirit, and I like challenges, so it was especially interesting for me when I played my first tournament in Wijk aan Zee after my son was born.
From the beginning you were adamant about competing with men, why?
It comes mainly because of my education. My parents always told me and my sisters that a girl is as good as a boy. They wanted us to complete our education.
Here is the full article.
There will never be another Polgar family.
When Judit speaks of maintaining top form, is she referring to almost entirely to opening preparation?
Or after her lay-off/birth is she losing games in the endgame phase that in the past should would not have lost?
GeneM
shouldn’t it be DNA, not NDA?