When I was 8 or 9, I met GM Gaprindashvili for the first time when she came to play in a strong all-male event in Budapest. She did not win the tournament but she fought hard and gave it her all. I was inspired by this. I wanted to be like her. In wanted to be better than her. I wanted to eclipse what she had done. I wanted to be the best chess player in the world, male or female. This gave me a motivation to work harder on my game.
After Gaprindashvili came Chiburdanidze, another legend. Even though she did not have the same longevity as Gaprindashvili, she surpassed her in strength. Then came me taking over the #1 spot in the ranking when I was 15 years old. Shortly after that, my sisters also became incredibly strong. My sister Sofia had a historic event in Rome and Judit took everything to another level, breaking the 2600 and then 2700 mark.
Xie Jun shocked the world by defeating Chiburdanidze to become the first Asian male or female to win the World Chess Championship in 1991. She also took her playing level to another notch above Chiburdanidze. Xie Jun also revolutionized chess in China. She made an incredible impact for chess over there.
Why do I bring some of these names up? None of the people on this list had to resort to any type of cheap marketing ploy to better the game or make a name for themselves. What Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze did to popularize chess for Georgia, Xie Jun for China, the Polgar sisters for Hungary and me now for the United States are big. Even though we did things our own ways, we all did it in dignify manners. Each of us took women’s chess to the next level. We proved ourselves on the board.
I would prefer to see the women of the next generation work harder on their games to eclipse what their predecessors have done to make a name for themselves. Kournikova made a lot of money for herself using sex appeal. She used her own sex appeal to promote herself. But it was people like Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and the Williams sisters, etc. who brought an incredible amount of attention to the game because of what they achieved on the court. Even though Kournikova was the #1 double’s player in the world and she was also in the top 5 in singles (as someone mentioned earlier), she will always be remembered as the one who never won a single’s title (fair or not).
Why is Kasparov the #1 name in chess? He made a name for himself on the chess board as the #1 player for 2 decades. Physical beauty may fade with age but the accomplishments on the chess board will be forever part of history. That is the best way to make a name for yourself. That’s substance!
Only One person can be the best. but there are many people who do not have the talent to be the best in the world. and these people can contribute to chess with the talent they have been given.
to be beautiful is not wrong.
I did not look at all the pictures on the web site. but I can say that I did not see a single picture in bad taste. remember all these pictures are taken by friends of the women themselves.
As shared somewhere else. having beautiful women come to chess tournaments encourages young men to attend those same tournaments. this is good for chess.
I agree that being the worlds number one really inspires many to play the game. but not everyone can be number one. they can be themselves.
Susan, I would like to say with dignity that I have seen many of your pictures posted here on the web site and other places. these pictures have been of you, you with people and you with your sisters. All the pictures show you and your friends with dignity, grace and beauty.
all the people in the pictures look good. all the people are beautiful in the eyes of many. certainly in my eyes. I am older now. over 60 and one of the strongest items of beauty is youth. youth looks beautiful. so now in my older age almost everyone looks beautiful to me.
I really feel that most of the pictures of the
Only One person can be the best. but there are many people who do not have the talent to be the best in the world. and these people can contribute to chess with the talent they have been given.
to be beautiful is not wrong.
I did not look at all the pictures on the web site. but I can say that I did not see a single picture in bad taste. remember all these pictures are taken by friends of the women themselves.
As shared somewhere else. having beautiful women come to chess tournaments encourages young men to attend those same tournaments. this is good for chess.
I agree that being the worlds number one really inspires many to play the game. but not everyone can be number one. they can be themselves.
Susan, I would like to say with dignity that I have seen many of your pictures posted here on the web site and other places. these pictures have been of you, you with people and you with your sisters. All the pictures show you and your friends with dignity, grace and beauty.
all the people in the pictures look good. all the people are beautiful in the eyes of many. certainly in my eyes. I am older now. over 60 and one of the strongest items of beauty is youth. youth looks beautiful. so now in my older age almost everyone looks beautiful to me.
I really feel that most of the pictures of the women on the web site are not different than the pictures of you that are posted. In all your pictures you appear with grace and dignity and beauty. so also are these young women at least doing their best to appear with dignity and grace and beauty.
many pictures are of women sitting at a chess board, playing or thinking. and nothing wrong with that.
for some reason we have made sex a sin. when it is not intrinsically wrong. sex is just one thing in life. nothing special. nothing to get excited about.
just in case you wonder. I have never been on an internet sex site. I have never been to a sex commercial place of any kind. I have never subscribed to sex magazines of any kind. I have lived with the freedom to do what interests me. and I have spent a lot of time on chess.
However, I do not run around telling other people that they must make my choices in life. I allow people to make the choices they choose with the hope that they will do the same for me and allow me to do as I choose.
when we try to dictate what others choose we lose our own freedom to choose.
I agree that it is wonderful to make a name for yourself by being the best chess player in the world and not to use your beauty to enhance your reputation. but not everyone can do that.
Please I ask you. Allow others to be who they are. Their approach to help chess may not be the best. But it is the Best that they can do right now today. Look at it as having fun.
All of chess need not be so serious. can we have some fun. some other things to do beside study opening theory and endgames. and playing in serious tournaments.
My opinion is that I am glad to see beautiful young women playing chess. It is a good role model. it shows that women who are already beautiful do not have to spend their time on their beautiful bodies, but they can turn their mind toward fun and chess. good for them. this is good for everyone.
Certainly I know you do not propose that all beautiful women leave chess and go spend their time just being beautiful.
So let us open our doors to everyone. let us make everyone welcome to play chess. the young and old the beautiful and the not so beautiful. those of every age and nationality etc.
Pictures are beautiful women playing chess is perfectly acceptable and enjoyable but same beautiful women wearing bikini and promoting chess??seems strange and not acceptable. Susan, you forgot koneru Humpy of india who can be considered future world champion and she promotes chess with grace and dignity.
I like Humpy and what she does. She is very mature and level headed. The reason why I did not put her with Chiburdanidze, Gaprindashvili and Xie Jun is because she has not reached that level of achievement yet. She has a good chance to do it and she does it gracefully.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
Kasparov is also #1 due to his outstanding books and his constant search to the truth in chess
Kournikova’s only way of making money is showing herself off. Is she any good at tennis? No! Its not nice to say but it is true. If she were a chessplayer she’d probably be around 1400 FIDE.
Kournikova was ranked in the top 5-10 in the world in singles for a number of years. She was also ranked #1 in the world in doubles.
Lindsey
A very hypocratical discussion, especially since Susan places so many pictures of herself on this blog. She is clearly using her goodlooks.
Kosteniuk (or any other nice-looking chessgirl) did not hurt chess, in any way.
Asking hundreds/thousands of chess Moms, Dads and Coaches a ridiculous question, that hurts chess, much more.
Oops, there goes my blogger of the month award!
Here is another angle on the issue:
Attractive women sell anything, from toasters to sportcars. Associating a product with an attractive woman, makes the product more attractive.
With chess it is exactly the other way around. Associating chess with an attractive women makes the woman more attractive.
Susan: “Excellent remark, Peter, you are back in the ‘blogger of the month award’ race”.
Dear Susan,
In your post, the name of Kosteniuk is written all over, even if you didn’t have the guts to mention it not even once.
But the fact is, Alexandra has been doing a wonderful job at promoting chess. Besides, being among among the strongest female players in the world, is something I doubt she has achieved with glamour pictures in glossy mags.
My bigger doubt is: why do you criticize people that make an effort to promote chess, and say nothing about the ones who are in a good position to do it, but actually do nothing at all. Think of Stefanova: she’s the world champion, and yet, she’s not making a big job at chess promotion. Think of many others, you surely know them better than me.
Why do you think that doing nothing is less vulnerable to attacks than doing something?
Maybe there’s something escaping me, but I would say that the media attention to chess players sounds bad to you, as long as you’re not the subject. Why posing with Hollywood actors is better for chess than posing for a Vogue fashion shot?
Well, the first, everyone can do. The second, is only for some few.
Thanks.
Keep on doing your great work. All the best
Rafaela
rafa_ela_pesci AT hotmail.com
Rafaela,
This post is about my predecessors and some of the greatest women players in history. These are the people who made the biggest impact for women’s chess. That is not to take away from the current players. Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze are hardly mentioned any where. They should get the respect they deserve.
As I said before in various places in my blog as well as on ChessBase, Kosteniuk is a good player. However, it is not my job to promote her or praise her. She has a full time team that does that. My job is to promote chess and women’s chess and those people who can’t promote themselves.
Anyone has the right to promote themselves anyway they want. I also have the right to speak out if I don’t agree with them.
Lastly, I did not mention anyone by name. People just make assumption. Please don’t assume.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
Susan:
“None of the people on this list had to resort to any type of cheap marketing ploy to better the game or make a name for themselves.”
Susan:
“Kosteniuk is a good player. However, it is not my job to promote her or praise her. She has a full time team that does that.”
Susan:
“Lastly, I did not mention anyone by name. People just make assumption. Please don’t assume.”
It is very difficult not to make assumptions here. Who else then Kosteniuk is marketed?
Rafaela Pesci,
If you ask a question, please read the answer. If you want to promote GM Kosteniuk, it is fine. But please don’t put words in my mouth. You made assumptions when I did not mention any name and you also stated things using my name on other site when I did not say such things.
Please have the courtesy to retract your statement on the other site. People are free to express their opinions but they are not free to fabricate facts.
Thanks!
Susan Polgar
Susan,
By no means I have the intention to fabricate facts. I simply express my opinions.
One thing I make clear: Everything I wrote about you in another website, is the same I wrote here, a few posts before.
You may disagree with my opinions. That’s fine. You may ask me not write here again. I have to respect that.
When I have something to say about someone, I say it directly to that person, as I did to you in my previous post. Then, to whom I tell what I think, I have to remind you, it is none of your business.
At least, I don’t attack and question anyone’s acts and options with remarks that are on the vergre of an insult, covering myself under the “I didn’t mention any names” shield. And that is something, ms. Susan, I think you made when you wrote this post.
Well, once again, at least that’s my opinion.
All the best,
Rafaela Pesci
PS. And no, I do not want to promote GM Kosteniuk. She doesn’t need me for that.
RP
This is my problem with your remarks:
“I’m affraid Susan is slightly annoyed by the fact that, besides being a very strong chess player, you get a lot of attention from the media. What a crime!”
“In your post, the name of Kosteniuk is written all over, even if you didn’t have the guts to mention it not even once.”
Rafaela Pesci
You made wrong assumption about me and you made it like it is a fact. If I have something to say about Kosteniuk, I will do it. If I did not bring up her name then please don’t assume. The only thing I said about Kosteniuk in the past on ChessBase and here is she’s a good player.
I don’t appreciate anyone using my name without understanding the full facts.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
I would like to weigh in on this article you have written. It is obvious to me who you are making reference to. Alexandra Kosteniuk also works hard at being the best chess player she can be. She tries to practice chess from 6-8 hours a day. But let’s be realistic, she also has some downtime and she has had some pictures made showing herself having some fun. This is not wrong and there is certainly nothing immoral about them. She also has a small market for her pictures. I would be almost certain she is not getting rich off her photos. I would also like to mention that singers, actors, and models also sell pictures of themselves. You have a photograph of yourself with one actor that got millions for selling photos of his baby. I had respect for you until I read this article but you have lost that respect. I am proud to be a fan of Alexandras and I am also proud of a title she gave me, her friend. In this article you show niether class or dignity. You yourself should know you cannot achieve a rating of 2500+ without work. But you make it seem that all Sasha does is stand in front of a camera and everything falls at her feet, this is simply not true. As for the inflated achievements allegation according to the uscf october top list she is 1st with a rating of 2565. Her name is not on the December list and I do not know why maybe she has become inactive.
Best wishes,
Glenn
Glenn,
I have never mentioned about Kosteniuk. I was not talking about Kosteniuk. It is unfortunate you feel that way. You are entitled to your oppinion and I am to mine.
I have nothing to do with what other bloggers say. They are entitled to their oppinions just as you are to yours.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
Kosteniuk is nothing but a Kournikova wannabe. She doesn’t realize that she’s nothing special. All she does is hype herself up with bogus titles on her website. Kosteniuk is about herself and no one else. Marta Fierro is much better.
Jesus Del Torro
Who cares about Kosteniuk? What’s so special about her? Humpy is much better and nicer. Go Humpy!
Raj
I prefer Shahade over Kosteniuk. Kosteniuk is the biggest ego maniac in women’s chess and she won nothing. 3-time world champion? Please! It’s 3 world Mickey mouse championships.
Shahade fan
http://www.nerve.com/nerveblog/scannerblog.aspx?blogid=96
Now, Kosteniuk has made to the sex site nerve.com. Congrats! What a wonderful example for young chess players especialy girls.
Chess new porn star Kosteniuk! How disgusting! What do you expect when you pose in bikinis and selling your body for money?
Eduardo
The behavior of Ms. Kosteniuk disgust me. What horrible example for children!
Hello! Is everybody forgeting that Kosteniuk is the 4th female player in the world? Does everyone believe that she’s achieved that place in the ranking by showing glamour pictures? Is it possible things work that way? Is anybody making some confusion between glamour pictures – even if they are silly and bad taste – and pornography? And finally: will anyone agree with me when I say that the most successful and popular one becomes, more envy and jealousy he attracts?
B Boyd
No, people just attack liars. She falsified her credentials on her own website. She claims to be a 3-time world champions. She’s not. She also doesn’t rank 4th. She’s 5th.
Maca