Entries in Judit Polgar (14)
Sosonko & Shankland, Good News and Bad News
Jokes about Gennadi Sosonko as a sort of chronicler for the grim reaper have been going around for at couple of decades now. If Sosonko writes about you, there's a kind of good news, bad news to it: the good news is that if he does, you're somebody in the chess world; the bad news is that if he does, you're probably dead. (That may or may not be bad news for you, but it's at least sad for your loved ones.)
Sam Shankland may be the moderately grim reaper. If you lose to him in the last round of an event (or at least your last round), the good news is that you're clearly a really strong player. The bad news is that it might be your last serious game: he sent Judit Polgar into retirement in the 2014 Chess Olympiad (I can't believe it has been four and a half years! I initially wrote "2016", but then checked to make sure), and now he has sent Vladimir Kramnik out of professional chess as well. It's possible that there's no causal relationship between their losses to Shankland and their retirement, but you can't be too careful: make sure your favorite players don't face him in the last round of a major tournament.
Book Notice: Hertan's "Strike Like Judit!"
Charles Hertan, Strike Like Judit! The Winning Tactics of Chess Legend Judit Polgar (New in Chess, 2018). 253 pp., $24.95. (But considerably less via Amazon.)
For a tactics book to be worth one's while it should provide the reader with a challenge (or have some other instructional value) and aesthetic pleasure. (Ideally and most of the time these two features go hand in hand.) How does this book fare? Aesthetically, it fares very well; it's almost impossible for a book on any elite grandmaster to to fail in that respect, and when it comes to a tactical monster like Judit Polgar one would have to work very hard to produce a book with poor content. Polgar won countless gorgeous games against players below the absolute top, and except against Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik managed to win lovely games against all the other members of the world elite as well. (She never defeated Kramnik, and her one win against Kasparov was in a rapid game where the latter played terribly on the black side of a Berlin.)
There are 110 games and game fragments - mostly the latter - spread across six chapters: Geometry lessons, Sicilian Slayer, The art of calculation, Endgame Empress, Shots!, and The Classics. Some of the fragments are deeply analyzed, others more lightly, and all are entertaining. (If you want the full Judit Polgar chess experience I'd strongly recommend getting her autobiographical 3-volume Quality Chess series, however. But that will set your wallet back by at least $45 more than this book, though it's worth it if you can afford it.)
How does it fare in the other respect? It's not designed as a puzzle book, and trying to use it in that way won't really work. Some diagrams precede special tactical moments, but others are more neutral while others show the position after a tactical shot. What about the book's instructional value? Here it's more successful, but again, it's not really designed for didactic purposes. The content is rich, so one can use the material as source material for one's own analytical work or for solitaire game exercises. After doing that one can check one's work against Hertan's analysis. That would make the book instructive, in a way that any well-annotated book could be instructive.
So for most readers, the book is worth getting for the pleasure of seeing some of Judit Polgar's greatest hits supplemented by Hertan's analysis, which also focuses on finding beautiful moves and ideas. As such, it's a nice one-volume intro to Polgar's chess for those who are hesitant to plunk down $65+ on her own series (through Amazon), for those willing to spend the bucks, I highly recommend her series.
Tactics Time: A Missed Brilliancy by Berkes
In New in Chess Magazine 2017/8, Judit Polgar recollects some of her adventures as a team captain, and shows why it was even better for Hungary when she was playing on their national team. (She doesn't say that herself, or hint it; that's my own comment.) On page 92 we find a marvelous example of this, when she shows an excerpt from the game Anton Korobov vs. Ferenc Berkes from the 2015 European Team Championship. Berkes had played a terrific game up to the point in question - move 33 - and had the chance to finish off with a magnificent combination. Unfortunately, he didn't spot it, but Polgar, watching the game from the side, did.
You've got an advantage over both players in knowing that there's something there, but even so it's difficult to work everything out. Have a look here, and see how you do.
Polgar the Commentator
Not particularly newsy, but for what it's worth Judit Polgar will be the official commentator at the forthcoming world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin. More about that, and an interview with her, here.
HT: Robert Davis
Judit Polgar Retiring From Tournament Chess
Unfortunately, the full story is only accessible to subscribers, but the gist is clear from the tease: Judit Polgar is retiring from chess, at least from tournament competition. (HT: David McCarthy.) She hasn't been a full-time player for some years now, although she has been more active the last several years than when she was a new mother. Whether she feels that she can't perform at her best level because of her commitment to parenthood, or prefers to be a sort of goodwill ambassador for the game, or has some other reason is something I don't know but might be revealed in the article, so those of you who are subscribers should please let us know in the comments!
It is a pity that she is dropping out now, though, when Hou Yifan is getting very close to surpassing her. Polgar was the strongest woman in chess history - by far - and she maintained that status for an incredible quarter of a century. Her best chess was inspiring to all chess lovers, and her example was certainly an inspiration to many girls and women playing the game. It's easy to see why she would want to retire while she's still on top, but it might make for an even better story if she played on until she was at very long last passed by another female player. The first scenario makes her the story, while the second makes her a large part of an even bigger story. Or still another option: she goes out with a match against Hou Yifan, when the result will determine which tale is told.
More On Sax
A nice little remembrance here, including some brief, laudatory comments by Judit Polgar.
Judit's ChessPlayground And Other Apps
Word comes via ChessToday that Judit Polgar has an app for beginners that is newly available (more about this here and here). While readers of this blog might be interested for the sake of gifting it to others, I doubt that many of you are at the stage where it might still do you some good. But what apps, if any, have you used with benefit? In my limited experience chess apps are still pretty disappointing, in that you can find one that does this and one that does that, but none that can do this other thing or that even put this and that together.
For instance: there are apps with strong engines like Stockfish, and apps that are decent as PGN readers (e.g. Everyman's e-reader). But a strong engine/quality PGN reader combo? Not the last time I checked, but to be fair it has been a while. (This is where you come in, to relieve me of my woeful ignorance!) And I've been a waiting a long time for an app that will let you save variations in analysis and not just main lines, but so far it's a no-go. There is a rumor that ChessBase has one in the works, but as far as I know it's not out yet.
One app I've used off and on and find useful is the Tactics Trainer app. It has a pretty large stock of puzzles, chosen at random (but within certain rating ranges - a 2000 won't get puzzles suitable for 1000-rated players, and vice-versa), and is appropriately frustrating when you lose concentration. If you use your iPad or iPod/iPhone frequently for entertainment purposes, it might be just the tool for you to practice your tactics.
But now to you, dear readers. What apps (Apple or Google or whatever else) are you familiar with and able to recommend?
Polgar Wins Second Semi, To Face Carlsen in the Final
As Magnus Carlsen did yesterday in his match, Judit Polgar did today in hers: she started with a win in the rapid game against Manuel Leon Hoyos and then drew in blindfold to secure her place in Sunday's final of the 2nd UNAM Chess Festival.
Judit Polgar vs. Hou Yifan, Coming This Fall (UPDATE: Or Not)
It may be a little early for women's world champion Hou Yifan to take on long, long-time women's #1 Judit Polgar, but the 18-year-old has been closing the gap and even managed to defeat her prestigious rival about a month or so ago. So they will play an eight-game match starting in China starting September 26: four classical games and then four rapid games.
One would expect Polgar to be a pretty big favorite, but if Hou's performances in her match with Humpy Koneru and in the tournaments at Gibraltar and Reykjavik are representative and not deviations from the mean, then if Polgar isn't in good form it will be anyone's match. Either way it should be an entertaining contest, and it's a significant landmark in women's chess that after more than 20 years Polgar considers it worthwhile to compete in a women's-only event (even if it's just with one other woman).
HT: Brian Karen
***UPDATE***
Apparently this was just made up. Judit Polgar tweeted this: "Yifan vs.Polgar officially announced? Well, find it strange that I don’t know about it, never signed anything.So, completely FALSE!" She offers a longer reply on the news section of her website:
Chess websites presented it as BREAKING NEWS that a match between Judit and woman World Champion Hou Yifan had officially announced.
Breaking News!
GM Hou Yifan vs. GM Judit Polgar Match in Sept. 26th - Oct. 2nd 2012 in China.
Probably 8 games (4 classical and 4 rapid)
The news is FALSE! JP at the moment is spending time with her sisters in Lubbock, Texas and never agreed to such match.
Although there were negotiations when Judit was in China for the World Team Championship last year, an agreement was not made, and Judit has not been approached by the Chinese side since then. She surely has never signed any kind of contract regarding this match. If there is a real determination for such a historic clash, than she waits to hear about it in an appropriate way. Until then she just enjoys time with her family!
Drat.