Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár is the strongest female chess player in history and a global ambassador for chess in education. She is the founder of the Judit Polgár Global Chess Festival and created the Judit Polgár Method, using chess to develop critical thinking and key life skills in children. She began playing chess at the age of five and became the world’s top ranked woman at just twelve years old, a position she held for 26 years. She competed for the men’s World Championship title in 2005 and remains the only woman to surpass a 2700 rating and enter the world’s top ten. In 2012, she founded the Judit Polgár Chess Foundation to advance chess in education and society. Since retiring from competitive play in 2014, she has led the foundation’s global initiatives.