December’s puzzle is taken from a game won by Judit Polgár. White to move and mate in three moves.
Bring your puzzle solution to Bookman’s on Speedway Family Chess Night, 6:30-8:30pm, first Wednesday of every month–in December, Wednesday the 7th–and win a free prize.
The whole family, new and experienced players are all invited to join us to play chess.
Judit Polgár: World’s Greatest Female Chess Player
Judit Polgár was born in 1976, Budapest, Hungary. Her father trained Judit and her sisters, Susan and Sofia, to be chess prodigies. Laszlo Polgár’s belief that “geniuses are made, not born” was tested and proven by his daughters, two chess grandmasters and one international master.
Judit Polgár 2008
Judit became grandmaster in 1991 at the age of 15, beating Bobby Fischer’s record by a month. She is the only woman to enter the World’s Top Ten Chess Players. She has defeated nine Men’s World Champions. Polgár seldom plays in women-only chess events. “I always say that women should have the self-confidence that they are as good as male players,” she said.
Former world champion Garry Kasparov has written, “if to ‘play like a girl’ meant anything in chess, it would mean relentless aggression.” Judit’s style promotes aggressive openings and play. She excels in tactics by maximizing the initiative and developing complication.
Former US Champion Joel Benjamin describing Polgár–“it was all-out war for five hours. I was totally exhausted. She is a tiger at the chess board. She absolutely has a killer instinct. You make one mistake and she goes right for the throat.”
The debate over female chess capability may continue but Polgár’s aggressive style and accomplishments disprove the argument that in chess, women lack the patricidal urge.
Putting the title “strongest woman player ever in chess” to test, Polgár, as a mother of two, has said, that a chess tournament now “feels like a vacation.”
More about great chess moms in puzzles to come.
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polgar
Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Judit_Polgar.jpg
Postscript
November’s Bobby Fischer puzzle solution
1. Rxf8+ Kxf8 2. Qd8+ Ne8 3. Qe7+ (or Be7+) Kg8 4. Qxe8#
For the last four years, 9 Queens has partnered with Philadelphia non-profit ASAP (After Schools Actvities Partnerships) to host 9 Queens all girls chess academies led by co-founder Jennifer Shahade. The latest edition on February 11th featured a lecture by Jennifer on openings, a blitz tournament and a screening of the second episode of the Extreme “X Chess” Championships. Zayonna Brown won the blitz tournament with a perfect 3-0 score and won the first place medal and a copy of Play Like a Girl!
