The Chess Mind

I don't know what the problem is. I agree with the majority of the people here. Nona was awarded the GM title by FIDE after she was dethroned as the WWC. That was a historical moment because she's the first woman to get that title. But her rating was never anywhere near 2500. Then she received help from her federation which had their dirty hands in FIDE for years.

Zsuzsa Polgar was the first woman to break the gender barrier to earn the 2500 rating and 3 norms in spite of road blocks by the Russians (Soviet Union at that time).

In regard to the obnoxious and uninformed comment by fluffy, you speak before thinking as usual. Have you ever compared the head to head record between Zsuzsa and Judit after they were both GMs? FIDE organized the official world blitz and world rapid championships. All three sisters and other top women players competed.

Zsuzsa was not even the favorite to win and she won both events clear first ahead of her sisters and the entire Soviet delegation. That to me is even more impressive that the regular title in which the Polgar sisters did not care so much about. Both Judit and Susan could have won many WWC if they wanted to but what is the point?

I think fluffy is just jealous that some women can play better chess than he can thus kill he fragile male ego.

Wopart

Nona was not the first to earn grandmaster title. She was a good champion but not in the same level as Maia, Xie or Susan. Polgar was the first woman to legitimately earn the grandmaster title.

Go Nona! Go Polgar! They're both champions and both first!

Nona was never over 2500. How could she be GM without 2500 rating? That is absurd. Let's not make the title cheaper by debating this to death. Peng of Holland is GM at 2400. What a joke. Polgar was the first to earn the GM title with real GM strength consistently.

fluffy, on one hand, you want to judge Polgar by facts. On the other hand, you selectively chose to use only the facts that you like. The bottom line is both of them can kick your butt and you're being obnoxious.

Come on fluffy. You're not being very nice. You should be a gentleman.

"fluffy, on one hand, you want to judge Polgar by facts. On the other hand, you selectively chose to use only the facts that you like. "

Ridiculous logic. Ok, I guess i am fault because I lend more weight to Judit's 2700 rating than Zsuzsa's blitz tournament victory. I guess I should start promoting myself as a former World Top 10, because I reached number 6 in the world on ICC at 5-minute. That wouldn't be misleading now, would it? Sometimes telling things how they are is not very popular. It doesn't mean I'm jealous of Polgar. Believe me, I am not.

All right, I am not a "gentleman", "obnoxious", "not being very nice". Sorry if I am the only one with the balls to speak up. MANY strong players feel the same way I do.

What is "Women's Chess"? The whole concept is a joke. Chess is chess. The problem in the US is not the promotion of women's chess, it is the promotion of CHESS. Polgar herself said a 2400 is a 2400. Yet we have women's tournament with 2100-2400 players duking it out. Note the current Dutch Championships. The men range in rating from 2457 to 2678. The women range from 2108 to 2405, and all women other than the 2405 are under 2300. This does not make me sexist. It is fact. The women's games are crap, not because they are women, but because they are a bunch or 2100 and 2200 players. Are we paying attention to 2100 men's games?

Let's take a look at another minority chess promoter, Maurice Ashley. This guy is a model of class. He promotes CHESS. He is not constantly talking about "black chess". He is a strong player, but every time you see him he is not shoving the fact that he is the strongest black player down our throat. Sure he mentions it, as he well should, but it is not his real focus. He is not crying for US Championship black quotas. Women do. Sorry if it sounds bad, but it's true. Why should I care about "women's chess"? Women certainly do not. Remember only one woman even SHOWED UP when there were two spots up for grabs in the US Championship at the National Open.

Susan Polgar is a good player. Very good. She has accomplished a lot. Very good. She is probably a fine person. But I do not have to like everything she does or stands for. Judit Polgar is a great PLAYER. Not woman player, but PLAYER. She has all of my respect.

fluffy, you're really an obnoxious individual. Let's talk facts:

A. Do you know what is GM Ashley's e-mail? It has the word FirstBlackGM in it. He certainly used the fact that he is a black GM to make his mark. If he would be white, no one would care about a 2500 rated GM. Is there anything wrong with it? No. I think it is great that he is smart enough to understand marketing.

B. Are you a woman? Do you know what is it like when you qualify for the world championship and not be allowed to play in it? How would you feel if you just qualified for the US Championship and you are told you cannot play in it because you are too tall? The worst part is she was blacklisted because she's Jewish as well.

No woman had to endure more than Zsuzsa Polgar in modern chess. Her sisters did not have to face the same obstacles. Her sisters had her to help. By the time they started to play chess, she was already a master. Judit herself said in many interviews that she would never be where she is at without Zsuzsa paving the road for her. She also said she did not have to face any obstacles like her sister Zsuzsa.

You are nothing more than a vile male and people like you is the exact reason why more women don't play chess. Why don't you go to Philadelphia in the neighborhood where Salome Thomas-EL is coaching and tell him that promoting chess for poor black kids in the inner city is absurd.

A black or Latino kid in that neighborhood making master is a lot more meaningful than someone like you making IM. Think about it and perhaps you can learn to be more sensitive to others.

No. You are wrong. Not many people feel the way you do. Judging from the posts here, people feel differently than you do. Judit may be a stronger player but Zsuzsa has done more for chess than all other women champions combine. We should be thankful to have someone like her giving her all to chess instead of acting rudely the way you do.

I am very disappointed in you fluffy. You have done so little for chess and yet you have so much venom out of your mouth.

I can't believe we still have people like fluffy.

Vigorito, David m USA 2360
Zatonskih, Anna wg USA 2435
Krush, Irina m USA 2452
Polgar, Zsuzsa g USA 2577


This is why he is upset and decide to be rude to women.

fluffy is vigorito? Now I understand the comments. Very typical of him.

There's no doubt! Zsuzsa was the first to earn the GM title. She did it fair and square without any help from her own federation. She overcame religious, gender and age discrimination to win the heart of millions. She's one of the finest ambassadors the chess community has ever had.

J. Weissman

I'm very angry at fluffy's comments. He's rude and way out of line. Is this how male chess players behave?

all right, I see I've incited an angry mob. I guess I'm allowed to have an opinion, but only if it is in line with all of yours. Let me address my detractors one at a time.

Maria,
Ashley is corectly proud of his achievements, as is Polgar. I just do not like some of Polgar's methods of promotion. I am certainly not the only one of this opinion though I am one of the few that will publicly write about it. A strong American GM told me he "liked what I said about Polgar - it's all true". His decision to not go public is his and I respect it. Don't get me wrong- Polgar has done a lot for chess for women. She indeed faced much discrimination early in her career and paved the way for her sisters. But it doesn't mean I have to be a fan of everything she does.
Your argument of the idea of me being told I cannot play in the US ch because I am too tall doesnt make sense. No one is being excluded. What if there was a qualification spot for people over 6" tall. would that make sense? Height has nothing to do with chess ability, and neither does gender.
A black or Latino kid making master is more impressive than someone like me making IM? What a hypocrite. Are my achievements in chess meaningless because I am white?

Upset User,
Wow, you found a few women that are higher rated than me. Big deal. I don't care if there are 1000 women that are better than me. There are plenty of players of Russian decent that are better than me, but we are not discussing them, are we? How am I being rude to women? Just because I don't like all of Polgar's methods?

Tinkerbell and Yolanda,
I am a chauvenist pig? Hold on now, I am the only one here that is suggesting we treat women as equals! Or do you want preferential treatment when It's convenient?

Listen folks, I am not trying to upset eveyone. The hypocrisy is amusing. I am making legitimate arguments and the mob is resorting to name calling. I repsect Polgar and a lot that she has accomplished, but I don't like everything she does. A chessplayer is a chessplayer. A 2400 is a 2400 as Polgar herself said. I am just not jumping on the bandwagon to treat women like stars because they know how to move the pieces. Judit Polgar is one of the best players in the world. Period. She may get extra attention because she is female, but she lets her moves on the board do the talking. A female friend of mine told me that indeed a 1600 female should be playing in the US Championship because of 100 years of oppression. To me this is not a very healthy attitude. Should there be special women's spots in the US ch? I don't know. Should there be Afican American or Asian American spots? Maybe. How about Italian America? I am just not aware of any minority oppresion in the chess world in the US. I have no problem with people writing about Women in Chess or African Americans in chess etc. It can certainly be of interest.

I think I am the only one here that actually wants to treat everyone the same way in the chess world. And chess of all things does not discriminate. So yes, I am no fan of "women's chess".

Either you want to be treated as an equal...or you don't.

You're a very insensitive person Mr. fluffy. Your reasoning makes no sense. A Susan Polgar comes once in a lifetime. She's the most visible GM in the US since Bobby Fischer. I like Maurice but please spare me about their achievements on and off the board. Polgar gets more media coverage than all players in this country combine. She has also achieved a lot more than Maurice. She is the third most covered chess person in the world in 2005 behind Fischer and Kasparov.

Yolanda, you made very good arguments. I agree with you and disagree with fluffy. Polgar is a world hero. Some people are just jealous of what she has done for chess.

Forget it Miguel. Don't lose sleep over fluffy. There's always one like him. He's just bitter because he will never be able to accomplish what others can so he's all pissed about it. I know him in real life. He acts the same way in person.

fluffy should be proud. He's trying to copy Bobby Fischer and he's doing a good job at it.

I agree with Fred. Polgar was the first woman to earn GM title without any (*). She has also done more for chess than most others. We should never forget this. About fluffy, I'm appalled by his remarks.

The level of discussion is degenerating rapidly, especially in the "fluffy" part of the thread, and needs to stop. One doesn't have to like his point of view, but ad hominem attacks aren't genuine responses to his arguments and aren't a credit to anyone.

Consider the following bit of dialogue (highly unlikely to win the Pulitzer Prize!):

A: All men are mortal and Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.

B: You're an idiot.

If one believes A's conclusion false, then the task is to demonstrate either a false premise (i.e. argue that either not all men or mortal or that Socrates isn't a man), or else show that the conclusion does not validly follow from the premises. There aren't any other options - even if B is an idiot.

So even if one thinks fluffy is misguided, jealous, bitter or whatever, it's completely irrelevant to the strength of his arguments. Someone could be a saint and the leader of the Susan Polgar fan club and offer bad arguments, or a vicious misogynist and offer good ones.

So no more personal attacks, first because they're irrelevant to evaluating his arguments, but also because they are unfair. Fluffy hasn't offered any general sort of criticism of Susan Polgar's character. He has praised her chess (and especially Judit Polgar's chess) and acknowledged that she helped pave the way for her sisters. His objections are twofold, and neither strikes me as inherently malicious or reprehensible, even if they should both prove false (of course, if he didn't believe the first point but expressed it to harm her reputation, that would be another story, but I see no evidence of that in what he has written):

1. An objection to what he perceives as misleading self-advertising by Polgar ("4-time world champion" including a blitz event, "highest-rated woman in the world" during the brief period when Judit fell off the list due to the birth of her child, etc.).

2. An objection to what might be called women's affirmative action in chess. Note that this isn't an objection to bringing more girls and women into the game, but a disagreement about what sort of tournament opportunities are appropriate.

Neither of these claims strike me as morally egregious, and in any case, the best way to respond is by addressing them. Thus if one wants to defend Polgar against the resume exaggeration charge, one ought to show that the instances fluffy refers to really aren't misleading, or can be dismissed as scattered examples against an overwhelming backdrop of unobjectionable cases. And to respond to the second claim involves, among other things, substantive discussion of the nature of fairness.

Dennis, not liking fluffy's view is an understatement of the year. He has his view and I have my view of him. I respect his chess playing ability but I don't have to respect him as a person. I find him obnoxious and vile toward women. There's no sense to debate such people. Please don't defend such action and behavior. Thanks!

Sandra Tejada

Mr. Monokroussos, I read it as personal attacks toward Polgar and other women from fluffy. I find his posts very disturbing.

"Actually, I have been discriminated against in every qualifying tournament I ever played due to my gender. Women qualified ahead of me because I am male."

"Are men allowed to play in the Women's World Championship? Hypocrite."

So should men be allowed in women's locker room?

Jacob

If I could put my 2 cents, I consider Susan Polgar the first woman to earn the GM title. Earning 3 norms / rating > 2500 is the ultimate and Susan was the first to do that. She needed no help from anyone. Only 6 women have done this: Polgar, J. Polgar, Cramling, Stefanova, Chen and Koneru. The other 5 got their titles through FIDE exceptions.

Sasha

Dennis, how many times have Polgar explained this point in her many articles and interviews?

Less than 20 years ago, women were not allowed to compete in the men's world championship. FIDE did not stop Polgar from competing in the qualifying event. But after she unexpectedly qualified, they said no, you cannot play because you're a girl.

Even until today, women face severe social pressure when they play chess. Most women are not behaving disgustingly as many men do. Have you ever watched a broadcast game on playchess.com or icc?

When a man plays, they analyze the moves. When a woman plays, many men make comments about their looks, their wardrobe, breast size, etc. Women face the same thing in OTB chess.

My daughter and many of her friends refused to play in open events because of the problems they faced. They don't feel comfortable. For years, young girls and women have no voice. Polgar is a breath of fresh air. She stood up and fought against the system. She defended women's rights, she motivates and inspires young female players to play chess. She by herself made a big difference.

Polgar said many times that her dream is to see women playing chess as well as men and have both gender compete in equal footing. However, women have no chance today. So what is the solution? According to Polgar, the more girls play, the better chance to produce top players. She is right. If we leave it up to fluffy, no woman would ever play chess.

She is doing something about it. She puts her own money to help fund events for girls. She volunteers her time to promote chess for girls and women. She brings in corporate sponsorship. She brings in the media. She has done things that no other has done or could do. fluffy goes around bashing her wc titles, saying they are meaningless. How rude! Meaningless to who? Probably to him because he could not win any.

So why the bashing? If fluffy feels so strongly about the unfairness then don't play in the US Championship. AF4C made the rules. If he does not like it then don't play. Boycott the event because they give out spots for women. He does no such thing. He has done nothing to help anyone but himself while bashing others for helping young girls to stay in chess.

Sandra

Finally, I return to my own two parenthetical claims, the ones that generated the explosion of comments.

The first was that Susan Polgar's sometime claim that she was the first woman to earn the GM title is misleading, as it gives the impression that she was the first female GM, period. Many commentators have bypassed this issue, maintaining that Polgar was the first woman to earn the title and Gaprindashvili the first woman awarded the title.

Maybe so (but stay tuned), but that still ignores the point I raised; namely, is it misleading? And it seems to me that it is, and to test my suspicions I turned it into a "quiz" in one of my philosophy classes on Tuesday. I told the class they were going to have a quiz, but it wouldn't be graded and consisted of just one question. I wrote the sentence "Susan Polgar was the first woman to earn the GM title" on the board, and then asked "Who was the first female GM?" I was very careful to phrase it that way, repeated it, asked different students and asked if anyone disagreed.

Despite the obvious contextual motivation to suspect they were being asked a trick question, and despite my referring to it as a reading comprehension quiz, all the students answered "Susan Polgar". It's a very natural implication to draw, but it's mistaken.

My second point is that it isn't obvious that Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze didn't earn their GM titles. Put differently, I reject the claim that one earns the GM title if and only if one has done so via the 3 norms + 2500 route. To earn X, I say, it is sufficient to fulfill the conditions set by a person or organization with the right to confer X.

Thus, if FIDE says anyone qualifying for the Candidates' is a GM, then they've earned the title. Or, if someone wins the world junior championship, then that person too earns the GM title. And finally, and directly to the point at hand, if FIDE says that the grandmaster title has been earned by a player achieving the women's world championship title from time T1 onward, then if a woman achieves that title at or after T1, she has earned the GM title. Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze did just that, and therefore, they earned the title as well.

Now, one might think that way of earning the title deficient, or at least inferior to the 3 norms + 2500 approach, and that's fine. I'm not disputing that point. Nor am I claiming that Gaprindashvili in her prime was the equal of Susan Polgar in hers. She wasn't, but that's no more relevant to the question I am asking than the superiority of Kasparov to a 2500-for-a-second; subsequently-2400 GM.

Another red herring: who did more for chess in general, women's chess in particular? Well, as far as I can tell, Susan Polgar has, though her contributions may in turn have been eclipsed by Judit Polgar and Xie Jun. I have no idea how to quantify this, and no desire to do so - I'd rather be grateful to all of them for the various ways in which they have promoted the game! My wish is not to diminish Susan Polgar, who is a fine player, a trailblazer in bringing women into mainstream professional chess and, as many of you have attested, a real ambassador for the game. Nor is to canonize G. or C., but to give them their due.

So, again, please don't write in to say "Polgar was the first to earn the title, Gap. the first to be awarded the title." If you wish to embrace that conclusion, fine, but unless you're addressing the specific argument I've made challenging that conclusion, the discussion won't be advanced. Granted, it's more work, but sometimes work is required to make progress, and not just in chess!

Sandra, perhaps you can just post for me, because you clearly feel comfortable putting words in my mouth.

"If we leave it up to fluffy, no woman would ever play chess."

How do I ever imply that? I have no problem whatsoever with women playing chess. What I ask to ponder is what Dennis clearly points out, "Either women and men merit equal treatment in chess or they do not."

..."she's [Polgar]well respected (except fluffy)."

I clearly point out that I do respect her accomplishments. I only take issue with some of her promotional methods.

You mention another thing, "When a woman plays, many men make comments about their looks, their wardrobe, breast size, etc."

Who is responsible for that? Look at how Alexandra Kosteniuk and Maria Manakova promote themselves.

I really do not think I am bashing. I am pointing things out. Do you want a double standard in chess for women? Do you want special treatment or do you want to be treated as an equal? If your daughter and her friends faced obstacles playing in tournaments, I am sorry. I would defend their right to play just as I would for anybody else. I do not want anyone to play under hostile conditions. Tell me what I said that offends you so much instead of misquoting me and belittling me for things I didn't say. I am the one suggesting women be treated equally! Why is that bad?

fluffy, but women are NOT being treated equally. They have not been treated equally for a long time. Just because Kosteniuk and Manakova decide to act like trash, it doesn't mean you should put Susan Polgar in that same category. Have you ever met Susan? I have and she always dresses classy. Her conducts and demeanor have always been top notch as well.

Why do you think 3,000 girls come out to compete in regional and state events to qualify for her invitational? Because these girls including my daughter (who didn't make it) don't want to face problems in tournaments dominated by boys. It's a big social problem.

My daughter is 13 and she looks 18. Boys constantly hit on her in every tournament. You can't fix every rude boy out there. But the problem is girls eventually don't want to deal with it so they quit.

That is why Polgar is a hero to these girls. She fought for their rights. She's one of them. She understands them and want to help them. You may or may not like her method but she had to do what it takes to attract the media and sponsorship. I happen to see nothing wrong with what she stated in her bio. Everything is accurate and that's the most important thing.

I want equality but not today. It's not possible. Girls need the extra help. Just like you can't take a child from the inner city without caring parents and without proper education and tell that child that he has an equal opportunity to get 1600 in his SAT. That's absurd.

What Susan Polgar has done in the last few years is amazing. I followed chess since Bobby Fischer 1972 and no one in this country has made as much impact for chess as she has since Bobby Fischer. Embrace her and help her help the game. Don't be selfish.

Sandra

Let's agree to disagree. Polgar was the first woman to earn the GM title with 3 norms and rating requirement and Gaprindashvili was the first woman to earn the title by being a woman world champion. They are both first and they are both stronger than fluffy :) fluffy is the first man on the planet wanting to compete in women's events :) Can we end this debate here?

This discussion has been good for the blog. I know Dennis and I know he's a very caring person who cares about people's feelings. He doesn't enjoy the messiness of discussions like this. But I would offer that even though people's blood is flowing right now, the forum is in the end productive.
In the words of Rodney King "Can't we all just get along?"

Dennis was just giving Nona her props, not besmirching Polgar. BTW, Susan Polgar is a giant in the world of chess, but why is she a more important figure than Judit or Humpy, who's inspiring girls to play chess in a country with a billion people...
Can't one praise N &G without Polgar fans feeling slighted? It's like tearing down Elvis to elevate the Beatles.

Alex, for your info, I'm also a fan of Nona. But I don't like some of the tactics she employed to gain unfair advantages over her younger rivals, mainly Chiburdanidze and Polgar. Even with that, she's still a great wc and I still admire her. I am just being fair.

Xavier

Yes, fluffy, I also think it is a hypocrisy that the US Women's Champion only gets $12,500 while it is $25,000 for the Male Champion. So let's divide the prize funds: $125,000 for men and $125,000 for women and let's hold 2 separate events. With $125,000 prize funds, more women will definitely want to qualify. According to you, let's be equal, let's be fair. This is the only fair way then.

Sandra

I was in Arizona, but I was not hanging around at the Polgar Invitational even though I had a friend playing in it. You want =prize $ for the Women's championship? No problem, just elevate the play of the women so the games generate the same interest as the 2600+ GM's. The women's championship is the "kid's table". It's a novelty. If the women could compete with the men they wouldn't need a seperate event. I believe a player like Krush (whom I have total respect for) would choose to play in the overall event even though she could probably win the women's. She also uses "IM" instead of "WGM". Note that men contribute much more money to chess- how many men pay $75 to try to qualify in most events? 20? 30? How many women pay into the fund? 3? 2? 1? All right, you want equality, but not now, and only when it's convenient. The girls events are a different story- I won't argue that- but why do women need a seperate championship and larger prizes in the same field? YOu totally miss the point I make regarding the prizes. Krush and Lakdawala played in the SAME EVENT. Krush gets more $ because she is female. Isn't that convenient?

You are arguing against points I am not making. You can't even acknowlege that you incorrectly accused me of saying things that I did not. I understand that you are upset that your daughter gets hit on my dirty old chess freaks, but it has NOTHING to do with the arguments I am making regarding Polgar or women's chess. You do not address a single point that I make.

Either women and men merit equal treatment in chess or they do not. Either you want to be treated as an equal...or you don't. You don't.

Along with the usual "I respect Susan’s accomplishments blah blah blah" I’d like to take issue with this comment by Sandra and similar comments, “Polgar did it without any assistance, only road blocks.”

The Polgars had possibly the most assistance of any chess player in history. From birth their father, a master strength chess player, reared them to play chess. They were home schooled in chess and it’s reported they spent 8-10 hours a day studying chess (Polgar Sisters, Forbes, pg.24). They had full access to Lazlo’s 5000 chess book library and a full team of Grandmaster coaches. Some of the Grandmasters who coached them were Pal Benko, Laszlo Szabo, Ivan Farago Milorad Knezevic, Tibor Florian, Levente Lengyel, Peter Lukacs, Peter Szekely and Lazlo Hazai. I recall reading somewhere that they had a separate chess coach for each phase of the game – opening, middlegame, and endgame. They could go to whatever tournaments they and their coaches felt offered them the best chance for rating improvement and experience with all expenses being paid by dad and/or sponsors, and they had themselves to play against for sparring practice. No doubt the Hungarian federation and chauvinists placed obstacles in their path but it pales in comparison to the support they received. Indeed, any average strength chess player can only wonder how strong they would have become if they grew up in such an environment? Certainly, 2500 should be the minimum expectation.

Sandra is correct with her facts. Laszlo Polgar is not a serious chess player. Polgar Z. was heavily blocked from competition because she's Jewish. The person who was responsible to get Polgar Z. out of Budapest into England to play chess was Frederic Friedel of ChessBase. She won the World under 16 Championship when she was 12 thanks to that opportunity. But even with that, she was not allowed to travel much. She was blacklisted until 1988 when she led the women's team which included her sisters to win Olympiad Gold for the first time for Hungary. naisortep is completely wrong with his information.

Marek

In her recent interview in Mexico City on July 3, 2005, she said the same as what Sandra said. I was one of the lucky 30,000 or so people who was able to attend that gala with Susan Polgar. She said most people thought her father is a serious player. He only knew the rules of chess at that time. He started to learn at the same time but never got passed 1400-1500-1600 level even though he never played in a tournament. I find Susan Polgar incredibly classy, humble and nice when she was here.

It was a hot day. There were maybe about 800-1,000 people on line to get her autograph. The organizer said she only needs to sign for 20-30 minutes. She said no and signed until the last person and she did it for nearly 4 hours in the sun. She never complained once. I have never seen any GM or world champion do that. We love her in Mexico.

Kasparov was at the same place a few years earlier and after 30 minutes, he was done. Many fans were left disappointed.

Jorge

What don't you understand? I want same condition after the girls get the proper help to improve. I want the girls to compete for the same prizes after they are good enough to do it. They are not ready now. Beside Polgar, not even 1 female player in the US has a chance to win the US Championship.

I never asked AF4C to do that. I never asked them to put men and women together. They did it on their own because the sponsors were not interested to give big money just for the men. That type of male event doesn't sell.

Finegold's wife followed the rules and she was severely attacked for it. If you don't like the format then complain to the AF4C or boycott their event until they make things fair according to your standard.

Sandra

naisortep is spot on to why some players are turned off by Polgar. I guess if she signs autographs we have to agree with everything she does. Her cult thinks she can just do no wrong.

Also note that in addition to GM* Gaprindashvili, GM* Chiburdanidze, we have GM* Tal Shaked and GM* Robert Fischer, and as a nice modern example, GM* Kosteniuk

You can't please everyone fluffy. No one can do that. Someone will always find something to pick on. Polgar is right on in what she does for chess and the kids. Can you please show me one interview / article talking about Polgar in the same manner prior to 2002/2003? She specifically said she has to get to the mainstream media in order to promote chess. She did.

I remember her saying in 1 interview that she was blacklisted because she refused to play in women's events. Then when she played in a few important women events such as candidates tournaments, Olympiad, WCs, she was attacked because she played in women's event.

So damn if you do and damn if your don't. When she retired, she was criticized for not doing enough to help chess. When she gives her all to help chess, people attack her because they don't like how words are phrased.

Amazing!

I don't know Elizabeth Tejada. I have heard of her. I'm not a friend of Susan Polgar. I only met her at various events when my daughter competes. My daughter did a paper about Susan for her class. I helped her find the facts. That is why I know some of the things I do.

It's also true that Polgar family didn't have any chess book when she was young. Laszlo didn't plan to experiement with chess. Chess was an accident according to Susan in her latest book. She found the pieces by accident and she happened to be talented at it. She won the first city championship for girls under 11 when she was 4 with a perfect 10-0 score.

I don't agree with many things Laszlo said. I think his theories are flawed since Susan was a child prodigy. So he got lucked out.

This is a good article that touches upon the Polgar chess environment. Naturally, it focuses on the more successful Judit who had more advantages than Susan since by then many of the kinks had been worked out of their 'experiment'.

Judit had a sister who was already a master helping her. Judit herself said she never faced any obstacles and she's very thankful that Susan paved the way for her and it's family pride so everything they accomplish is for the family.

Sandra

naisortep was EDIF world champ from from 36 to 96

This has gone South fast. Young chess players need a hero (especially girls). I'm sure the girls will look up to Polgar a lot more than fluffy. Be a man and give them a break. Stop being so macho dude! Italian men are known as ladies' men. So bring on your charms and not your hatred. Make love, not war!

Georgians worship Nona. She's our Goddess. We don't support Maia. That's why Nona was given title first so Maia can't do it. It was big controversy in Georgia at that time. Zsuzsa scored 9 wins, 1 loss and 8 draws against Maia and Nona. Zsuzsa also has highest winning percentage against women than any other women player in history. Zsuzsa was first woman to acquire 3 GM norms and surpass 2500.

May I say GM Polgar Zsuzsa has many supporters in Nepal. I think she's wonderful in what she does for chess. I congratulate her.

Hi. I just wanna say that the question about earning versus receiving title is irrelevant. It's more important what these women have done to promote the game. I agree with article on chessbase.com that Polgar Susan has done more for chess than all other women combine. Nice blog, by the way. Alex