Susan Polgar

Grandmaster Susan Polgar, the first woman in history to break the gender barrier by qualifying for the 1986 Men’s World Championship and earning the Men’s Grandmaster title in 1991, first won the Budapest Championship for Girls under 11 at the age of 4 with a perfect score of 10-0! She became the #1 ranked woman player in the world at the age of 15 and remained in the top 3 for nearly 23 straight years. Susan went on to win ten Olympic medals (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze), and four Women’s World Championships. Susan holds a record 56 consecutive Olympiad game scoring streak without a loss. She received the Grandmaster of the Year Award in 2003 (the first woman ever) and was crowned Women’s World Chess Champion in 2006. Susan is currently ranked #1 in the United States and also holds four current world records for simultaneous chess exhibitions. Other notable accomplishments include being an award-winning and best-selling chess author in numerous languages, winner of the prestigious Cramer Award for “Best Chess Column of the Year” (2003), 3-time winner of the Chess Journalists of America Award for Best Magazine Column and Best Endgame Analysis, first ever recipient of the “Chess Educator of the Year” award (2003), and first ever recipient of the “US Scholastic Chess Ambassador” award (2006).

Susan is a pioneer in women’s chess, an ambassador to the game and a true role model to millions of young people worldwide. In addition to being on the Board of Directors for Point Hope, she is the founder of the Susan Polgar Foundation, a nonprofit organization to promote chess, the sponsor and organizer of the prestigious annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls Championship, Susan Polgar World Open for Girls and Susan Polgar National Open for Girls. Susan and her husband live in Texas where she is the Director of SPICE at Texas Tech University.