18 Sep 08
Originally posted by Fat LadyAll three play or have played competitive chess. Not so long ago, they gave a combined simul. Sofia is an IM, if I'm not mistaken. Susan has been the women's world champion, and at the moment she is chairwoman of the USCF. And Judith is of course the best female chessplayer ever, still inside the top 25 of the world.
It's actually the youngest one, Judit, who can compete with the top men. I don't the other two, Susan (the oldest) and Sofia (the middle sister) play competitively at all.
18 Sep 08
Originally posted by Mephisto2Sorry, I missed the word "anymore" from the end of my sentence. Obviously all three Polgar sisters played competitive chess for a number of years, but only Judit plays seriously now. Simultaneous displays don't count as serious chess!
All three play or have played competitive chess. Not so long ago, they gave a combined simul. Sofia is an IM, if I'm not mistaken. Susan has been the women's world champion, and at the moment she is chairwoman of the USCF. And Judith is of course the best female chessplayer ever, still inside the top 25 of the world.
Incidentally, in 2005 Susan Polgar claimed to have broken Andrew Martin's world record for the most players taken on in a simultaneous display. I have always been very skeptical about this claim, as she has proven to be economical with the truth in a number of other areas.
18 Sep 08
Originally posted by Fat LadyI thought I wasn't bringing you any news, lol. Your last point says at least as much about the current status of the USCF, they obviously had to choose the lessor evil ... or does she fit in well?
Sorry, I missed the word "anymore" from the end of my sentence. Obviously all three Polgar sisters played competitive chess for a number of years, but only Judit plays seriously now. Simultaneous displays don't count as serious chess!
Incidentally, in 2005 Susan Polgar claimed to have broken Andrew Martin's world record for the most players taken on in a ...[text shortened]... ut this claim, as she has proven to be economical with the truth in a number of other areas.
😕
18 Sep 08
Originally posted by Fat Ladylike what?
Incidentally, in 2005 Susan Polgar claimed to have broken Andrew Martin's world record for the most players taken on in a simultaneous display. I have always been very skeptical about this claim, as she has proven to be economical with the truth in a number of other areas.
18 Sep 08
1 edit
Originally posted by diskamylOK. I'll list some of them.
like what?
1) Susan Polgar regularly describes herself as a "Four times Women's World Champion".
I'm not even sure what she means by this. She won the Women's World Championship in 1996 and did not defend her title two years later.
2) In the biography on her site:
http://www.susanpolgar.com/susan-polgar-biography.html
she claims:
"In January 2005, Polgar had an Elo rating of 2577, which once again made her the number one active female player in the World and in the United States."
This is misleading at best. Her younger sister, Judit, was still miles ahead of her:
http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=700070
However the reason Judit didn't play in 2004 is that she was looking after her newborn son, she had not given up chess! Judit played some rated games in January 2005 and instantly became #1 Woman player again.
3) When campaigning to become a member of the USCF executive board, Susan Polgar and Paul Truong did not tell anyone that they were married. Maybe they both would have been voted in anyway, but the membership of the USCF were not told the facts.
4) It is patently obvious that the "Fake Sam Sloan" messages which were posted on the various chess newsgroups were the work of Susan Polgar's husband, Paul Truong. Her part in covering this up is an absolute disgrace and I'm astonished she has the nerve to remain as a member of the USCF, let alone on its board.
18 Sep 08
Originally posted by Fat Ladyit's always sad to see chess people acting like that. Unfortunately Topalov and Kasparov aren't the only one at the top who behave like that, I guess. Thanks for the detailed info.
OK. I'll list some of them.
1) Susan Polgar regularly describes herself as a "Four times Women's World Champion".
I'm not even sure what she means by this. She won the Women's World Championship in 1996 and did not defend her title two years later.
2) In the biography on her site:
http://www.susanpolgar.com/susan-polgar-biography.html
she claims: ...[text shortened]... nished she has the nerve to remain as a member of the USCF, let alone on its board.
That Sam Sloan incident seems complicated, I googled it a little and people are saying things like "the fake sam sloan is the real sam sloan, but there may be fake fake sam sloans out there" etc 🙂.
19 Sep 08
Originally posted by Fat LadyI agree that a lot of her claims are shady, but I believe this one was well supported.
Incidentally, in 2005 Susan Polgar claimed to have broken Andrew Martin's world record for the most players taken on in a simultaneous display. I have always been very skeptical about this claim, as she has proven to be economical with the truth in a number of other areas.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2554
19 Sep 08
Originally posted by GalaxyShieldWell supported by Polgar maybe. Here is another chessbase article:
I agree that a lot of her claims are shady, but I believe this one was well supported.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2554
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2632
In which Andrew Martin spells out his concerns. As the previous record holder, you might say that it is a case of sour grapes, but I think he genuinely believed the figures claimed by Polgar were implausible.
The most unbelievable number is the "1,131 Consecutive Games Played". This was achieved in 16.5 hours (according to Martin's letter, I haven't checked how long Polgar says it took) which works out at 1 minute 8 seconds per game (obviously only for Polgar's side of the game). You can do you own calculations for how long that is per move (*)
I think the telling phrase in Polgar's reply to Martin is this:
"We did not allow any pass. Therefore, a move must be made as I arrive at the board."
I have done a number of simuls myself (never more than twenty people) and it is impossible to make all the players stick to this rule!
The inexperienced ones especially will get flustered and forget what they had planned (if they had anything planned) and try to find a move as you arrive. All you can do is allow them to pass and go on to the next board, otherwise you waste too much time waiting for them.
If players weren't allowed to pass in her simul then I'm guessing that they were told that they had lost the game if they didn't have a move ready. Or perhaps her opponents were encouraged to resign if they were losing badly? (pieces down).
I'd be really interested in hearing from anyone who took part or witnessed the Polgar event .
(*) The last simul I did was nine very inexperienced players and one experienced one who I had to play in a forty minute timeslot. Even with four minutes a game and allowing passes I still only managed to win seven of the games in the allotted time (and I was going for cheap mates from move 1!).