After years, a shift in reign
For over a quarter of a century, Hungary’s Judit Polgar was rated higher than any female chess player in the world. So much stronger was she in comparison with the other players of her gender, she declined to play in women-only competitions. As a result, she forfeited the title of women’s world champion was forfeited to others, including her own sister Susan. She was used to being all by herself in the top-100 lists competing exclusively with men.
At one point, as a supergrandmaster, Polgar was ranked eighth in the world and a true candidate for the overall world champion title. Able to play with the best, she gained notice as a person who defeated 10 people who have been world champion during her years as a professional. That group includes such great title holders as Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, Veselin Topalov, and Viswanathan Anand.
Polgar, now 38, announced her retirement last year, but her name has still been included in the top-100 lists. This month, though, she is finally no longer the top-rated woman. She has been overtaken by women’s world champion Hou Yifan of China. Yifan certainly is a worthy successor having won the women’s title at the record-setting age of 16. Last August, she joined Polgar in the top-100 lists.
Polgar believes more women will enter the top ranks of world chess. This column’s game is one of her many examples of her most salient strength: her intense aggression. The encounter occurred in the U.S. Open Championship in 1998 when she was 22. Facing a top grandmaster from the country of Georgia, she intentionally allowed her opponent a discovered check, which cost her her queen (See move 34.) Her minor pieces, though, prevailed to win. After defeating U.S. Champion Joes Benjamin in the final round, Polgar took the title on tiebreaks. Three-time team winner
One of the most anticipated and enjoyable tournaments held in California each year is the U.S. Amateur Team West Championship. There seems to be no stopping NorCal House of Chess, which not only took the title for the third year in a row, but achieved a perfect 6-0 score in doing so. Team members were GM Enrico Sevillano, IM Ricardo De Guzman, FM Ronald Cusi, Ronit Pattanayak, and Evan Vallens.
Hats off to Cameron Wheeler for overcoming a pawn deficit in the opening to create a prize-winning upset over top-ranked and seldom-defeated Sevillano. Note his rook maneuver to create a passed pawn starting on move 42. 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0–0 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.d4 0–0 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Ne5 Ng4 9.f4 Nxe5 10.dxe5 f6 11.exf6 exf6 12.e4 Be6 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rd1 Qc7 15.Be3 Rfe8 16.a4 Qa5 17.g4 Nc5 18.f5 Bf7 19.Nb5 Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Nd6 Rae8 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Nxe8 Bxe8 24.Rd4 Rxd4 25.Bxd4 Bf7 26.Qe3 Qd5 27.Rf1 Bh6 28.Qf2 Qe4 29.Qxf6 Qxg4+ 30.Kf2 Qf4+ 31.Qxf4 Bxf4 32.Kg1 Bd6 33.Bxa7 Be5 34.Rf2 c3 35.bxc3 Bxc3 36.Bb6 Be6 37.Rf4 Bf5 38.Rc4 Bd2 39.Kf2 Kf7 40.Be3 Ba5 41.Rh4 b5? 42.Rh7+ Ke6 43.Ra7 Bc3 44.a5 b4 45.a6 c5 46.Bxc5 Kd5 47.Rc7 Be5 48.a7 Bxc7 49.Be3.
Game of the week
Kacheishvili-Polgar 1998 U.S. Open Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0–0 Na6 8.Re1 exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.Bf1 Ng4 11.f3 Ne5 12.Be3 Nc5 13.Qd2 Ne6 14.Nc2 Qh4 15.Rad1 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.b3 Kh8 18.Nd5 Rg8 19.Kh1 Bd7 20.f4 Ng4 21.Bg1 Rae8 22.g3 Qh5 23.Bg2 Nc5 24.Nxc7 Ne4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4 26.Rxe4 fxe4 27.Nd5 Ne5 28.Bd4 Nf3 29.Qe2 Bc6 30.Bxg7+ Rxg7 31.Nf6 Qf7 32.Rxd6 Qe7 33.Qd1 Rg6 34.Qa1 Qxd6 35.Ne8+ Kg8 36.Nxd6 Rxd6 37.Ne3 Rd2 38.Nf1 Rf2 39.Qd1 Kf7 40.Qb1 0-1