Chessboss

Susan Polgar, also known by her given name of Zsuzsanna, is a female Hungarian-American chess player, and the first woman to earn the title of International Grandmaster.  She and her siblings were the product of her father’s social experiment, believing that he could make his children into geniuses by proper education.  At the age of 12, she won the World Under 16 Girls Championship, and at the age of 15 became the top rated female chess player in the world.  Early on in her career, she tended to avoid women-only championships, but in 1992 won the Women’s World Blitz Championship and the Women’s World Rapid Championship.

In 2003, Polgar was awarded the title of “Grandmaster of the Year”, and in the same year became the first woman to win the US Open Bliz Championship, which she has since won twice more.  She is most well known for being the first breakout woman in the world of chess, and has founded the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence.  She has also published a number of books related to chess, as well as instructional DVDs, and held a position on the executive board of the United States Chess Federation until her membership was revoked in August of 2009.