#88. Judit Polgár Talks About Her Netflix Documentary And Remembers The Late Jan Timman.

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Judit Polgár.

Judit is universally considered the greatest female chess player of all time. After breaking Bobby Fischer's record to become the youngest grandmaster of all time at age 15, she topped the women's rankings for 25 years, from 1989 until her retirement in 2014. She is the only female player to have every broken into the world top 10. Over the course of her career, she amassed victories over no fewer than eleven current or former World Champions in classical or rapid chess. 

With a life so filled with records, firsts and extraordinary achievements, it should come as no surprise that a Netflix documentary about her unique career has come out. "Queen of Chess" was directed by Rory Kennedy, daughter of late US attorney general Bobby Kennedy, and focuses on her strict upbringing and her intense matches with then-World Champion Garry Kasparov.

A second topic of conversation is Judit's relationship with the late Jan Timman, who passed away a few weeks ago and with whom Judit had a strong relationship, having had many training sessions together, as well as a shared love for endgame studies. 

0:00 – Intro

2:26 – How did “The Queen of Chess” come about?

11:48 – Did Judit have any doubts about Kasparov’s participation in the film?

20:11 – How does Judit look back on being the “guinea pig” of her father’s experiment?

24:40 – AD BREAK

25:12 – Mr. Polgar has no regrets!

27:02 – The influence of Judit’s husband Gustav

30:40 – How does Judit remember the late and great Jan Timman?

37:53 – Judit’s words of encouragement for talented young women

41:02 – AD BREAK

42:00 – Was Judit intimidated by Kasparov?

46:17 – Judit and Timman’s shared passion for the artistry of chess

53:43 – Outro