Grandmaster
Judit Polgár was like a female analog of Gary Kasparov. She had an aggressive
attack on the chessboard and her Hungarian Jewish family had its share of trouble
with the Communist regime. However, she also had two sisters who were nearly as
good as she was. Yossi Aviram chronicles the Polgár Sisters’ unique training
and unprecedented success in the male-dominated chess world in The Polgar Variánt, which screens
during this year’s New York Jewish Film Festival.
László
Polgár resolved to home-school his three daughters at a time when the Hungarian
government rather frowned on such anti-socialist behavior. Undeterred, he was
convinced he could train Susan (or Zsuzsa), Sofia, and Judit to be geniuses in a
predetermined field. He chose chess, because of its prestige within the Soviet
Bloc. To an extent, it worked. All three sisters racked up impressive victories
in international women’s tournaments, but they wanted to compete against men in
more highly esteemed competitions. The Hungarian chess authority did not just
disagree with their ambitions, they put their careers on hold for several
years.
Clearly,
as the oldest, Susan Polgár paid the highest price. However, by the time their
ban was lifted, Judit Polgár was poised to explode on the chess scene. So did
their chess careers provide full satisfaction and vindication for their father?
Probably in large measure yes, but maybe not entirely so. After all, their
lives would become complicated, despite their sheltered early years.
Even
though the narration is a bit severe, Variant
provides a fascinating look inside the exclusive world of competitive
chess. Notably, all the relevant Polgárs participated in Aviram’s film,
including the three sisters, their father, and endlessly supportive mother Klára,
who at one time was fired from her school teacher position, under suspicious
circumstances.
Happily,
it seems all three Polgár Sisters have more important things in their lives
than chess, thoroughly contradicting the stereotype of the socially
under-developed, myopic chess master. Still, Aviram is perhaps a bit unfair to
Gary Kasparov, who was admittedly somewhat chauvinistic when the Polgárs first
crashed the men’s tournaments, but subsequently revised his opinions. This
seems particularly unfortunate, given his role as the leading advocate of human
rights and democratic reform in Russia today (his Twitter feed is a must follow
for anyone interested in the contemporary state of organized chess and Russian
politics).
