Judit Polgár: Queen of the Kremlin
1996 - Solved 79🧩 Times
Deep within the historic walls of the Moscow Kremlin, the world’s sharpest minds gathered for a new kind of chess tournament.
The year was 1996 and the chess world stood fractured. Garry Kasparov’s breakaway Professional Chess Association had carved a fault line through the sport, pitting FIDE against flair.
With exhilarating rapid time controls, a star studded line up, and a glamorous Intel sponsorship, Kasparov’s vision for the future of chess emerged as a sparkling hybrid of tradition and disruption.
Amidst it all sat the strongest woman to ever play the game, a commanding symbol of the evolving chess world. Her opponent was one of Russia’s finest, Evgeny Bareev. Armed with a home-field advantage and sharp preparation, this would be no easy fight. But Judit Polgár had made her name thriving in the lion’s den, and in 28 blistering moves she would deal one of the most devastating knockouts of her career.
Welcome to: Queen of the Kremlin.
Judit Polgár.
Born in Hungary, Judit Polgár rose to fame as the youngest player to achieve the title of grandmaster. At the age of 12, she became the number one rated woman in the world, and maintained that title until her retirement 25 years later. She was the first woman to break the top 10 world rankings, and has defeated 11 former world champions including Gary Kasparov, Boris Spassky and Magnus Carlsen.
This game is a strong reflection of Judit’s sharp tactical wit, with beautiful piece coordination and a brilliant finishing sequence.
Can you find the checkmate, as Judit did in 1996?
a
8
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
1
SOLVED
a
8
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
8
7
7
6
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
1
SOLVED
Analysis