Rebel Queen
The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A real life Queen’s Gambit, this captivating memoir tells the story of one of the most renowned women in chess history, Susan Polgar, taking on a sexist establishment and rewriting the rules of what women could achieve against the oppressive backdrop of Cold War Eastern Europe.
Born to a poor Jewish family in Cold War Budapest, Susan Polgar would emerge as the one of the greatest female chess players the world had ever seen—the highest rated female player on the planet and the first woman to earn the men's Grandmaster title. As a teenager in 1986, she became the first woman to qualify for the men's World Chess Championship cycle, later achieving the game's triple crown, holding World Championship titles in three major chess time formats.
Yet at every turn, she was pitted against a sexist culture, a hostile Communist government, vicious antisemitism, and powerful enemies. She endured sabotage and betrayal, state-sponsored intimidation, and violent assault. And she overcame all of it to break the game's long-standing gender barrier and claim her place at the pinnacle of professional chess, before going on to coach other players and build two separate college chess dynasties.
Before her improbable rise, it was taken for granted that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. Susan Polgar single-handedly disproved this belief.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Decorated chess player Polgar offers a granular, behind-the-scenes look at her path to success in this illuminating if somewhat narrowly focused memoir. Polgar was born in Hungary in 1969. Her father, László, harbored a longstanding obsession with genius, and he decided to home-school Polgar in a single subject in an attempt to make her one. She rapidly developed into a chess expert, claiming the title of top-ranked woman in the world by age 15. Still, she faced prejudice: though Polgar qualified, in 1986, for the Men's World Championship, she was barred from participating, and the International Chess Federation allotted extra points to "every female player on the planet" except her, due to her alleged advantage from having played against so many men. Still, Polgar became the first-ever woman to earn the grandmaster title, and the only player of any gender to win the chess triple crown. Though Polgar sticks mostly to her chess career, she also touches on motherhood, her two marriages, and her establishment of chess schools in the United States. Chess lovers will be inspired.
