Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Welcomes Susan Polgar as a Chess Columnist
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/042008/col_270383331.shtml
Unfortunately, many of the statements made above are inaccurate, false
or misleading. I do not believe that she even wrote it. I believe that
her husband, Paul Truong, writes all of this.
For example, she states: "Breaking the gender barrier to be the first
woman ever to qualify for the Men's World Champion****p tournament."
I was there, on the scene, and directly involved in this incident.
This happened at the 1986 Hungarian Champion****p in Budapest. Susan
tied for second. After first announcing that Susan had qualified and
would go on to play in the zonal tournament in Warsaw, which was just
another qualifying round and was NOT a tournament for the world chess
champion****p, the Hungarian Chess Federation changed their minds a few
days later and said that Susan would not be sent because she had a 1/2
tie breaking point less than another player. I fought against this on
Susan's behalf which is the reason why I know so much about it. It was
obvious that the real reason Hungary was not sending her was that
Susan and her father were essentially dissidents fighting against the
Communist authorities. In short, Susan had a good case, but in any
event she was not allowed to play. Thus, her statement above is
misleading.
Next, she writes "Breaking the gender barrier to become the first-ever
woman to earn the title of Grandmaster."
The first woman ever to be awarded the grandmaster title was Nona
Gaprindashvili in 1977. Susan claims that Gaprindashvili did not
"earn" the title by making all the required norms, and that Susan did
earn the title. However, back in 1977 there were no firm and set rules
about title awards. Gaprindashvili lived in Soviet Georgia and was
given only one op****tunity to leave the country and compete for the
grandmaster title. She did and won the event in Lone Pine California
by winning the strongest open Swiss tournament held in the world that
year. That one result was better than any result Susan has ever had in
her entire life. No knowledgeable person feels that Gaprindashvili
should not have been awarded the grandmaster title.
Third, Susan states, "Winning four world champion****ps and becoming
the only chess player in history to win the triple-crown (which
includes Blitz, Rapid and Classical time controls)."
There is no such thing as the "triple crown" in chess. This is a title
invented by Polgar and Truong. One of the four events listed above was
the "1981 World Champion****p for Girls under-16." Two of the four
"World Champion****ps" were the blitz and rapid events organized by her
father in Budapest in 1992. The strongest players did not play and
none of these events were recognized by FIDE, the World Chess
Federation. The only world champion****p Susan really did win was the
1996 Woman's World Champion****p.
Finally, Susan writes, "Winning 10 Olympiad medals including five
gold, four silver and one bronze."
Believe it or not, this statement is actually probably true. I have
not counted her medals but she played in three World Chess Olympiads,
in 1988, 1990 and 2004 and won several medals in each of them.
None of this should distract from the fact that Susan Polgar is a very
strong chess player, one of the top 200 in the world, and a great
addition to the Lubbock Chess Community. I only wish that she would
stop claiming that she has achieved things that she has not actually
achieved.
Sam Sloan
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