Judith Polgar is the best female chess player of all time and has defeated numerous World Chess Champions. She has been ranked as high as eighth in the world before retiring to raise children. Judith is a popular and respected figure in her home county of Hungary. So much so, that the Prime Minister asked her to assume the position of President of Hungary, which is largely a ceremonial position. She declined but expressed her gratitude and honor at the request.
This week’s position is from her game against then the world’s number 3 ranked player, Boris Gelfand. Polgar is white; Gelfand, black. Here, she patiently coordinates her bishop and rook for a crushing attack. With this hint in mind please try to find white’s winning attack.
Black prevents white’s bishop from moving to f6 with its rook-queen battery. Polgar overcame that defense with rook to g6 (see next diagram).
The black h7 pawn is pinned and bishop to f6 now mates quickly in several lines. The key line is that after the black queen takes the rook, white’s queen takes black’s rook with check. Black’s queen is forced to retreat to g8, and white’s bishop delivers mate from f6 (see next diagram).
“In chess, as in life, patience is a virtue,” she once said.
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