Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Sunday that he intends to invite Judit Polgar, widely considered the finest female chess player in history, to take on the mostly ceremonial position of the country’s next president.
Writing on Facebook, Magyar said the 49-year-old Polgar could stand as a symbol of national unity. He added that he would meet with her on Monday to formally ask whether she would accept the nomination.
The proposal comes just one day after President Tamas Sulyok approved a constitutional amendment, passed by Magyar’s governing Tisza party, that brings an early end to his tenure as head of state.
That legislation forms part of Magyar’s broader effort to dismantle the strongholds built up by former Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Magyar has argued that voters handed him a clear mandate for such changes after he unseated the right-wing leader in a landslide election victory in April.
Parliament, where the Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority large enough to amend any law, will choose the new president. That figure will serve until a planned new constitution comes into force, or for a maximum term of five years.
Polgar’s place in chess history is well established. In 1988, she and her two sisters, Zsuzsa (Susan) and Zsofia (Sofia), together with Ildiko Madl, secured victory for Hungary’s women’s team at the Chess Olympiad, breaking the Soviet Union’s long-standing grip on the event.
Competing regularly against men, Polgar rose to become one of the strongest players in a sport dominated by them. She stands as the most gifted woman ever to play the game and remains the only woman to have passed the 2700-rating mark, a level many regard as the benchmark for “Super GM” status.
Her career was the subject of “Queen of Chess,” a documentary released on Netflix in February.
“I will meet her tomorrow, and will ask whether she is ready to serve our country in a new role until the new constitution is passed,” Magyar wrote. He continued, “Judit Polgar’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.”
