ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
As has been documented many times by ChessBase, most recently here, Grandmaster Judit Polgár has numerous chess accomplishments. My co-author, Woman Grandmaster Sabina-Francesca Foişor, benefited from Judit’s trailblazing in chess. When Sabina began her chess career in her home country of Romania in 1994, only a handful of women held the “men’s” grandmaster title. Sabina looked to Judit Polgár and to her own mother, Cristina Foişor, for female role models of excellence in chess. Cristina and her husband Ovidiu each earned the International Master title and Sabina’s younger sister Veronica is a Woman International Master. Thus, the Foişors, like the Polgárs, are a chess-playing family.
About Judit as one of her role models, Sabina wrote, “Judit Polgár has been an inspiration to chess-playing girls and women around the world. She has won games against every single elite player of her time (from Karpov to Carlsen) while demonstrating tactical brilliancy similar to Alekhine, Tal, and Kasparov. Aside from being an inspiration to me as a person, her chess ideas have influenced me too. When I first defeated titled players, I surprisingly employed my g-pawn on many occasions. Thus, if I were to choose one game from Judit’s career, her impressive attack on the Black side of Sicilian against Shirov stands out without any doubt.”
Let me (Alexey) share that I am 11 years older than Judit. Thus, I could not look to her as a role model during my first chess tournament at age 9. In 1978, the year I turned 13, Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to be awarded the grandmaster title. Before 1978, I’d already heard that no woman held what was then called the “men’s” grandmaster title.
However, Judit’s books and her outreach efforts—such as the Global Chess Festival which I profiled for ChessBase—have inspired my own writing and chess promotion. And my birthday (July 24, 1965) is in the same month as Judit’s (July 23, 1976). I wish my fellow Leo a Happy Birthday!
[Pictured: Judith and Sophia Polgar in Hamburg, 1989 | Photo: Frederic Friedel]
Sabina is passionate about cooking; see her website and her Instagram. For a birthday dessert for Judit Polgár, Sabina chose a traditional Hungarian Raspberry Pastry recipe. She wrote:
I wanted to choose something sweet (for a fast and sweet win!) while reviewing this game. The good vibe was calling for a dessert recipe, especially in these trying times. Given our shared history, Romanians and Hungarians have some similar dishes. I looked for something fruity. I chose Hungarian Raspberry Pastry as it could easily be made into a birthday cake. Serve it as a cake, or as a breakfast or afternoon treat.
Ingredients
Directions
To the yolks mixture, stir in the flour mixture and mix with a wooden or silicone spoon or your hands.
[Pictured: The dessert — just out of the oven!]
Going over the game while enjoying the dessert
Sabina annotated Alexei Shirov versus Judit Polgár, Buenos Aires 1994. Also known as ‘Polgár’s Immortal Game’, it is the last game Judit analyzes in Judit Polgár: From GM to Top Ten. In 2012, famed Hungarian photographer Bela Doka took a photo of Judit showing her children, Oliver and Hannah, the variation 27.Qxg5 Nf3#.
And Action! - How to crown positional play by tactics
There are few names which, like that of Alexei Shirov, can be associated with fantastically imaginative and tactically influenced play. Now the Latvian grandmaster is presenting a DVD on precisely that element of the game of chess. And one that is completely based on his own games.
