Polgar routes Navara 6-2 in ČEZ Chess Trophy

Polgar vs Navara - ČEZ Chess Trophy 2010

Between April 22nd and April 24th, Judit Polgar, 33, the strongest woman player in the world, and rated 2682 Elo, faced the top Czech GM David Navara, 25, and rated 2708, in an eight-game rapid match. The match was organized as a part of the high-profile ČEZ Chess Trophy 2010 festival held by the Prague Chess Society.

Judit Polgar (33) is by far the strongest and most famous woman player in history, reaching the number one women's ranking at the ripe age of twelve years old, a position she has held for over twenty years. She is the only woman in the history of chess ever to enter the Top Ten world's chart (no other female ranks among the first hundred), even managing to beat one of the best chess players ever, Garry Kasparov.

David Navara (25) has been for several years the best Czech chessplayer. He regularly represents his country at the Chess Olympiads, not to mention international tournaments and the annual festivals of the Prague Chess Society. He has played matches with Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Kortchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Nigel Short, Boris Gelfand, Alexei Shirov and Vasily Ivanchuk. His best position in the world rankings was thirteen (from 1st January till 30th June 2007), now he is 27th (Elo 2708).

The match was hard fought, and had several extremely sharp games, typical of the Polgar so admired. After a draw in game one, game two set the tone for the match.

Polgar,Judit (2682) - Navara,David (2708) [C95]
Cez Chess Trophy 2010 (2), 22.04.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.a4 c5 13.d5 c4 14.Bc2 Nc5 15.a5 g6 16.b4 cxb3 17.Nxb3 Rc8 18.Re3 Nfd7 19.Nxc5 Nxc5 20.Ba3 f5 21.exf5 gxf5

Here Judit uncorked the spectacular 22.Nxe5! dxe5 23.Rxe5 Rc7 24.Rxf5 Rxf5 25.Bxf5 Qxd5 26.Qg4+ Kh8 27.Re1 Bf8 28.c4 Qg8 29.Bb2+ Bg7 30.Bxh7 Qf8 31.Bxg7+ Rxg7 32.Bg6 Kg8 33.cxb5 axb5 34.Re5 Bc8 35.Qe2 Rxg6 36.Re8 Bb7 37.f3 Ne6 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Qxb5 Rxg2+ 40.Kxg2 Bxf3+ 41.Kg3 1-0.

Polgar getting ready to steamroll Navara

Judit really had her way in the match despite solid results in the openings by Navara, and even escaped a certain loss in game five, when his flag dropped in a dead won position. Game seven once again highlighted her famous tactical abilities.

Navara,David (2708) - Polgar,Judit (2682) [E12]
Cez Chess Trophy 2010 (7), 24.04.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bf4 Bb4 6.Qb3 a5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 d6 9.e3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0-0 Qe7 12.h4 d5 13.Kb1 c5 14.Ne5 dxc4 15.Nxc4 Nd5 16.Qc2 Nxf4 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.exf4 f5 19.Rhe1 Kxh7 20.d5 Nf621.Rxe6

21...Qxe6! 22.dxe6 Be4 23.Rd3 Rfd8 24.Ne5 Rxd3 25.Nxd3 Rd8 26.Kc1 Bxd3 27.Qb3 Rd6 28.Qd1 c4 29.Qe1 Be4 30.f3 Bc6 31.e7 Ba4 32.b3 cxb3 33.g4 Be8 34.g5 Nh5 35.Qe5 Rc6+ 36.Kb2 g6 37.Kxb3 Ng7 38.Qd5 Re6 39.Qd8 Kg8 40.Kc4 Kf7 41.Kd5 a4 42.Qc7 Nh5 43.Kd4 b5 44.Kc5 Rc6+ 45.Qxc6 Bxc6 46.Kxc6 b4 47.Kd7 Ng7 48.h5 gxh5 0-1.

The match ended in a rout in favor of the Hungarian genius with a no-nonsense score of 6-2, deservedly winning the artistic trophy.

Judit Polgar with a very unusual prize (not depicting her opponent after the match!)

A Polgar simul with a number of celebrities and notable figures. That's Czech President
Václav Klaus kibitzing in the striped shirt

The festival also enjoyed a number of exhibits with chess themes, some which drew
a lot of curious stares. Lubomir Kavalek admiring a cross between chess and cubism.

Vlastimil Hort trying to imagine a world championship match with the set

They say chess reflects life. Here that is literally true.

GM Lubomir Kavalek with organiser and businessman Bessel Kok

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN To read, replay and analyse the PGN games we adivse you to download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light. This program also gives you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.