Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár Rejects Candidacy for Hungarian Presidency

Magyar's Advance and the Swift Rejection

Prime Minister Magyar had put forward Polgár as a candidate for the presidency late on Sunday evening, only one day after she had agreed to a public consultation on the matter. In a Facebook post, the Prime Minister emphasized that Polgár's success and recognition were owed not to politics but solely to her exceptional talent. Magyar also stressed that his country needed unity, peace, and a president „auf den alle Ungarn stolz sein können".

By nominating Polgár, Magyar had apparently sought to send a cross-party signal: the chess grandmaster has no political background and no training as a lawyer or social scientist. At the same time, she is considered internationally exceptionally well-connected and speaks several languages. Under Hungarian constitutional law, presidential candidates must be Hungarian citizens and at least 35 years old; there are no specific educational requirements.

Background: Predecessor Sulyok and the Constitutional Amendment

The candidate would have succeeded a vacant post: Parliament had passed a constitutional amendment the previous week that led to the removal of the previous President, Tamás Sulyok. Sulyok, who was considered a confidant of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, had criticized the constitutional amendment on Saturday, while at the same time declaring that he had no means to oppose it. His last day in office was the Sunday on which the removal took effect.

Polgár's sporting record is unmatched among female chess players. She is one of the three Polgár daughters — alongside Zsuzsa and Zsófi — all of whom were intensively taught chess from early childhood by their parents, both educators, and did not attend school; their general education was provided by their parents through homeschooling. Judit Polgár ended her elite chess career in 2014. During her career, she won five Chess Olympiads and in July 2005 became, to this day, the only woman to reach a place in the top ten of the world rankings.

Polgár's Chess Record

During her career, Polgár competed exclusively in men's tournaments to demonstrate that women can be the equal of men in chess. She defeated male world champions and grandmasters such as Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Over a period of roughly a quarter of a century, she was considered the highest-ranked female chess player in the world and is regarded as the greatest female chess player of all time. Her work was introduced to a worldwide audience in the Netflix documentary „Queen of Chess".

After her retirement from elite chess, Polgár heads the Judit Polgár Chess Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting logical thinking and problem-solving skills among children and young people. She is married to the veterinarian Gusztáv Font; the couple has two children.

Reactions and Outlook

After Polgár's rejection became known, Prime Minister Magyar apologized for possible „Kommunikationsfehler". Analyst Szabolcs Pek of the think tank „Irány tű" told AFP: „Es scheint, als habe Peter Magyar seinen ersten Kommunikationsfehler als Ministerpräsident begangen, indem er im Nominierungsprozess einen Schritt übersehen hat." Pek also assessed the rejection as a favor to Magyar; his TISZA party would in future involve Magyar supporters more closely before further personnel decisions were made.

At the time of reporting, it was unclear whom the Hungarian Prime Minister would put forward as the next candidate for the presidency. Magyar had pointed out on social media that his TISZA party had previously asked the Hungarian public for recommendations.

Polgár's father, László, held the conviction that talent is not given by nature but can develop to the highest level under optimal circumstances. This was reflected in the family's educational approach, which shaped the careers of the three daughters.

The article was written by Gregor Mayer in Budapest and broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on July 21, 2026.