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1This book of mine appeared in Hungarian in 1989. In it I described and summarized my
2psychological and pedagogical experiments regarding my daughters’ and my 15-year educational
3experience.
4I do not present a prescription, merely a point of view. I do not wish to exhort anyone to raise a
5genius. I wish to demonstrate that it is possible. I urge no one, I encourage no one, everyone
6must decide for themselves what they wish to do. I can only pass on my pedagogical system, and
7guide everyone along the road that I followed, confident that it is possible and worthwhile to
8raise geniuses, for they can and indeed have become happy people.
9My daughters are grown. Now they are practicing their professions and raising their own
10children. They wish to raise them as fulfilled, creative, and happy people, as they themselves are.
11In my conception, education is good for the individual and desirable and useful for society. A
12genius is a collective creation who becomes a communal treasure.
13Let us not fear to raise our children with optimism and courage (without begrudging the
14material expense!). Prodigies are not miracles, but natural phenomena; indeed they must be
15formed as natural phenomena. Parents and society are responsible for the development of the
16children’s capabilities. A large number of geniuses are lost because they themselves never learn
17what they are capable of.
18Our experiment, our program, and our way of life has been repeated independently many times
19throughout the course of history (consider primarily the childhood stage of a genius’s life). We
20wish merely to elucidate them and endeavor by this to elevate them to a theory.
21I wish you successful child-raising!
22Budapest, 2004
23Raise a Genius! - 3
24I. Mysteries of Pedagogical Experiments
251. Instead of an introduction . . . the Polgar family
26“If I am not for me - who is then for me; but if I am only for me - why do I live?” - The Talmud
27“No one is a prophet in his own town.” - Proverb
28“The truth is very often persecuted, but never suppressed.” - Livy
29If, in the 50’s or 60’s, anywhere in Western Europe one said, “I am Hungarian,” the first
30reaction from those around was probably, “Hungarian? Then Puskás, football... 6:3…,” and
31the door for communication closed. The first reaction at the end of the 80’s was most often,
32“The Polgar sisters… chess… and the Olympic Games in Seoul…” How did you live with this
33unusual popularity?
34It also happened for us, that people in the West did not know who we were, and then people
35started talking about “The Polgars and Erno Rubik.” We were amazed and at the same time
36delighted to learn that we were those Polgars. We were “the Hungarian miracle, the three
37sisters, the world- famous children.” Around 40,000 favorable articles appeared about us. Of
38course people did also write unfavorably about us, mostly in Eastern Europe.
39Ill will is not always masked behind reservations and doubts. Didn’t people think that you
40treated your children like chess pieces or marionettes?
41If we considered our daughters as manipulable figures, merely as objects and not as subjects of
42education, would we have been able to attain such a result? Without the active collaboration of
43their open, freely-chosen, independent agency and personhood we could have achieved nothing.
44In this kind of education the active participation of the child is almost as important as that of the
45educator. If they had not wanted to cooperate, they would truly have been marionettes, but
46from marionettes you cannot raise geniuses. I do not restrict them - on the contrary, I provide
47the possibility for children to attain the highest possible level of freedom. I open doors to
48freedom. In practice I create the opportunity for them to do what they love. Apart from that, I
49take care of them, nurture their psyches, and manage them in specific areas; I smooth their
50paths. Do not misunderstand me! During the past 20 years I have sometimes happened to say,
51“Look, children, you must do it this way!” But that is not characteristic. It makes up a
52maximum of 1 percent; we almost always discussed everything communally, and let them
53decide. Of course they are not marionettes. In a traditional school children are certainly
54marionettes to some degree: one wakes them early and sends them to school, where during class
55time they are pulled and pushed arbitrarily by teachers and their peers.
56Raise a Genius! - 4
57There is much truth in that. Thus it happens that a 6-year-old child joyfully crosses the
58threshold of the school in September, but by Christmas does not retain much of that joy. I
59believe you: one cannot form a creative person without independence, and one cannot guide
60even your children to the summit against their will. However, it does not follow that this kind
61of child will be happy, or that they will stay fulfilled throughout their life.
62No, and I never said that every outstanding person is logically a happy one. A person’s potential
63and self-estimation does not necessarily coincide. It can happen that someone is a genius and
64unhappy at the same time. Joyless, for their life is unhappy, the people around them do not
65accept them, they have not been successful in attaining some intended end goal, some sure thing
66has developed unluckily, etc. But at the same time the opposite can happen. In that case the
67people around them accept them, and they are satisfied with themselves; they can establish a
68surplus in their life, for they are useful for their fellows and attain success. Then out of that
69springs happiness. It is not by chance that asking a “difficult person” if they would order their
70life the same way over again we most often receive the answer “Yes.” Indeed this could not be
71otherwise; geniuses are at least as happy as other people.
72I do not assert that the way to genius leads necessarily to happiness, but indeed th
73Raise a Genius! - 5
74What kind of person do you think you are?
75A person who shapes his environment, his destiny, his society, and himself. If I think through
76my life in my mind, I can deduce my character, my me-ness, from it. If I consider my
77personality traits, I can predict my destiny, because they are interrelated. Of course certain
78ethnic distinctives can be found in me, like over-strenuous working, over-emotionality, yearning
79for accomplishments, the central role of the family, the desire to develop the capabilities of my
80daughters, and from time to time possibly also a bit of aggression and noise. But do not
81misunderstand me! I do not assert that I like all of those, and I do not assert that I wish to
82develop them in me. Only that these characteristics in practice have social effects.
83Attacks that I have sustained from authorities have also influenced me. I have been in conflict
84with many people. These influences, although they have certainly been constructive to my
85personality, have worsened some matters: the efficacy of my work and my health. I have worked
86very hard in the past 25 years. I have slept very little. Thus I now feel a bit weary.
87From time to time people accuse you of obstinacy, of insuf icient diplomacy, and some even
88think you aggressive. What you think of that?
89In my opinion, persistence and consistency do not equal obstinacy. Emotionality about
90problems and dynamism does not equal aggression. However our societal conditions sometimes
91provoke aggression in us. I consider it a virtue that I do not accept unprincipled compromises.
92Of course I do not consider myself perfect, and in some cases I certainly have been obstinate,
93even aggressive; but one must know that aggression is very often a consequence of frustration,
94and that, I believe, we receive abundantly. An aggressive posture is characterized by hostility,
95provocation, violence, and offensive conduct, causing suffering and damage. This is absolutely
96inaccurate with respect to me or us.
97I wish to be persistent and consistent, but not obstinate. I wish to progress to the established
98goal. I endeavor not to worry too much about obstacles, but??? try to defeat them. I endeavor to
99stay true to my humanist principles despite hardships and misery, passive or active opposition,
100visible or camouflaged attacks. In some cases people do everything - at least it seems to me - to
101completely nullify us as people. This struck us first directly from Sandor Szerenyi (the first
102secretary of the Communist Party from 1929-1931, sometime vice-leader of the cultural and
103science section of the Hungarian Socialist Labor [Communist] Party, president of the Hungarian
104Chess Association for many decades), second and indirectly - as was evident in his recent
105statement - from Janos Kadar (former first secretary of the Communist Party, sometime
106president of the Chess Association). They seemingly could not forgive me for my way of
107thinking, built on humanism and judged so over-audacious, as well as my departure from the
108Communist Party. Around that time, at our second meeting, Szerenyi received me, without even
109a greeting, with the words, “You are a crook, an anarchist,” and later followed with threats. After
110that for long years we were not allowed to travel out of the country. We only received passports
111to travel to the West in 1985. (Zsuzsa then already held the first place in the global rank of
112female chess players.) It was typical that in a press conference around then Sandor Szerenyi
113claimed that “Laszlo Polgar is in medical opinion not a completely normal person.” If we had
114Raise a Genius! - 6
115not attained international celebrity with explosive speed, if we had not been so famous, our
116careers could have ended tragically.
117In my opinion it is not true that I am a quarrelsome, agitated, aggressive, greedy, and violent
118person. I think of myself as an honest, sincere, plain-spoken person, very sensitive about justice.
119I have a great love of freedom and thirst for knowledge. I am very happy that to my knowledge I
120have deceived no one. Regarding my work I have established very high requirements, although I
121also understand those people who live otherwise. Other people possibly consider me an
122extremist, but I prefer to call myself an optimistic realist.
123The essence of your pedagogical system is to raise happy geniuses. Speaking about yourself, I
124cannot help but wonder: in your opinion, do you consider yourself a genius?
125I can only say that I have created something that up to now no one else has created. In this
126sense, then, probably yes.
127Are you happy?
128This question surprises me, but I believe that yes, I am. I have a beautiful family, a happy
129marriage, three beautiful, healthy, happy, intelligent children, and I feel as well that in my work
130I can enjoy the pleasure of creation, for I have done something that will last. I believe that I am
131happy.
132Raise a Genius! - 7
1332.The tipping point: heredity or education, giving or receiving?
134“I do not believe in genius, only persistent courageous labor.” - M. Reger
135“Anyone can attain my level, if he is as diligent as I have been for my entire life.” - J.S. Bach
136“Every unfinished matter seems unrealizable for those who are incapable of great things.” -
137J.F.P. Retz
138Your opponents probably also know or feel that in itself the game of chess is merely a tool that
139you use to realize an important, one could say cultural-historical, goal. What then is the
140essence of your experiment and what philosophical problem underlies it?
141The essence of my pedagogical program is that in my opinion, every healthy child can be raised
142to be an outstanding person, in my words, a genius. When we began this work with my wife, we
143read through a large collection of books and studies. We examined the childhoods of many
144eminent people and noticed that all who became geniuses specialized very early in some field,
145and we could also document that beside them always stood a father or mother, a tutor or trainer,
146who were “obsessed” - in the good sense of the word. So on the basis of our research we could
147rightly conclude that geniuses are not born: one has to raise them. And if it was possible to raise
148an outstanding person, we definitely needed to try this. So we did, and our attempt brought
149success.
150In the end I would like to prove that socialization, development within society, and in that
151context the genius-izing of a person, depends firstly not on their native biological powers: their
152way of life is not decided from birth; it must be considered principally as a social product, in
153practice, a result of nurture. To express it provocatively, I often say, “Genius is not born, genius
154is raised.”
155By means of my complete system I would like to prove this idea, and my whole life, my former
156studies, my completed experiments, my plans for the future - everything is directed towards this.
157Although my three daughters’ chess results have already proved in a pedagogical sense the
158correctness of my experiment, nevertheless I do not assert that this result could today satisfy the
159millennia-old philosophical question of the relationship between endowments of birth and
160acquired features, considering the simultaneous natural and social makeup of the person.
161Regarding the pedagogical consequences of my theory I am certain, but not even I can attempt
162to definitively decide the general philosophical connections??? underlying my experiment. In
163relation to this, to use the words of Wallon, I can only say, “I cannot give a definitive solution, I
164can only indicate a direction.”
165In the current discussion between philosophy and genetics, no viewpoint has yet won out. I
166wish to turn this situation around by means of a program of action.
167Raise a Genius! - 8
168I wish for society, and can assert, that on this hypothesis can be constructed a coherent system
169on which pedagogy can be confidently based, and functioning according to it, achieve success, as
170my experiment proves.
171There has been significant acknowledgement of your successful experiment, and you have been
172invited to be a patron of the upcoming conference of the European Society for Talent in 1990 in
173Budapest. In this year’s conference in Zurich as well, the unstructured discussion, about which
174you spoke earlier, had a good atmosphere. For example, Sebastian Coe, two-time Olympic
175champion, said that society is responsible for talent. The world-famous physicist Manfred von
176Ardenne opined that talent is not merit, but a gift. The president of the World Council for
177Talent, Harry Passow, stated, “Talent is a possibility - children are talented if we educators
178name them talented.”
179In the development of my system I have started from two facts. On the one hand current
180genetics still knows very little about the person; what it knows relates primarily to diseases. On
181the other hand, a healthy human has such an elastic cerebral system and flexible developmental
182structure that their efficacy can be developed to a high degree by pedagogical methods. The way
183is open for pedagogy, since children are developable, and from the viewpoint of the intellect they
184can be formed in any manner. (The outstanding Hungarian author Gyula Illyes notes in his
185journal about the well-known English stolidity: “The English are English following school; even
186their famous impassivity they get from there, not from their mothers’ wombs.”)
187The American psychologist J.B. Watson has confidently stated for several decades that if he were
188given a dozen healthy babies he could raise them to be anything, whether scientists or criminals.
189Following the same concept, the Soviet psychologist V. Turchenko says, “It is better not to say
190that geniuses are not often born; say rather that we do not often raise them.” I myself incline to
191the psychological-pedagogical optimism of Watson, Turchenko, the Japanese psychologist
192Suzuki Sunigi and the Austrian psychiatrist A. Adler: for this reason I began to develop and
193explore the capabilities of my three daughters. I began working on the basis for this before their
194births. It should be mentioned as well that there exist so-called talent-forming,
195genius-educating schools in Japan, Israel, the German Democratic Republic, the US, etc. (for
196example the “Superbaby Farm” of Glenn Doman in Philadelphia).
197These thinkers, similarly to me, are of the opinion that the average person uses only 20-25
198percent of the capability of their brain, although its capacity could be exploited much more
199effectively. A person can utilize their 1,300-gram much more than 20-25%, but one must begin
200working towards this goal very early. Glenn Doman’s team considers the age of three to be the
201limit, when the bodily, spiritual and creative development of the child is still remarkably
202accelerable. I also am close to this viewpoint, although I consider the time limit to be more
203elastic.
204Raise a Genius! - 9
205There are also those among Hungarian specialists who evaluate your program positively. For
206example, Dr. Istvan Harsanyi, the eminent Hungarian expert on talent research reviewed
207your work on Hungarian Radio (1986-07-12): “I am convinced that the Polgar family
208experiment is the most important Hungarian psycho-pedagogical experiment in the
209thousand-year history of our state. (...) I believe this without reservation… Watson cannot
210prove his methods in practice, because he has never received those dozen healthy infants… I
211consider this the most important Hungarian psycho-pedagogical experiment, because
212Watson’s principles have been applied with great success, and also because it is a matter of not
213one but three children. This in fact presents the most interesting and strong proof of the whole
214af air. Indeed, when has it been deduced from any kind of genetic experiment that the subjects
215must have identically inherited the same capabilities? Certainly never!... This experiment is
216very important as well because of the fact that to my knowledge there has never been the
217possibility of experimenting in this area.”
218Right. The uniqueness of my experiment lies in that it is - one could say - a family group
219experiment, made possible by the birth of my three daughters. I have built my pedagogical
220optimism on this result. On this basis I think that every biologically healthy child can be raised
221to be a genius; every healthy child is born with enough general endowment that from them can
222come a high level personality.
223This then is the starting point. Would you summarize the basic principles of your concept, so
224we can later discuss them separately and in detail?
225I would summarize my ideas in five theses:
2261. The first relates to the traditional discussion about the role of natural and societal, from birth
227or acquired, hereditary and “educational” factors. Before everything, I started with being
228concerned not with two, but with three factors. I conceive of the personality of the person as a
229complex union of these three factors. In a personality are found simultaneously (1) biological
230endowments from birth, (2) things received by acquisition throughout life and (3) responses
231fought out and “sweated” out from oneself. That is, the value of a personality consists of three
232parts: the interacting trio of endowments, things received, and responses. The personality is
233thus at the same time:
234- An endowment of nature
235- An effect of the environment
236- A creation of the individual
237In this trinity I consider the crucial link to be the effect of environment, of society. Really,
238depending on age, all of them have different roles: in the first months of life biological effects
239dominate, for the first ten years society is undoubtedly increasingly emphasized, and later the
240activity of one’s own personality strengthens. But from the viewpoint of the development and
241freedom of the personality the deciding link is seen through the passage of time to be one’s
242existence in a society.
243Raise a Genius! - 10
2442. The next thesis relates to the interpretation of existence in a society. In this I call out two
245aspects. On the one hand the immediate surroundings of a person (family, friends, etc.), on the
246other their more distant circumstances. The first mediates imitative “heredity,” the second
247socio-cultural “heredity.” Thus, aside from biological heredity, it is also the effect of the family
248model and the historical-cultural heredity of the larger society that determines the nature of a
249person.
250A member of society shares in human nature. The individual lives out their own development
251under the effects of societal forces like self-realization. From this it follows that education must
252consider a child also as a co-author.
2533. The third thesis relates to the way to develop creativity. In my opinion, every healthy person
254is born with sufficient biological endowments to be able to specialize these general endowments
255in some concrete form of action. As opposed to many other pedagogues and parents, I see the
256task of education not in exploring or finding in the child “innate” or hidden capabilities. If we
257assume the existence of a general endowment in each child, I start from this: that we must
258develop in them some special capability.
259Sometimes I have heard your reply to pedagogues’ remarks that genius is born and not raised.
260You respond sarcastically: it is easier to not educate than to educate a genius.
261Yes, right. By my basic principle, every child born healthy is potentially a genius, and if one pays
262enough attention, they will in fact become one.
2634. My next thesis is that one can and must consciously organize the development of geniuses,
264and it is not sufficient to leave them to chance.
265Self-evidently, education in itself is not all-powerful, for it depends also on concrete social
266conditions. But the fact that its effect is enormous empirically proves my results.
267In parallel to the different responses to the biological, genetic and philosophical questions
268above, several tendencies in pedagogy are delimited between two extremes regarding the role of
269education. One extreme is the theory of laissez-faire. Its representatives say that human
270capability will manifest even when nothing is done towards that goal. According to th
271Raise a Genius! - 11
2725) My fifth thesis is pedagogical humanism, according to which the essence of the formation of
273personality is the striving for as perfect self-realization and as complete happiness as possible.
274Every person should strive to attain the greatest result attainable by them, and realize oneself -
275this can bring about one’s own happiness and also that of others. The pedagogue’s task is also to
276aim for - as it is possible - not the average, but the peak. Considering outstanding achievements
277positively, one should fix human happiness as the ultimate goal for oneself. Therefore it is
278possible and necessary to raise geniuses, because, among other things, this guarantees the most
279certain road to happiness.
280Raise a Genius! - 12
281II. Education is Also Possible This Way
2821. Contemporary Schools
283“Human history is a contest between catastrophe and education.” - H. G. Wells
284“We have succeeded in transforming the most joy-giving human activity into a painful, tedious,
285spirit- and soul-confounding experience.” - J. Hill
286“Traveling along his way, the cripple leaves hesitant fleet-footed adventurers behind.” - J. F.
287Bawes
288It is generally known that you are a pedagogy fanatic; however, you did not put your
289daughters in school; they did their studies as private students. Why?
290The fact that I did not send my daughters to school is of course connected to the fact that I hold
291an unfavorable opinion of it. I criticize contemporary schools because they do not educate for
292life, they equalize everyone to a very low level, and in addition they do not tolerate the talented
293and those who diverge from the average.
294Let us take this step by step, and start with your first remark: schools do not educate for life.
295Is the old Latin saying “One learns not for the sake of school, but of life” pointless?
296Contemporary schools are separate from real life in that they function sort of as laboratories.
297There is no link with domestic or political or local public life, or the everyday cares of living one’s
298life on the one hand, and school on the other.
299My daughters, who have never visited a school, grew up much more in the context of real life.
300Contemporary schools do not promote a love of learning. They do not inspire to great
301achievements; they raise neither autonomous people nor communally-oriented ones.
302Schools do not manifest or develop potential capabilities in people, at least as much as they
303could.
304It seems to me that the second point of your critique of schools is related to this. That is, they
305equalize everyone to a very low level. How would you clarify this?
306It’s a simple matter. If all the schools in the country are of only one type, the model is like this:
307in each school there are, besides a few outstanding people, many mediocre and weak people. The
308mediocre are closer to the weak than to the outstanding. Of course a teacher cannot adapt to
309those few outstanding people, so the teacher presents material that is appropriate for the
310majority. Thus for the outstanding, class time becomes tedious. Even if the teacher wished to,
311the teacher cannot “tailor” the study material for most of the students’ individual needs. So they
312cannot make each child work to their potential. Too often they must make the whole class
313Raise a Genius! - 13
314mechanically repeat more or less identical tasks. In the current organization structure they only
315speak about instruction providing problem-solving skills, but in practice this is unrealizable.
316Thus both pedagogues and students suffer in school.
317Let us move on to your third criticism. How much do contemporary schools disrupt the
318development of talented children?
319They hinder the development of talented children in that school instruction is tedious for them.
320It has been proven that a too-easy load is more tiring than an optimum load. As well,
321contemporary schools do not tolerate psychologically atypical children, and the group
322discriminates against everyone who differs from the average. The Hungarian poet Dezso
323Kosztolanyi did not write without cause, when saying goodbye to his son going to school for the
324first time, “My hand still fumbles at his hair; I let him leave, although I feel I am throwing him
325into a tiger cage.” The specialist literature also attests to this, that contemporary schools are
326disadvantageous for unusually capable children.
327Symptoms of ill health appear in many talented children because of damage from school
328(insomnia, various kinds of cardiac problems, headaches, abdominal pains, neuroses and
329psychoses). It is most worrying that children take them from their community. Permit me to
330mention as a curiosity that famous people often failed in school. Thomas Mann failed three
331times during his school studies. Albert Einstein was considered a very bad student by his
332instructors. In his school reports they noted, “He thinks slowly, is agitated, obsessed with stupid
333dreams.” Robert Roentgen they determined to be “extremely untalented.” James Watt was
334considered “heavy and dim,” etc.
335Clement Lanny and his colleagues, who studied aggression in school, collected numerous
336examples showing how neglected, sometimes extremely neglected, were students in school
337groups.
338School groups are also very unstable; peripheral children are susceptible to the influence of mass
339opinion. It is sufficient for the leader of some group or other, even for a trivial reason, to incite
340antipathy towards any member of the group. As well, the famous American pediatrician
341Benjamin Spock says that one easily brands unusually capable children as “keeners” or “nerds”
342etc. And the unfortunate student immediately becomes a punching bag for the group, often for
343many months. The Hungarian psychologists Imre and Alice Hermann warn about the cruel
344conduct of children, emphasizing that, “The cruelty is not intentional, but is no less wounding to
345the target.” To that I can add what Plutarch wrote: “Boys throw frogs in jest, but the frogs die in
346earnest.”
347Raise a Genius! - 14
348So it is not by accident that people often propose that someone should do something to
349ameliorate the disadvantageous situation of the talented. In the West German magazine Bunte
350Illustrierte (12/1980) I read an article titled “Unusual ability - Unhappiness?” Currently in
351Hungary many are now calling for an improvement in the situation of the talented. The
352renowned geneticist Endre Czeizel writes, “Paradoxically, mentally challenged children enjoy
353advantages, as there is a separate school system for them, while no solution is seen for the
354talented.
355In America, by contrast, they have worked on a talent-nurturing program, even including
356training on educating extraordinarily capable children in pedagogical instruction. The Society
357for Helping Extraordinarily Capable Children was founded in Hamburg in 1978. And in the
358Soviet Union they do a lot in the instruction of the talented in special schools. For example,
359there are this kind of school in Novosibirsk, there are sport schools in Tashkent, and the
360Lomonosov University in Moscow.
361In Hungary, if I understand correctly, it is not possible to use an educational structure in
362primary school that dif ers from the standard, and private instruction for extraordinarily
363capable children is not permitted.
364Truly not. When my wife and I investigated the outcomes and ways of life of extraordinary
365people, we decided that to fulfil our educational duty we would not choose the traditional form,
366but we would teach our children privately. When my first daughter, Zsuzsa, reached the age of
367compulsory education, I petitioned to release her from attendance at school six months before
368the start of the school year. I argued from foreign examples and from her current progress,
369because I felt the development of her capabilities would be threatened in school. The ministry
370refused my petition many times, despite the fact that many supported it in writing.
371Let me quote from that petition. Janos Szabolcsi, a middle-school teacher and international
372chess master, said, “I support the petition, because the risk of granting it is trivial compared to
373the seemingly great, even world shaking, result that is foreseen.” The chess instructor Laszlo
374Alfoldi: “A globally significant result and very rapid progress can certainly be expected from
375Zsuzsa Polgar. As a private student she can continue her studies for an extended period with
376complete success, and at the same time make possible the maximal structured development of
377her ability in chess.”
378Despite this my petition was refused for a long time. An officer of the relevant authority even
379visited us, accompanied by a member of the security police armed with a machine pistol, to deal
380with the matter. I received warnings many times from various authorities that someone had
381initiated charges against me for not observing the law concerning compulsory education.
382We spent a great deal of energy until we won that battle and received permission from the
383Ministry of Education. The decision was as follows: “The child is unusually capable; I release
384her, strictly as an exception, from daily attendance at school.”
385Raise a Genius! - 15
386We had waited for this liberation for nine months. Later, with the birth of our next child the
387problem began again from the beginning. We succeeded painfully and arduously in arranging
388for her to be a private student as well.
389Raise a Genius! - 16
3902. Every child is a promise
391“We are wiser when older, but we learn more easily when younger.” - Aristotle
392“Many things can be acquired with money, many by deceit, and many by falsehood. But there is
393one thing that can be obtained only by honest labor, for which a king must work as hard as a
394coalman… and that is knowledge.” - The Talmud
395“Chance can create not only a thief, but sometimes a great person.” - G. C. Lichtenberg
396What are the main pedagogical principles that you consider worthy of following both in the
397education of average people and in that of the talented?
398Among my pedagogical principles some that occupy an important place are awakening and
399holding the interest of the child, requiring accomplishments from the child, trust in them, and
400praise and admiration for their accomplishments. (Plutarch writes, “According to Xenophon,
401there is no sweeter music than when one is praised.”) In the Soviet Union an experiment was
402performed focused as a basic principle on admiration for children’s accomplishments. The result
403was a very intense evolution of the child’s capabilities. Apart from that, the central role of
404success is also one of my pedagogical principles.
405A few days ago I returned from New York, where during a visit to a school I happened to see a
406slogan on the wall: “Every child is a promise.” Indeed, on every level of pedagogy, in every form
407of instruction, pedagogy must start from this fundamental concept.
408It is very important that the child likes what they are doing; only then will it be possible to
409inspire a long period of fruitful labor. The formation of a deep interest plays a great role in the
410evolution of the personality, principally from the viewpoint of developing abilities. The
411interested child develops their abilities using less energy, while attaining greater success, and
412becoming less tired.
413How do you view the relationship between success and failure?
414I generally ask for positive stimuli. In my opinion one must create a pedagogical situation in
415which the lived experience of success is much better than that of failure. This is valid for every
416child, but is most important for the talented.
417The experience of success or failure, as Adler demonstrates, greatly influences the
418self-confidence - or uncertainty - of the child. According to P. Michel as well, the experience of
419success, the admiration of others, and the recognition of teachers, significantly stimulates
420further action, increases the trust of the child in their knowledge and ability to a high degree.
421According to Frank, failure, suffering, and fearfulness decrease achievement. Following a
422number of successive failures, even a damaging inhibitory complex can be created. With an
423increase in stress, action becomes more superficial and behavior less calm.
424Raise a Genius! - 17
425Similarly, in the opinion of M. Juck, success experienced in one area increases (and failure
426decreases) the level of aspiration in other areas.
427Helm’s experiments prove that experience of success decreases the time necessary for solving
428later tasks, and increases the elasticity and ideational richness of the mind, while following
429failure there can be hindrances, rigidity, and relative ideational poverty in thinking, and
430problem-solving time increases.
431Achievements can often be under- or over-valued. Which of these is less useful from a
432pedagogical viewpoint?
433Pedagogically, only accurate estimation is good; psychologically of course over-estimation is less
434dangerous than under-. But let us not forget, morally, and therefore psychologically, too much
435external success (praise, distinction, reward) makes a child too self-confident, and this can
436result not only in a malformed character, but also a diminished capability for achievement.
437As Marta Nemes writes, “It is one thing to progress by means of internal striving toward a
438conceived goal, and another by external applause.” External acknowledgement alone does not
439equal success. However, external acknowledgement is also important, but in the end it results in
440the mere form of effective achievement, in contrast to the internal kind.
441Harmony between achievement and external acknowledgement is therefore very important, and
442this applies as well to the concurrence of internal and external evaluation. The echo undoubtedly
443increases the joy of the creators, nevertheless it is not loud acknowledgement of success, but
444principally the warmth of a sure level of understanding.
445Doesn’t success diminish work discipline? All in all, what is your opinion about discipline?
446I consider discipline to be a very important pedagogical factor. I am neither in favor of iron
447discipline nor too much freedom. I ask for rational and self-directed discipline, whether in a
448child or an adult. I have learned much related to this from Janos Selye: “I like a natural
449moderate way of living - I permit myself every comfort in the office, laboratory, and at home that
450increases the ability to do research and at the same time live and enjoy a life that makes sense to
451me and has a goal. But no more. A true scientist lives a monastic life, separate from the affairs of
452the world, dedicating himself completely to his work. He needs self-willed iron discipline, to
453concentrate all his capabilities on tasks, experiments or manuscripts, which demands
454continuing and undivided attention. If we ramble along through time, our minds will merely
455progress at walking speed.” I completely refuse blind discipline, because this does not come
456from the inside. I achieve discipline by means of interest in and liking of the goal, not by
457coercion. But according to Comenius, discipline is also needed: “Instruction without discipline is
458like a watermill without water.”
459The essence of being disciplined is, of course, not merely an external framework, but an internal
460psychological ability. Education with discipline generally develops one’s abilities, as it
461simultaneously trains persistence, willpower, and attentiveness.
462Raise a Genius! - 18
463According to an interesting insight of Lono Bolin, “The intensity of a child’s attention is not only
464not less, but even greater than that of an adult.”
465From this also flows your pedagogical concept, dif erent from that of current pedagogy, about
466the role of early childhood.
467In my pedagogical system early childhood occupies a central place. In my concept, early
468childhood, that is, the period between 3 and 6 years, the preschool years, are more important
469and principally much more in need of utilization than thought of in the current specialist
470literature that realizes practice.
471In my opinion, early childhood is entirely not early from the viewpoint of learning, even as it
472concerns specialization. R Rose, a specialist in cerebral biochemistry, shows that in early
473childhood, with the growth of cells in the brain, the development of new cellular processes, and
474new neural interconnections, new contacts are created. But when the brain is fully developed, it
475suddenly, remarkably, loses this capability. This is the reason that people learn less easily with
476the passing of years.
477B. Bluhm, a professor at the University of Chicago, explains in his book Consistency and Change
478in the Human Personality that 50% of a person’s intellect is formed during the first four years of
479life, and a child’s extraordinary ability to understand, typical until four years of age, little by little
480decreases with the passage of time. A disadvantageous environment causes in the first 4 - 5 years
481- according to him - more damage than later impoverished development during the next 10 - 12
482years.
483Summarizing the results of the research of the World Health Organization, Barnet determines
484that the first five years of life are most important in forming a person’s behavior. In Turchenko’s
485opinion, concerning a child’s spiritual development, it is difficult, almost impossible, to
486compensate for deprivation in early childhood. The most difficult problems in education would
487be for the most part solved, if one could begin instruction soon enough.
488People often object to the idea of early instruction, asserting that this works contrary to the
489development of the human organism. In fact, this assertion cannot be more correct than its
490opposite. A US scientist writes that it is still not yet clear how much effect the external
491environment has on the structure of the brain. For timely and correct instruction for children,
492we need to know the details of the development of the human nervous system. But at this time
493we still cannot definitively answer the question of what happens in the nerve centers if we begin
494instruction early, or inversely, if much later.
495What can one easily impart in early childhood?
496Firstly, foreign languages. This does not hinder the child in the development of thinking; it does
497not spoil the parental language; on the contrary, it even enriches the personality. Currently all
498over the world people are already researching the possibility of language instruction in
499preschool age. The Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic
500Raise a Genius! - 19
501Republic, France, Japan, the US, the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, etc. all are running
502successful language instruction experiments in kindergarten. In multilingual regions children of
503very young ages can already speak multiple languages with full fluency and without mixing
504them. According to Frantishek Marek, “Learning foreign languages in early childhood is very
505important, because without that a person cannot later express themself spontaneously, rapidly,
506and appropriately.”
507According to Miklos Deak, at the age of 4 - 6, a child’s vocal apparatus is still developing, is
508elastic and flexible, and is only fixed after the tenth year of life. The developmental capability of
509the vocal organs of kindergarteners is very advantageous for perfect assimilation of foreign
510languages. The closer a child is to the murmuring and babbling stage, the more easily they
511switch to any other voice. As a curiosity I mention that children often develop a better
512pronunciation than their teachers, if they often listen to sound recordings or can interact with
513children for whom the language in question is native.
514What experience do you have in this context?
515I can give my daughters as examples. I sent them to a Russian-language kindergarten, and at the
516age of five all of them fluently spoke Russian as well as Hungarian.
517In a word, you have experienced that one can begin “serious work” much earlier than is done
518currently.
519Yes. I usually say, about the prejudice that children are not sufficiently mature to learn until the
520age of six, that most adults (parents or teachers) are not sufficiently mature or qualified to teach
521children. If we want to satisfy the demands of the future, we must begin with children at the
522earliest possible age. By my didactic principle, one should begin instruction, which is in my
523concept nothing other than a serious game, at the age of 4 - 5.
524Does this not deprive the child of what we call childhood; does this not reduce a child’s
525childhood?
526Childhood is not reduced, only the image of childhood that predominates in public opinion and
527the specialist literature. This is not worth worrying about. In my opinion the predominant image
528of childhood is not based on reality.
529Psychological literature often describes the essence of childhood existence as careless or
530carefree. People interpret that to mean that children live for the moment. But in fact adults also
531like to live for the moment, and many adults only live thus. But a child is objectively a being
532oriented to the future. To the essence of my didactic principle, to consistent genius-raising,
533belongs also the idea that one must give perspective to the child. If a child does not see a
534perspective, see a goal, they can do nothing without parental help. A child is also a
535self-developed being, although a child’s autonomy is not in place at birth, but is a step in its
536development. How much a child is capable of educating themself is dependent on their level of
537Raise a Genius! - 20
538development, and is therefore a result of pedagogical work. In fact, we must educate a child from
539the first moment, enabling their certain autonomy.
540What is the role of play in the life of a child? If I say “child,” one immediately thinks of play.
541The image of childhood in my concept also differs in this respect from the traditional one.
542Perhaps this often causes people to misunderstand me and my daughters. In fact, I think of play
543as a very important phenomenon, perhaps more important than do many of those psychologists
544who put it on a pedestal.
545But play is not the opposite of work. Play is very important for a child, but in play there is an
546element of work. One should not separate these two factors in a child’s value system; if for
547example a child hears at an impressionable age, “Play, son, don’t work!” this can later result in
548him feeling that work is alien. On the contrary, it is my opinion that a child does not like only
549play: for them it is also enjoyable to acquire information and solve problems. A child’s work can
550also be enjoyable; so can learning, if it is sufficiently motivating, and if it means a constant
551supply of problems to solve that are appropriate for the level of the child’s needs.
552I think that one can learn by playing, and the acquisition of valuable information can be
553embedded in play. Everyday conceptions rigidly differentiate between a child’s play and
554learning, that is, their work. The Hungarian Encyclopedic Dictionary exemplifies this tendency,
555this is its example for “play”: “He does not like learning, only play.”
556A child does not need play separate from work, but meaningful action. Children already enjoy
557doing meaningful things in infancy. They like solving problems during play, even pleasurable
558play. The more meaningful and information-rich the problems they solve during their activities,
559the greater is their enjoyment and sense of success. In the end it is most important at this age to
560awaken enjoyment and good feelings in them.
561Regarding my daughters, it is my experience that learning presents them with more enjoyment
562than a sterile game. I have the feeling that play deprived of information often plays only a
563surrogate role, of surrogate action, of surrogate satisfaction.
564This is proven also by the fact that when we examine the biographies of exceptionally capable
565children, we find that they played much less than their peers. The profound and lengthy
566research of L. M. Turman in California in 1920 uncovered many differences between the play of
567unusually capable children and their peers. As expected, play that demanded mental action was
568much more interesting to the talented children. They played alone somewhat more often,
569compared to the control group. Susanna Millar writes in her book Psychology of Play that
570sometimes unusually capable children who lack peers at the same intellectual level can have
571difficulties in play with others.
572Thus I generally do not rigidly separate learning from play, or work from hobbies at an adult
573level.
574I support doing work that one likes, which is thus an enjoyable occupation. But this can come
575about only when, in choosing, we come to passionately enjoy it. And for this childhood is more
576Raise a Genius! - 21
577appropriate. On the other hand, play does not exist without discipline, and vice versa: we can
578find play-like aspects in work. In childhood we must correctly form these satisfying factors.
579Because of this I call preschool serious play, and later play I call enjoyable or hobby-like work.
580This leads us to the logical question: how much of a workload can a child carry in early
581childhood?
582The workload interrelates with the complexity of the personality; we should use, rather than the
583idea of under- or over-loading, the notion of a good or a bad workload. A good workload is that
584which corresponds to a state of health, with the physical and spiritual state and development of
585the child. A bad workload could be either an under or over load.
586What is the precondition for a good workload?
587To awaken the child’s interest. The child should like what they are occupied with, that is, be
588interested in it. One must little by little accustom them to the work and create in them the
589unification of work and play.
590It is important as well that the child become accustomed to learning and working. Particular
591training is necessary for the workload. I call well-organized and age-appropriate work active
592rest. A child’s workload should be such that they experience it as active rest. Students, for
593example, who must attend lectures which they then enjoy, feel more rested afterwards than
594before. And if the speaker lectures inexpertly, they almost fall asleep from boredom and fatigue
595after half an hour.
596Could students carry a significantly higher workload than in current practice, if these
597conditions existed?
598From my point of view, workloads could be measurably increased by appropriate methods. I
599agree with the pedagogical tendency to ask for intensive instruction. The essence of intensive
600instruction lies really in using goal-directed workloads, age-appropriateness, the holding of
601interest, and the lived experience of achievement and success.
602The American G Doman thinks the same. In his analogy: as the different muscles of the body can
603be developed and strengthened only by regular training, so also the capabilities of the brain can
604only grow by means of daily training. The lack of structured logical thought and learning causes
605a decrease in intelligence, just as un-exercised body parts atrophy. Doman knows, on the basis of
606three decades of practical experience, that the brain grows most rapidly between the ages of 1
607and 6, and it almost “effortlessly” assimilates knowledge. The ability to learn by play decreases
608after 6 years of age, when assimilation of information becomes more difficult mental work.
609In my opinion, we should disseminate the idea of intensive learning in every field. My daughters,
610for example, learned each language using intensive methods. Of course they did so with chess as
611well. And table tennis.
612Raise a Genius! - 22
613Again I’ll ask: does an early workload damage the development of a child’s personality?
614In the current state of science this problem has not been fully clarified. The traditional way, of
615unburdened early childhood years, can be as damaging as the way I propose. I think that the
616latter is more useful.
617Have you performed research on work and fatigue in children in natural conditions?
618Yes. My daughters, for example, twice took part, in 1985 and 1986, in so-called 24-hour chess
619marathons in Dresden. (In 1985 only Zsuzsa and in 1986 also her two younger sisters played in
620the tournament, Zsuzsa was 15, Zsofi was 9 and a half, and Judit 8). According to the rules, they
621had to play 100 matches in 24 hours, so they had to keep attentive with great effort, practically
622without rest. (There were only three short 20-minute pauses for food). Added to this, they had to
623sit at the chess table after a 16-hour train journey.
624Now Zsuzsa won both competitions with a large advantage of 10 points, before international
625male masters as well, and both her sisters achieved top places. (90% of the participants were
62625-30-year-old men). In 1985 Zsuzsa achieved as many points in the first fifty matches as in the
627second, against the same partners. In 1986 Zsuzsa and Zsofi collected as many points in the first
628fifty matches as in the second. Judit had a few more points in the second half as in the first. Zsofi
629and Judit achieved more points in the last 40 matches than in the first 40. This proves the
630workload capability of children (they do not tire more than adults, even…) and that extended
631effortful attention can increase for a definite goal.
632Not only the results show that my daughters could handle the workload (in 1986 Zsuzsa
633collected 91.5 points in 100 games, Judit 68.5, and Zsofi 66 points), but also the photos taken of
634them at different stages of the 24-hour contest.
635Raise a Genius! - 23
6363. Genius: treasure or burden?
637“We perceive only that which we wish to see, and we listen only to that which we wish to hear.” -
638A. Szent-Gyorgyi
639“Besides protecting talents, many understand that one must protect oneself from the talented.” -
640Gy Juhasz
641“People deny their prophets and slaughter them, but love their martyrs and pay homage to those
642put to death.” - F. M. Dostoyevskiy
643The nucleus of your pedagogical system is, like the libido for Freud, and the emotions for
644Wallon, the notion of genius.
645The notion of genius and the related theoretical and experimental work. Of course, I do not
646intend to found an ideology of genius rule or genius power, nor do I think that the sole purpose
647of all pedagogy is to raise geniuses. No. I am opposed to all aristocracy, so I am also against
648“geniocracy.” I am opposed to all pedagogical autocracy, and thus also opposed to transplanting
649my method as a template everywhere.
650How much does the notion of genius that you use dif er from the concept in popular opinion or
651of specialists?
652Current public opinion widely disseminates, on the one hand, the ancient idea that a genius is
653peculiar, diverging from the norm, an extraordinarily bizarre phenomenon, half insane, and that
654a genius hardly differs from an insane person. On the other hand, one often identifies a genius
655with those at the peak of their fields, with film stars, or celebrities. Of course, I do not accept
656either concept from public opinion; not only that which characterizes geniuses as half insane,
657but also that which sees a genius in every film star, celebrity or famous person.
658The situation has not been clarified even in pedagogy. I myself have asked several researchers
659how they define the notion of genius, and most responded that they had never even considered
660the matter.
661This state characterizes pedagogy in the first place. The situation in psychology is a little better,
662although even psychology does not treat the matter with its due significance, despite the fact
663that it has already passed beyond the concept of the Italian physician and criminalist Cesare
664Lombroso (1835-1909) regarding “genius and insanity.” For example, some psychologists tried
665to discover the secret of Einstein, so they analyzed him anatomically (weight, volume, and
666folding of the brain), but they found nothing different from the average. After the death of Lenin
667a brain research institute in Moscow wondered the same, if it was possible to discover some
668difference in his brain structure, but this research also demonstrated nothing concrete.
669Raise a Genius! - 24
670If the notion of genius is this uncertain in public opinion and specialist circles, why do you
671insist on it? Do you have certain presuppositions about the idea?
672To explain my thinking I could of course use a different notion. Every researcher is allowed to do
673this. But I consciously insist on the notion of genius - used of course according to my definition -
674to recover its status, and bringing it back to the world, democratize it. I insist on the notion:
675- because I want to convince people that genius is not of some other world, but is an entity
676of this world, a goal attainable by means of education,
677- because I want to prove that it has nothing in common with insanity, but the inverse:
678every healthy person has the capacity from birth for it, and genius is a normal result of
679the development of this potential;
680- because I feel that it is a general category that can serve as a complete characterization of
681all particular manifestations: artist, scientist, organizer, laborer, athlete, politician,
682pedagogue, etc.
683- everyone can be a genius: the quality of “genius” describes being outstanding with the
684same validity in all these fields;
685- because (and I use this category principally because of this) I see a potential genius in
686each individual born healthy. I link genius neither to class or race. For me genius is a
687democratic idea. The task and duty of pedagogical work is to lead people in this
688direction. On the other hand it is the right of every genius to consider themself as such
689without shame. I use this idea for - acknowledging the existence of the outstanding -
690promoting this quality, and so that genius (quality, outstandingness) would not be an
691object of shame in our society, but of pride.
692Genius then is for you not merely an idea, but a full complex concept.
693First, I distinguish potential genius from that which has been realized. In my concept every child
694born healthy is a potential genius, but whether they become so or not depends on circumstances,
695on education, and on themself. The fact that in the 20th century - because of societal need,
696among other things - many more geniuses were “realized” than, for example, in the 18th and
69719th centuries, proves this. The journey from potential genius to actual genius is a battle for
698liberation, a process of freeing the genius. Future society will very likely be composed of evolved,
699self-realized, free individuals, and genius will be considered a normal, everyday existence, and
700not as an individual “extravagance.”
701But today we are still far from that. Currently most of the population is of average capability, and
702only a few, although many more than we imagine, rise to the level of outstanding (in other
703words, geniuses).
704Raise a Genius! - 25
705Explain this thought in more detail! It has seemed to me until now that a genius was a random
706coincidence of social environment and innate gifts.
707Einstein does not assert without reason that an erudite mind was favoured by good luck, but
708only the erudite will become so. I interpret this to mean that genius = work + favorable
709circumstances (I include the social environment in favorable circumstances).
710Every healthy child may be led to the summit. The fact that the majority of children a language
711between the ages of 1 and 2 proves this. Think about it, isn’t this an achievement of genius? If
712they continue, at the age of 10 they can speak 5 or 6 languages. Thus genius results firstly from
713education and self-education. The opinion of world-famous geniuses also confirms this
714assertion. Let me cite some examples:
715T.A. Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
716Ch. Chaplin: “Talent is nothing; discipline is everything.”
717C. Cuvier: “Genius is firstly attention.”
718M. Gorkiy: “Talent is the love of work.”
719J.S. Bach: “Anyone can achieve my level, if he is a diligent as I have been my entire life.”
720J.W. Goethe: “Genius? Probably merely diligence.”
721H. de Balzac: “Every human talent consists of two parts: patience and time.”
722Currently, outstanding psychologists researching creativity relate to the problem similarly.
723According to the Soviet expert on the subject B. Nikitin, every physically and spiritually healthy
724newborn possesses an enormous potential for developing their capabilities, and the earlier we
725use them, the better. “[Children] before kindergarten age already have an enormous capacity to
726learn, and one can use it much more intensively.” (He reached this conclusion using the
727experience of his own children. At the age of 2 years and 8 months to 3 years and 4 months they
728could already read, at 3 and a half they possessed the knowledge of arithmetic, writing and
729reading required in their first class, etc.)
730According to the American psychologist Maya Pines, millions of children are irreparably
731damaged because during the crucial age - from birth to the 6th year - one did not sufficiently
732promote the evolution of their intellects. According to the French author G. Duhamel, “Until the
733fifth year every child is a genius.”
734Glenn Doman, one of the most well known scientists who study genius, has a similar opinion:
735according to him every child before the age of 3 can be raised to be a genius, and “Every infant
736should be programmed as an outstanding genius.” He responds to his critics, according to
737whom he wants to “breed” elite geniuses, thus: “Indeed, yes, we are raising an elite. But do you
738know how many children should be a part of this elite? A billion. Currently there are about that
739many children in the world.” I suppose that in the global population:
74080% are potential geniuses in the first year of their lives,
74160% are potential geniuses in the third year,
74250% are potential geniuses in the fifth year,
743Raise a Genius! - 26
74440% are potential geniuses in the twelfth year,
74530% are potential geniuses in the sixteenth year,
74620% are potential geniuses in the eighteenth year, and
747only 5% are potential geniuses in the twentieth year.
748How does this relative social stasis stand if we project it to the age of 22-35?
749At that age it is for the most part established how many geniuses are realized: about 0.1 to 0.01
750percent of the population.
751A fully realized genius is the same, in my opinion, as an outstanding person. An outstanding
752person differs on the one hand quantitatively from the average (they know much more than the
753average person), and on the other hand they realize in society a more valuable, more original
754creativity. Being outstanding comes in different stages. I distinguish three:
7551. Candidates or pre-geniuses (1-5% of every domain)
7562. Geniuses (0.2-0.5% of every domain)
7573. Super-genius (1 in every domain)
758Thus follows:
759- The handicapped:
760- Idiots: very retarded mentally
761- Imbeciles: moderately mentally retarded
762- Feeble minded: a little mentally retarded
763- The normal:
764- Adequate people: minor capability
765- Average people: natural
766- Capable people: more capability
767- The outstanding (geniuses):
768- Unusually capable: candidate or pre-geniuses
769- Super-capable: geniuses
770- Extraordinarily capable: super-geniuses
771Of course, these divisions are only relative. Obviously every concrete person can move from one
772category to another.
773Please give examples to illustrate your classification.
774Obviously one knows best one’s own area of specialization. I take my examples from chess. If -
775let us suppose - a capable chess player attains 2350-2450 Elo points, then the following results
776characterize an outstanding person, that is, a genius. An unusually capable person, that is, a
777candidate or pre-genius would be between 2450 and 2550. A genius, a super-capable person,
778could achieve 2550-2650, and those above 2650 I call super-geniuses.
779In chess at a global level (among adults), we find:
780Raise a Genius! - 27
781- Super-geniuses (above 2650): 2-4 persons
782- Geniuses (2550-2650): 50-60 persons
783- Candidate geniuses (2450-2550): 300-400 persons
784In Hungary:
785- There are no super-geniuses
786- Geniuses: 4-5 persons
787- Candidate-geniuses: around 15 persons
788- Highly capable: around 70 persons
789Where are the Polgar daughters?
790Zsuzsa is in the super-genius category in her age group; among adults she is in the pre-genius
791category. But Zsofia achieved a result in the March 1989 competition in Rome clearly
792characteristic of an adult super-genius. Generally her results put her in the pre-genius category
793at an adult level; in her age group she is in the super-genius category. Judit (who received an
794Oscar prize for her results in 1988) is an indisputable super-genius; that is, in her age group she
795is in the super-genius category, being at #1. At an adult level she is in the pre-genius category (at
796the age of only 12!!!).
797Congratulations! But there is another question to pose in this area: the time factor. History
798knows many examples of child prodigies, but not all of them became adult prodigies. How can
799this be clarified?
800A child is a genius if they are ahead of their peers at 5-7. I am convinced that if child prodigies do
801not become “adult prodigies,” conditions were not favorable for healthy and structured work. In
802good conditions every child prodigy becomes an adult prodigy. Some say that there exist early or
803late developers. In my interpretation, conditions do not favor everyone for the ascent. In the
804case of good conditions, the ascent will succeed early (work and luck have an important role
805here). In less favorable conditions, success will be later. And there exist areas where one can also
806become a genius in old age (philosophers, authors).
807The newspaper Der Spiegel - maybe a bit maliciously - remarked that you explain the matter
808this way: “Genius exists in every person to the extent that society has not ruined them.” But if
809we dif erentiate geniuses merely quantitatively from the average, then we can also speak of
810negative types, “criminal geniuses,” or “genius war criminals,” for example. Does this
811definition of genius trouble you?
812Indeed it troubles me. But I indeed do not conceive of it like that. In my opinion genius is a
813notion about preserving values. I only consider those who realize socially useful actions to be
814geniuses. So genius is a unification of quantity and quality.
815Raise a Genius! - 28
816But if this is true, why does the word “genius” worry many people currently?
817One could discuss this for a long time. Jacques Barzun writes, “A new truth inevitably sounds
818like insanity; the greater the truth, the greater the insanity.” People do not easily tolerate what
819diverges from the average. The more someone differs from a typical average person, the less
820people tolerate them. This is characteristic not only of lay people, but also specialists. Even
821among scientists we find examples of this. Even Einstein was not understood by his colleagues;
822there were physicists in German universities who declared the theory of relativity a dead end. It
823is not public opinion alone that carps at my daughters. Even specialists and fellow game players
824often attack them.
825So the life of a genius is not easy. Andre Malraux says, “Talent is not a well-made foundation,
826talent is a plague of nature, a trap for the character, a curse, a crossing of a burning, falling
827bridge, a burden around the neck, and a sprint up a mountain.” As you see it, should the life of
828a genius be considered a blessing or a curse? And how would they themselves judge their lives?
829Some of them - a very small part - consider their state to be a curse, others a blessing. Most feel
830joy fountaining from structured creativity, the experience of beauty and success. This is a state of
831blessing. But the life of a genius can be weighed down almost like a curse if they do not achieve
832their established goals. Their disillusionment can become great depending on the demands they
833place on themselves. Much can also depend on their sense of realism and their
834self-development.
835The true curse, however, comes from the outside. It causes enormous damage if one evaluates
836poorly what a genius does, if one does not judge them by their merits, if they do not receive
837moral and material support for their work. Also unmerited criticism can be terrible. All this
838makes the lives of geniuses much less easy. Janos Selye determined that “Today the situation is
839in many ways less favorable than in the middle ages, since by means of the rich capability of
840mass media a single demagogue can poison the thinking of the public in a few months, and drive
841the mob into savage fury against the most outstanding representative of the national culture.”
842This brings a new question: Is genius a treasure or a burden?
843In every way, singularly and objectively, a treasure. In our time, when international contacts are
844rapidly developing, the interchange of material and spiritual creations between the various
845populations is accelerating, and international competition in the economic, scientific,
846technological, cultural and athletic areas is similarly intensifying - geniuses always play more
847important roles. It is in no way immaterial how many geniuses live in any country. Raising
848geniuses is one of the preconditions for social progress, and any society can be guided out of
849economic difficulty for the most part only by education and instruction.
850Professor Hans Eysenck, one of the most outstanding of those who plead for raising geniuses,
851asserts that international evolution will be very retarded without an artificial spiritual elite. The
852Raise a Genius! - 29
853inventions and ideas of the above-average talented create pride in the whole society, and their
854patents establish new industrial branches, and thus new work opportunities.
855It is not by chance that, recognizing this, the directors of the largest international corporations
856support pioneering the education of geniuses, and among the patrons of the Doman Institute
857mentioned above are both the US Steel Corporation and the Japanese Sony.
858If so, then why does it happen that geniuses are often find themselves in disadvantageous
859situations?
860It is a different matter that the environment does not always treat geniuses favorably. But of
861course we should not only blame society. Understand well: it is not easy to make average people
862inclined to accept geniuses. Even in school talented children are often excluded from their
863classmates. Teachers do not succeed in making the class like the talented student. Many times
864even the teacher does not recognize the talent, and even hinders its development. In adulthood
865this can happen more explicitly.
866Doesn’t this have to do with geniuses being nonconformists and too sensitive, so they take a
867more sharply critical attitude?
868This is not certain. It is not certain that they have a greater sense of criticism in every direction.
869A genius has a truly different way of thinking than an average person, but they do not always
870reveal this in interpersonal relations, that is, a genius often offends no one. On the contrary,
871usually people offend them. It is not their conduct that evokes offense, but their achievements.
872Why would a genius painter, a genius musician, a genius chess player, offend people? Because
873they are outstanding in their specialty?
874Maybe because they break the mold. Other thinking in itself does not equal of ense. At worst
875this merely troubles or irritates people. If this is the case, then geniuses should accept this and
876form their personalities in accordance with this.
877I agree. I do not want to claim that no genius has a malformed personality. They can have, and
878thus must take great care not to become so. One should establish multifaceted development of
879their personality and the formation of humanistic qualities as a goal for them. They themselves
880should contribute to this, that is, their self-education should work in this direction. I always very
881much tried to evolve in my children a positive human existence. This of course is useful also in
882their work, in the continual realization of greater achievements.
883Raise a Genius! - 30
884There are outstanding chess masters who have malformed personalities. Florian Tibor, an
885international grandmaster and master teacher, who knows the Polgar sisters and many other
886young chess players, said, “It is wonderful how psychologically healthy these children are.
887Even extraordinary achievements have not marred them, unlike their colleagues, whose
888characters success has distorted more than once.” In order for the relationship between society
889and geniuses stay relatively healthy, both sides must work in this direction.
890But society must act first. I agree with Janos Selye, who wrote, “Science flowers only if it is
891rooted in a society that respects knowledge. Many people of science have in the past forsaken
892their homelands to find a more suitable atmosphere.” Think for example of the Hungarians!
893I generally accept the ethical standpoint that if two sides are debating, the stronger, more
894numerous side always bears more responsibility. Nevertheless, as much as the minority, the
895geniuses, are not allowed to do anything, it is not possible to liberate them from the duty of
896tolerance. They also must possess moral qualities enabling healthy contacts with society.
897This is true. Geniuses should not be as capricious as movie starlets. They should not consider
898themselves gods and others simpletons. This very easily leads to devaluing others and neglecting
899the work of others. Geniuses should not be puffed up, or self-aggrandizing, or avaricious. They
900should not want to rule. Moreover, geniuses do not want to be directed even by geniuses.
901Naturally, society needs to be guided by geniuses. Geniuses should become accustomed to the
902idea that they should serve and, if necessary, direct - in science or in other useful fields.
903I agree with this, and this makes more evident the duty of society to consider geniuses as
904treasures, not burdens.
905A would add: consider them benchmarks. We should treat them as standards worthy of
906attainment. The kind of value system a society has is not irrelevant; whether it establishes a goal
907to provide everyone a summer cabin, or luxury goods, etc., or if it considers creativity a value
908and is oriented to quality and eminence. If it ranks true human achievements highly, it will
909increase the rank of work.
910The nurture and care of talent, the appropriate evaluation of genius, is thus one of the
911conditions for the progress of society.
912That society will attain a higher level, which will make it more perfectly effective. The call to
913“raise geniuses!” does not only mean a pedagogical task. It should also become a social goal.
914“Everything that we see realized in this world is nothing more than the external result, the
915practical realization, the embodiment of thoughts that lived in eminent people throughout the
916world; the soul of the full story of the world is - we may assert - their history.” - writes T. Carlyle,
917the Scots-English historian and historian of literature.
918Raise a Genius! - 31
9194. Should children be made outstanding?
920“The greatest of all miracles is that actual miracles can be natural; indeed, they must be.” - G. E.
921Lessing
922“Do not let the sun set without doing something.” - Latin Proverb
923“We must believe that we are talented in some area, and that we must absolutely attain it.” - M.
924Curie
925I imagine a family that waits with unbounded joy for their first child, nurtures them with
926unending love, and can set them on the unknown road to genius, that could also lead to
927failure…
928In Hungary there truly does not exist experience related to this, but we do have critical
929knowledge of how joy-destroying contemporary schools are. But from our reading we know that
930many eminent individuals in a framework of family pedagogy, as private learners. Naturally, I
931never considered this way to be the only appropriate one. Time and again I emphasize that I am
932a partisan of pedagogical pluralism. I do not reproach parents or teachers who do not travel my
933road (more or less good, but other); I do not reject pedagogical experiments that are different
934from mine, and I do not wish to explosively change the entire Hungarian school system. I believe
935in pedagogical variety, my own method of course included.
936However you are now publishing your experiment, known in detail only to a circle of friends,
937and the basic principles of your pedagogical system, and thus you are handing it over to the
938international specialist public.
939Yes, because my family pedagogical experiment has reached a stage when the road travelled up
940to now can be generalized to a theory, and the results prove the correctness of my ideas. And on
941the other hand, the specialist world is at least turning to us with curiosity.
942I think that those who are trying to introduce various reforms into the framework of the current
943schools, and are experimenting with so-called gifted education to nurture the talented are on the
944right path. But this path, although better than the former one, is not enough. In my opinion we
945can now transition to the organized instruction (with intentional and institutional frameworks)
946of truly unusually capable children, whom I call geniuses. Because in this area there has not
947been much done to pass on my experiences, I am first aiming at this field.
948In what form do you foresee the education of geniuses?
949I consider two forms of organized genius education realizable (with several variations):
9501. One of them is the family pedagogical, or in other words, home-schooled form. One can
951work in this way with one’s own or adopted children (or both). In the latter case, several
952Raise a Genius! - 32
953families can even work together to complete the educational cycle for children in other
954families.
9552. The other form is the specialized genius-educating school. One variant could be:
956a. Boarding school, where children live continuously
957b. The other, a boarding school in a family context
958Family pedagogy (in other words, a system of homeschooling) is quite ancient in history. When I
959was exploring this problem and collecting materials, I encountered a great many cases of this. I
960give only a few examples. In a book about the Mendelssohn family one can read that without his
961father, the son Felix Mendelssohn could never have become what he did. His father felt that he
962would not have fulfilled his filial duty even if he had hired the most eminent teachers for his son.
963His educational method was extraordinarily rigorous. His basic principle sounded like this:
964every achievement represented only one step in one’s evolution; every good thing could become
965even better. The message of his pedagogy is that the education of a child is never finished, and
966parents, while they live, should never stop counselling and “directing” their children.
967About Yehudi Menuhin I read that for his parents, the birth of a son and the development of his
968talent meant that it was self-evidently natural that their lives would be subordinate to the career
969of their son. His father left his well-developing pedagogical career in 1928 so that the family
970could live together and he could organize Yehudi’s concerts.
971It seems to me that this situation was almost perfectly repeated with you… Ten years ago you
972and your wife left your teaching positions.
973I did not mention by accident that I had studied the specialist literature and found myself under
974its influence before the birth of my daughters. Even independent of this I represented the
975standpoint that one should strengthen the role of the family in society and promote its activity in
976the sphere of education. One should not hand over all its functions to the schools. Moreover, if a
977mature, educationally capable family were found prepared to make the effort, one should
978promote and support this kind of family pedagogy, working with either one’s own or adopted
979children. Namely, the family creates and maintains the first field of activity for a child. Family
980members become the first models for a child. A child’s concept of identity (self-awareness) is
981delineated within the framework of the family.
982The evolution of exceptionally capable children is greatly favored if the ambition of the parents
983is directed towards raising them as outstanding people. In all those cases when we encounter a
984very early revelation of exceptional capability, we are able to determine that either the parents or
985other people (most often teachers or tutors) made an effort to directly develop these capabilities.
986According to the renowned German pedagogue Hermann Noch, the basis for education of
987exceptionally capable children is, “the passion of the mature person in relation to the developing
988person - in favour of the latter.” At the start the relationship is so intimate that the soul is
989determined to imitate the model and complete the tasks.
990Raise a Genius! - 33
991In addition, the soul is very important. The anecdote about Socrates is well known, when once
992the master sent back to his father a youth who had been registered to study with him. Asked why
993he did this, Socrates answered, “Because he did not love me enough.”
994If I understand your thinking well, the starting task for education does not consist of parents
995uncovering talents that are hidden in children like an underground stream, but that they direct
996and orient them by means of good methods towards the chosen specialty.
997Yes, according to my principle one should not try to find talents, but choose an appropriate
998pedagogical method for developing the talents.
999The first characteristic of genius education - I could say the most important novelty
1000distinguishing it from contemporary instruction - and its necessary precondition, is early
1001specialization directed at one concrete field. It is indeed true what Homer said, “A person cannot
1002be experienced or first in everything.” Because of this parents should choose a specific field at
1003their discretion. It is only important that by the age of 3-4 some physical or mental field should
1004be chosen, and the child can set out on their voyage.
1005How would you summarize the essence of specialized education?
1006Intensive instruction in the chosen field of specialized activity. My daughters, for example,
1007arrived at the field of chess, which means that starting from 4-5 they played chess 5 or 6 hours a
1008day.
1009What other fields can one also choose, in your opinion?
1010Anything. If someone wants to become a musician, they should spend 5 or 6 hours doing music,
1011if physics, then doing physics, if linguistics, then with languages. In conditions of intensive
1012instruction a child will soon feel knowledgeable, perceive independence, achieve success, and
1013shortly become capable of independently applying their knowledge. Let us take an example from
1014language learning. Let us suppose that someone visits a class for interpreters at a school for
1015geniuses, where they are occupied for 5-6 hours with a first foreign language, Esperanto if
1016possible. (Why precisely with this language I will clarify below.) After some months they are
1017already corresponding with children in other countries, they participate in meetings in and
1018outside of their country - and longer-lasting - where they experience serious successes, and they
1019converse fluently in the language they have learned by then. Is this a nice feeling for a child? Yes,
1020it is nice. Is it useful for the child? Yes, it is useful. Is it useful for society? It is useful. In the
1021following year one can do the same with another foreign language - let us say English - and in
1022the year after that another.
1023The same is valid for any field of life. In this way a child really enjoys what they are doing, and
1024they see that it makes sense. In contemporary schools students do not understand why they are
1025learning. But in genius-education schools the children know that after a few months they will
1026speak Esperanto, in the following year English, in the following year German, etc. Or in the field
1027Raise a Genius! - 34
1028of chess; in the first year they play at level 3, after the third year at level 1, after five years as a
1029master candidate, after 6-7 years as a master, after 8-10 years as an international master, and
1030after the 15th year as a grandmaster. So the child sees the goal and meaning of their work.
1031Of course the necessary condition here is that the pedagogue is intensively occupied with the
1032child.
1033In genius education it is necessary that the pedagogue (whether the parents or professional
1034teachers or tutors) stay in direct, constant and intensive contact with the child. Because of this
1035we imagine groups of only 10-15 members. In practice an intensive collaborative contact
1036between the child and an adult must be formed, in which the child does not feel “subordinate.”
1037Think how advantageous it would be if the child already understands at the age of 10 that they
1038know a great deal, that they are a person of the same value as an adult, and that in their life
1039there is at least one field they master as well or better than adults.
1040So do children have an advantageous position in genius education?
1041Yes. According to the American social psychologist Kurt Lewin, one can observe a causal
1042feedback loop between capabilities and the environment. For talented children not a few
1043advantages originate in those specially favorable conditions in the surroundings, that they
1044themselves fight out of for their future. For example, if some patron covers the costs of
1045instruction, travel, or purchase of specialist literature. To this are added psychological
1046advantages.
1047There are people who think that by specializing early you are promoting some kind of narrow
1048specialist barbarism.
1049Totally not. Psychology and pedagogy are both familiar with the phenomenon of “transfer.” The
1050formation of capabilities in any field has such a general value that it easily makes a person
1051suitable to assimilate other areas. Transfer means that children learn how to learn - they
1052assimilate the capability to learn.
1053Specialization of course is only relative; being multifaceted generally accompanies it. If, for
1054example, one prepares for computer programming, they must learn mathematics, computing,
1055foreign languages, and as well they will certainly travel the world, encounter eminent people in
1056the public sphere, do sports, do cultural activities, etc. How is this narrow? Zsuzsa speaks 7 or 8
1057foreign languages, travels overseas, writes articles and books, analyzes chess matches, plays
1058table tennis, swims, etc.
1059Moreover, one should interpret development in one direction correctly. Although being directed
1060in one directed means going both deeper and higher, it does not, however, cause the whole
1061personality to become single-faceted. It is true that genius education makes a child specialize in
1062one field, but this does not mean abandoning all other fields. A single direction is not the same
1063as being single-faceted, and vice versa, multidirectionality does not in itself equal being
1064Raise a Genius! - 35
1065multi-faceted. Single-directionality can combine with being multi-faceted, while
1066multi-directionality can also mean being zero-faceted, or mere hypocrisy behind which hides a
1067lack of knowledge. Multi-directionality can also mean being competent at no speciality at all, or
1068snobbish “competency.” As Seneca says, “Who is everywhere is nowhere.”
1069One can easily be convinced that my system brings people closer to being as multifaceted as
1070possible than current schools, which lead mostly to grey mediocrity.
1071Thus the specialization you promote contains the basic multifacetedness of our times, the
1072complexity of personality.
1073Yes. One should link genius education to the complex education of the personality, and within
1074this the formation of emotional and moral values. In genius education this task is as important
1075as early specialization. While contemporary schools cannot fulfil their task of education for the
1076greater number of students and subjects, while for them education is merely a slogan, for genius
1077education the formation of a complex personality is a valid requirement, a basic precondition.
1078The reason for this, among others, is that the working relationship between pedagogue and
1079student is very intimate. This “closeness” is itself spontaneously educational, but it is completed
1080by a goal-conscious planned program. One should prepare oneself for educating children as
1081consciously as for specialist instruction.
1082This is probably an even more dif icult field.
1083Yes, and in this field pedagogical tradition is poorer, and the task itself is unmeasurably more
1084complex. There is no more complex, multifaceted entity than the human personality. Among the
1085goals of education I and my wife consider of first importance the formation of the following
1086traits: belief, courage, strength, persistence, enthusiasm, the objective evaluation of persons and
1087objects, standing up to failure and also the temptations of success, insistent striving for goals,
1088patience, inventiveness, tolerance of criticism even if false, being able to let go of stresses,
1089enduring conflicts (a higher level of tolerance for frustration), discipline, planning, the need for
1090challenging work, establishing realistic goals, conscious management of rest, freedom from
1091conventions, searching for new paths, keeping oneself in an appropriate state of humor (good
1092humor, calm and aggressive at the same time).
1093In addition we also aim for these kinds of values, world views and moral standards, like the love
1094of siblings, parents and teachers, respect for elders and the aged, realistic evaluation of peers
1095and adults, and that children not prefer the pleasure of physical life, the symbols of the social
1096status of creative work, etc. Linked with this I also want to speak about positive vanity. We told
1097our daughters that they should work diligently, because they could thus become capable of great
1098achievements. We made them aware that there could only be one world champion at a time, so
1099they should establish a goal to become good chess players, sportsmanlike honest people. They
1100should be aware of their capabilities and fight for what belonged to them, never hurt other
1101people. (Unfortunately, they have received enough blows and hurts from life to understand this.)
1102Raise a Genius! - 36
1103They should have self-respect, know their own capabilities, but they should not desire to be
1104stars.
1105An important function of genius education is instilling the capability for self-education. It starts
1106with establishing in the child independent interests. Little by little we can instill in them
1107self-education, independence, and creative work. The pedagogical co-worker cannot always stay
1108at their side. So one of the most important educational tasks is to teach self-education. The latter
1109contributes to, among other things, the child liking what they do, and in their life work is not
1110separate from hobbies.
1111What, in your opinion, should be the relationship between children and their peer group?
1112The contemporary psychological and pedagogical literature emphasizes in one sense the
1113importance of the peer group. But in my pedagogical concept it receives a slightly different
1114emphasis. According to me, it is not primarily important for a child to have suitable companions
1115of the same age, but preferably to have spiritually (mentally) appropriate partners, friends
1116worthy of the level of their intellectual capabilities. If the social relationships of a child are
1117exclusively or for the most part limited to groups of the same age, this will slow the progress of
1118an exceptionally capable child.
1119One often requires that children not stay too long among adults.
1120This is disadvantageous only if the intellectual level is too different, and if the relationship
1121between child and adult is not suitable, for example, if the adult imposes everything on the child
1122so they take away their independence and initiative. But if they try to correctly develop these
1123traits in the child, it is not damaging, but on the contrary is useful. About this I do not want to
1124say that a child should always be in the company of adults. One must find the right proportion of
1125being with adults and peers. I believe that passing their time in the company of those who have a
1126similar level of intellect and similar interests and sense this well in these interactions is decisive.
1127Zsuzsa is a concrete example: if at the age of 13 she had played chess only with 13-year-olds, who
1128were weaker than her in many categories, this would have been less than useful for her. And for
1129her opponents it would not have been nice to be “knocked out” in every match. Zsuzsa herself
1130would not have profited, because she needed playing partners at a similar level, and those were
1131found only among adults.
1132However, this was not a cause for concern, as the age difference itself did not prevent friendly
1133relationships with others, and having good friends and colleagues at the same time. And
1134friendship often flowed from work relationships. Thus one’s work is at the same time a hobby.
1135You raised all three of your daughters to be chess geniuses. Why? Were they inclined in that
1136direction, or did you guide them in that direction?
1137As I said, intellectual capability is in principle educable in any direction; by appropriate methods
1138a genius can be formed in any field. From the viewpoint of the pedagogical experiment it would
1139Raise a Genius! - 37
1140obviously be a stronger hand if I had raised them in three different fields (mathematics, chess,
1141and music, for example), declared beforehand. This would certainly have been successful. But
1142my financial situation then and my free time did not permit this. If the three children had
1143needed three instructor-tutors, we would have had to go with them to three different places, we
1144would have had to buy a piano, and books about music, chess and mathematics, etc. So in our
1145system, learning was more easily solvable as the children formed one team, and what is most
1146important, the family could be together more. I attribute a central role to the family, and I enjoy
1147it very much if the family is together a great deal.
1148Is it not disadvantageous that all three children specialized in the same field?
1149The disadvantages are almost trivial beside the advantages. It is true that some psychologists do
1150not promote this way, thinking that the children will jealous, envious - later even hostile. But
1151this does not occur with correct education.
1152Can you describe how you imagine a day in genius school?
1153Probably thus:
1154- 4 hours of specialist study (for us, chess)
1155- 1 hour of a foreign language. Esperanto in the first year, English in the second, and
1156another chosen at will in the third. At the stage of beginning, that is, intensive language
1157instruction, it is necessary to increase the study hours to 3 - in place of the specialist
1158study - for 3 months. In summer, study trips to other countries.
1159- 1 hour of general study (native language, natural science and social studies)
1160- 1 hour of computing
1161- 1 hour of moral, psychological, and pedagogical studies (humor lessons as well, with 20
1162minutes every hour for joke telling)
1163- 1 hour of gymnastics, freely chosen, which can be accomplished individually outside
1164school. The division of study hours can of course be treated elastically.
1165Would you accept a job in a genius-educating school like this?
1166If you are asking if I believe in its success - then yes. But if I were to endeavor to do something
1167like this in practice, that would depend on the conditions, whether I received sufficient social
1168support. It is not only for this that I have been wearied by the many battles up to now, but also
1169because it is very important for pedagogical participants in genius education to have tranquility
1170and trust. Without this the work will not progress. If one must endlessly dispute with the press,
1171with various authorities and poseurs - incapable of acting - pedagogues and psychologists,
1172defend oneself against them, this damages the work. For me a single battle like this is sufficient.
1173On the other hand, I will still have to concentrate for several years on the further development of
1174my daughters.
1175Raise a Genius! - 38
1176You have done pioneering work, with its risks and burdens. You have taken on not only a
1177pioneering war, but a guerilla war.
1178Maybe. Despite this, I think that the method of genius education I sketch is not too complicated
1179a structure. So one should not fear it as much as people do now, however fearsome it seems now.
1180Raise a Genius! - 39
11815. Esperanto: The first stage of foreign language learning
1182“Over all the earth there was one language and one speech.” - Genesis 11
1183“A hundred of the grandest ideas would not make as great and beneficial a revolution in the lives
1184of humanity as the introduction of an international language will.” - L. L. Zamenhof
1185“No privilege for any nation, or any language…” - V. I. Lenin
1186Before further presenting your pedagogical system, permit me to digress a little. I know that
1187your whole family speaks Esperanto. Did you choose this at random? Or does this function as
1188an aid to chess playing? A necessary part of your pedagogical system?
1189All of these. But you have not mentioned the most important. Esperanto is for me a humanistic
1190value, which besides being a weapon against racial, tribal and national discrimination, also plays
1191a role as a remedy for linguistic inequality. It has been made to be one of the possible ways to
1192fight for equality and equal rights of the population.
1193But if it is so obvious, why has this language not spread more widely?
1194The reason is - besides prejudice - principally economic. Humanity must fight for a long time for
1195every progressive idea. The need to emancipate women is obvious, just as is the necessity to
1196achieve racial equality, despite neither of these being easily effected. For me, genius education is
1197also completely self-evident, but many people nevertheless hold prejudices about it. The same is
1198true of Esperanto. A part of people well feels in circumstances of “divine wrath.” The confusion
1199of Babel means a pleasant living environment for them. There are also those who by intense
1200labor learn 2-3-4 foreign languages and unwillingly give up their acquired position. On another
1201plane, the economically and politically dominant nations also want to dominate linguistically -
1202in current circumstances this relates to English - and obviously would not vote for Esperanto. A
1203monopoly on one or another historical national language means at the same time discrimination
1204against peoples and languages. In contrast, a neutral language, linked to no nation, would
1205manifest the linguistic equality of the peoples. Because of this I consider it a humanistic battle to
1206endeavor to introduce Esperanto. In my concept the languages of every nation are of equal value
1207from the viewpoint of quality, so there should not be a hierarchy of languages among them.
1208Do you think that historical languages will disappear more or less soon?
1209No! I think just the opposite: if the languages of every nation are of equal value, then everyone
1210can use their own for their first language. But as a second language, a complement, there should
1211be an independent neutral language that can act as a bridge between the various nations.
1212“Human speech needs two languages,” says the eminent Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy,
1213“one for nation, family, art, and self-expression, and one to serve the community, humanity, the
1214world, and communication.”
1215Raise a Genius! - 40
1216Everyone accepts that there needs to be one or more common languages. But why should this
1217be an artificial language, Esperanto; why not English, Russian or Chinese?
1218English is undoubtedly the most internationally widespread language, and I recommend that
1219everyone learn it. Next Esperanto! Today this would be natural. Because in most countries
1220English is spoken only by a narrow stratum of people, and generally imperfectly even by them.
1221Its study requires a great deal of time and energy, so it can hardly become a world language for a
1222great number, for the simple uneducated masses. It presents an unacceptable disadvantage for
1223those who live outside of English-speaking regions, and it would overshadow
1224non-English-speaking cultures.
1225Why Esperanto should rightly be chosen as a world language is easy to prove theoretically. From
1226a pedagogical and sociological viewpoint, Esperanto is a consciously planned created language.
1227It has become a living language which will have, and already has now, its own traditions. It has a
1228past, present and future. Among existing planned languages it has proved without a doubt to be
1229the best, the most conformed to its goal. Logical, easily learned, and capable of expressing every
1230nuance, it can function as a tool for communication in the international community, and is
1231suitable for mass distribution. It can become a common second language for the masses. Lev
1232Tolstoy wrote that Esperanto “completely fulfils the requirements for an international language.
1233I will endeavor to spread this language and, which is paramount, convince everyone of its
1234necessity.”
1235Why do you argue so unambiguously for Esperanto?
1236Because Zamenhof (1859-1917)’s planned language is perfect from a logical and linguistic
1237perspective; its grammar is clear, transparent, without exceptions, and at the same time capable
1238of expressing anything. Its syntax is easy. Zamenhof, who knew Russian, Yiddish, German,
1239Polish, Hebrew, French, English, Latin and Greek well, created it not from an artificial, invented
1240vocabulary, but from the living word-stock of the Romance, Germanic and Slavic language
1241families and international vocabulary. Thus its vocabulary seems “known” to many speakers of
1242other languages. From time to time, arguing for Esperanto, I give a decisive and sufficient proof:
1243“Now I will say a few phrases to you, and you will certainly understand them.” And this has truly
1244happened.
1245Say a few of these phrases!
1246“Esperanto estas internacia, simpla kaj logika lingvo. La ŝako estas ludo, scienco, arto, kaj
1247sporto. Zamenhof estis genia homo. La nova libro estas interesa.” It is probably not necessary to
12481
1249translate these. Learning this language is is also important because it is like a logic puzzle, an
12501 “Esperanto is an international, simple and logical language. Chess is a game, a science, an art and a
1251sport. Zamenhof was a person of genius. The new book is interesting.”
1252Raise a Genius! - 41
1253exercise in logic. It was not by chance that the French Academy of Science determined in 1924
1254that Esperanto is a masterpiece of logic and simplicity.
1255Thanks to this it is advantageous from a pedagogical perspective?
1256Yes. Its vocabulary is easily learnable, its grammar is rapidly assimilated. Its orthography is
1257phonetic and its pronunciation melodic. It is learnable almost ten times faster than other
1258languages, and it also serves as a foundation on which other languages can be constructed.
1259Related to this, the research of the American psychologist and pedagogue Thorndike, who
1260carried out a lengthy and massive experiment in various schools, is worth mentioning. First
1261Esperanto was taught in various school periods at various levels, and then French was
1262introduced in similar conditions. Thorndike emphasised the great pedagogical significance of
1263Esperanto in the results of the experiment: learning Esperanto proved to be 15 times easier than
1264other foreign languages, that is, its instruction was that much more effective.
1265And it has been proved that time dedicated to Esperanto is abundantly repaid when learning
1266following foreign languages. It is generally known that possessing one foreign language makes
1267assimilating a second one easier. While for solidly learning a foreign national language (English,
1268for example), around 2000 hours are needed, for learning Esperanto only 200 are needed. If the
1269knowledge of Esperanto shortens the time needed to learn English only 20% (and current
1270experience confirms this), then for the two languages together we need 200 + 1600 = 1800
1271hours, so less time than if we learned only English.
1272I propose to effect this principally now, when we are transitioning from Russian, up to now
1273required in Hungarian school instruction, to other languages. Here is a chance for the
1274government and the leaders of educational institutions to restore what they abandoned, and
1275introduce the choice of Esperanto - of course, they should produce the propaganda necessary for
1276this goal. This would also be useful for teachers; it could be an obvious and rapid solution for
1277training current Russian teachers in a new language area.
1278Permit me to mention one pedagogical perspective again. The relatively rapid success of learning
1279Esperanto can contribute to avoiding the feeling of inferiority caused by students’ supposing
1280that they are not capable of learning languages, and the growth of linguistic inhibition.
1281Esperanto brings the child a rapid sense of success in the field of language learning. If Esperanto
1282could play a role in school merely as a logic game, it would still be worth introducing it as a
1283compulsory subject.
1284What is the character of Esperanto as a cultural movement?
1285Esperanto is not only a language, but a symbol of the fight for linguistic equality, and also a
1286movement with a very wide network of international organizations, conventions, and gatherings.
1287Even children’s conferences are arranged. Almost every significant specialist area has its own
1288global organization, as does chess.
1289Raise a Genius! - 42
1290Esperanto is at the same time also a spontaneous community movement. For example, the
1291subscribers to the “Passport Service” make overnight lodgings available free of charge in 50
1292countries of the world. Esperanto is a language of both scientists and tourists.
1293It is undoubtedly a multi-faceted language, but it has not so far leaped over the obstacles
1294mentioned above. Is it possibly not suitable for literature?
1295It is certainly suitable! One can express any nuance, any feeling, in the language. Many works of
1296world literature have already been translated into Esperanto, and it even has its own literature.
1297Permit me to list only a few statistics. Esperanto textbooks appear in about 100 languages. There
1298are over 100 Esperanto specialist dictionaries. Radio programs in Esperanto are produced in
1299many countries. There are more than 10,000 Esperanto-language books, and there exist
1300thousands of original Esperanto works. Around 100 magazines appear monthly in Esperanto. I
1301have also published pedagogical papers in Esperanto, and these have been translated into many
1302national languages.
1303How are Esperanto and chess related?
1304By function, of course, they are not related. But the fact that they are both based on pure logic
1305and artistic life creates a similarity between them; also, they both bring people and nations
1306closer to one another. Moreover, a few chess problems were published in 1892 in the magazine
1307“The Esperantist.” Since the 20s, chess books have been regularly published in Esperanto. At the
1308Budapest conference of the International Chess Association (FIDE) in 1926, Esperanto was
1309proposed as a language for organizational matters. This proposal was not accepted, but the
1310association took the point of view that although Esperanto would not become an official
1311language, it would nevertheless be ready to work together with the movement. Since then the
1312contact has stayed close. For example, I almost never attend foreign competitions without
1313encountering Esperantists among the organizers, competitors or the public. I can add that not
1314only chess players but other athletes support Esperanto. In 1965 a group of Hungarian athletes -
1315among such people as Laszlo Papp, Gyorgy Karpati, Andras Balczo, Ferenc Sido, Gyorgy Szepesi,
1316Dezso Gyarmati, Gyula Zsivotzki, and others, the most outstanding Hungarian Olympians,
1317petitioned that Esperanto be made an official language of the Olympic Games.
1318You are completely enthusiastic, speaking about this. Obviously this is about something more
1319than merely logic or rationality. I know that you are a strong pillar and organizer of the
1320“Talent” foundation supporting Esperanto culture and scholarship.
1321Yes, and of course I willingly donate my writings, expertise and ideas to an institution whose
1322charter contains, among other things, the following:
1323- The development of children’s talents to a high level.
1324- The dissemination of the Esperanto language, and the distribution of its related way of
1325thinking and culture.
1326Raise a Genius! - 43
1327- The protection of the environment, and practical realization of environmental education
1328according to the principle “Think globally, act locally.”
1329Raise a Genius! - 44
1330III. Chess
13311. Why chess?
1332“Who thinks it merely an art is a bad chess player. Who thinks it merely a sport is also a bad
1333chess player. In the end there can be those for whom chess is a science. Those are no less bad
1334chess players.” - M Najdorf
1335“Mental activity is possibly the greatest pleasure in life; and chess is one kind of mental activity.”
1336- S. Tarrasch
1337“Chess is for me the whole world, but the world consists not only of chess.” - A Karpov
1338Why did you and your wife choose just chess as the object of your experiment?
1339When we began the practical foundation of our genius-educating theory, at first we planned to
1340experiment with mathematics, chess and foreign languages. Influenced by several factors, we
1341decided in the end in favor of chess. The following factors mainly motivated me:
1342- We desired to prove our theory in the field of mental creativity, because such
1343experiments had happened neither in Hungary or elsewhere.
1344- In this we chose chess because we became convinced that - compared with other fields -
1345one could attain measurable results more rapidly, and principally because here the
1346system of evaluation is more delineated, more established, and thus more objective and
1347precise. This allows proving the success or failure of the experiment more singularly. We
1348decided correctly, for then we did not even imagine how many difficulties we would have
1349to surmount during our work. If we ourselves, and even the girls, had not been able to
1350show and prove the results, the attacks would have been much more inhibiting for our
1351work. It is much easier to objectively prove who is better and stronger in the competition
1352at the chess board.
1353- In our preconceptions, chess is a complex cultural phenomenon, specializing in which
1354brings fewer dangers. It is an activity that can be done not only at a young age - anyone
1355can actively compete from infanthood to old age - and it can develop the kinds of
1356versatile capabilities in a person that one can use well in other areas, in other specialties,
1357spending one’s life at a high level, even after a sudden change, if for example one tires of
1358the game of chess or for another reason abandons it. Therefore specialization in this field
1359does not make a child’s future uncertain on the occasion of eventual failure or fatigue.
1360- The fact that after our first child a daughter was also born gave a further motive for the
1361decision. In addition, we could establish a goal to prove the similarity of the intellectual
1362capability of boys and girls - and what was most important, in the field which until then
1363had been cited as proof of the opposite.
1364- In the end, we decided that chess in itself is a complex, very valuable, and beautiful
1365activity: a game, a science, an art, a sport, and a psychology simultaneously. Tarrasch
1366Raise a Genius! - 45
1367says wittily, “I pity people who do not know how to play chess as I pity those who are not
1368able to love. Chess can make people as happy as love.”
1369I have heard from many people, “Well, yes, those Polgars have become famous people, but
1370chess is not really a very complicated af air. If Polgar might prove the same in another field,
1371let us say linguistics, mathematics, or music…!”
1372I am certain that I could fulfil this work in other fields as well; this follows directly from the
1373essence of my theory.
1374Is chess not very complicated? I think that doing anything at a high level in any field is difficult.
1375Chess is neither easier nor more complicated than other spheres of activity. (Although in it one
1376can hardly cheat!) Those who know and appreciate the game of chess all say that it has the same
1377cultural value as any branch of science or art.
1378Can the game of chess be compared to science or art? Is it that multi-faceted?
1379The secret of chess lies in its complexity. In that it is simultaneously a science, an art, a sport,
1380and a game. Behind these four traits many others are queued that even today I verbalize with
1381difficulty. Something like that chess is at once these four, that it is complex. The fifth trait is
1382complexity.
1383How much is it a science?
1384In as much as it is not chance that produces the final result (as in card games). Chess has a
1385continuing framework, an internal logic, and it is recognizable, analyzable and unhideable for
1386everyone. We can learn its rules by analysis, synthesis, and intuition, and apply them with great
1387creativity. It is thus like other sciences. For example, it is like mathematics, where we have a task
1388to solve, for which we must find a formula or some way of solving. The same applies to chess.
1389We have a position in which we must find the objectively best possible move, we must invent a
1390plan, that is, a way which on the basis of the knowledge of the objective rules leads to the best
1391result. Each phase has its theory: there is a theory of openings, mid- and end-games. Various
1392strategies and tactics have been formed, etc.
1393Science is that whose results have been shown to be useful for humanity…
1394Chess is also useful because it satisfies some societal need of the person; it is a spiritual
1395entertainment, a sport, a game, an art. Chess satisfies these needs - with scientific demands.
1396Raise a Genius! - 46
1397On this basis we could speak in the same way about the theory of sport in general, about
1398football or swimming, in concrete terms. Or does the theory of chess mean more than these?
1399Definitely more, because those are physical sports, and although they also have theories, a
1400footballer does not need to learn the theory of football to play well, does not need to study a
1401library’s worth of literature.
1402This is true, but specialists, trainers, and researchers who want to write about it must become
1403acquainted with the theory.
1404In the final account, yes, but in chess it is not only about this; those who accomplish the activity
1405(chess players) must assimilate the science, and competition itself acts to create the theory.
1406If you play a variation in chess and it proves bad, you lose, and you must correct it. If you fail
1407again, you must try another time, and while you do not assimilate the right way to solve things at
1408a scientific level, you will not become a successful player. It is not sufficient to know the theory
1409of chess, one must always creatively reinvent it. The player must be a discoverer, and without
1410this no one can achieve success in competition today. To create a new idea in chess today almost
1411demands a scientific team.
1412I agree with this. I see that you have a database of 4,000 volumes and 200,000 matches, and
1413to develop possible variants the girls did typical laboratory work. But how far can this
1414research work be taken? Are there no signs of exhaustion?
1415Although chess is a relatively closed system, I claim that it has not been completely discovered.
1416A single person will certainly never be able to completely discover it. Human capability and
1417knowledge always have limits, obstacles, and imperfections. Do not forget that chess is also a
1418sport. Its exhaustion has been feared many times, but the more scientific it has become, the
1419more that has been learned, the more new problems and tasks to solve have been found in it.
1420Is it also an art?
1421Yes, chess is also structured by the rules of beauty. A tactically and strategically consistent match
1422is not only logically impressive, but also emotionally and aesthetically, and the discovery of an
1423unknown technique (eventually a combination) gives not only knowledge but also an artistic
1424experience. Because of this there exist prizes for beautiful matches; they give pleasure not only
1425to those who create them, but also those who watch or later play through them. The same as in
1426other branches of art: for the creator and the receiver, that is, “re-creator,” the same aesthetic
1427experience, the same emotional effect, is given, that can lead to an internal purification. Chess is
1428a “miracle.” Chess compositions, problems, or analyses of chess are artistic works.
1429Raise a Genius! - 47
1430How does one choose matches that are worthy of prizes for beauty?
1431There are two kinds of matches worthy of prizes for beauty. One is a game without errors, played
1432with logical precision (one could say with scientific foresight); the other is a victory constructed
1433on an original progression, or a surprising trick.
1434Have your daughters ever had games worthy of prizes for beauty?
1435Of course, but not only games that win prizes can be beautiful, like superb works of art; prizes
1436for beauty are only given in a few competitions, and it is not required to give them. Most of the
1437most beautiful matches never receive a prize for beauty.
1438How much is chess a sport? The public understands sports most often to be activities with
1439physical ef ort.
1440First let me speak of a matter that is not sufficiently known to the public. Chess as well demands
1441a strong physical state. It is not by chance that every prominent chess player also practices some
1442physical sport as a supplementary activity. My daughters play table tennis or swim 1.5 to 3 hours
1443a day.
1444What kinds of sporting values can we talk about in chess?
1445The same as in other sports. Sport is a regulated competitive activity with fixed rules and judged
1446by the results achieved. These characteristics apply also to chess. It is similarly a competitive
1447game realized with fixed rules, ranking the players on the basis of their achievements (currently
1448mostly by Elo points and competition results); and chess requires regular preparation and
1449participation. Chess is one of the most popular so-called great branches of sport, like football, ice
1450hockey, basketball, or tennis. There are both amateur and professional competitions. It has
1451spectators and participants including legitimate professional competitors.
1452Chess develops characteristics like those of athletes: willpower, competitiveness, the drive to
1453win, a strong physical state, a competitive routine, etc. It includes rules of sportsmanship and
1454consequences for violating them. And in chess the result is decided in competition, and a better
1455or worse place follows one’s current state of preparation or tuning. Aside from many joys, the
1456game can cause some sorrows, because one’s current achievements are always measured in
1457competitions, and one can be at the same time a good chess player and a bad competitor.
1458And chess has its rules of justice, and there are forms of conduct that do not conform to these.
1459Some unsporting things are whispering by kibitzers or timers, or the use of tricks off the board
1460(for example, if one blows cigarette smoke in the opponent’s face, nibbles something, or kicks
1461the table or even the legs of the opponent, etc.). In the same category is psychological warfare:
1462slander of others, unfounded gossip, unjust press campaigns, and the like.
1463My standpoint on this question is rigorous, and coincides with the opinion of, among others, the
1464Soviet grandmaster D. Bronstein: every technical trick, feint, or ruze is permitted on the
1465Raise a Genius! - 48
1466chessboard, but off-board psychological or physical deceptions influencing the personality of the
1467opponent are damaging and, morally, must be refused.
1468By means of chess I also want to form the personalities of my daughters. I always say to them
1469that it is more important that they are people - virtuous, honest people. From this it follows that
1470my daughters always play fairly. This means that they do not cede even half a point to one
1471another. For example once Zsuzsa had the chance to win a competition with a monetary prize,
1472but Judit, in the penultimate stage of the competition, did not cede the half point necessary for
1473this.
1474So your daughters PLAY chess?
1475Of course, the game of chess is by its nature, and not just etymologically, a game. It is a practical
1476activity not merely in competition. There do exist professional and amateur competitions, but
1477chess also has an entertaining form. People play it in cafes, in plazas, on beaches, among friends,
1478at family tables - at beginner and the highest levels. Something interesting: it is enjoyable at
1479every level! The game as a game is also a part of high-level competitions. A superb quality of the
1480game - compared to sport or work - is that it is not a required activity, but a freely chosen hobby.
1481Chess as a game is a creative and self-improving occupation, and thus it gives a pleasant and
1482enjoyable feeling. My daughters like playing chess, so for them it is in one sense also a game.
1483I am inclined to believe this, because I once asked some second-grade elementary students,
1484where I teach chess, if they felt sorry for the Polgar sisters, because they played chess 5-6 hours
1485a day. They answered, No, why would we feel sorry for someone who played so much?!
1486We see that children often understand better, or sense things better than adults. Many times
1487people have asked us, full of concern: are we not damaging our daughters, are we not depriving
1488them of their childhoods, do they play enough? These questioners do not understand that our
1489daughters like chess, and for them it is also a game.
1490So chess is not only a serious job, but also a game with cultural value?
1491Yes. High level activity can transform the one into the other. Scientific work also has an artistic
1492character, high-level art is founded on science, and highly-evolved sport is based on scientific
1493foundations, and also presents artistic elements, and we find a bit of play in all of them. And
1494even a game can have its science. And again: the fact that chess can also function as a method of
1495communication establishes direct interpersonal contacts.
1496Raise a Genius! - 49
1497This is probably the last taste of honey in the jar, thanks to which many pedagogues think that
1498one should include chess as a required subject in elementary school instruction. (The renowned
1499Soviet pedagogue Sukhomlinsky says this also, as does the developer of a new type of
1500educational system in Hungary, Jozsef Zsolnai, who wants to integrate it in his system.)
1501I agree with this, but one should be careful not to take it for a traditional required subject, and
1502thus making the children afraid of it. It would be right to introduce it in general instruction, and
1503not only from the specialist viewpoint of sport, but also for pedagogical reasons. We know, for
1504example, that it is difficult to teach a child who is sitting for a long time in the same place. By
1505means of chess one can get them to sit this way. Because of the game-like nature of chess, one
1506can easily teach the children how to concentrate. With the help of the game they would learn to
1507develop their persistence and capability to concentrate. Chess makes one accustomed to
1508structured problem-solving.
1509I do not claim that one should prefer chess to drawing or music in school. But if there were, for
1510example, six first-grade classes in some school, then one should require a choice between
1511drawing, music, chess or even bridge eventually. I do not know why one or the other should have
1512a higher priority. One can learn and also educate children by means of chess.
1513In my opinion, aside from school instruction, one can apply chess in several other fields. For
1514example, Dr. Tamas Bartha claims it can apply in training managers, as specialists in
1515management. Indeed, managers often face similar dilemmas in practical life to chess players.
1516Clearly this also applies in several other fields. We can truly rejoice that this game or sport
1517currently enjoys a growing popularity. Do you have a proposal for how one could grow its
1518popularity as a sport even more?
1519Of course. One can introduce varied novel forms of competition and games. For example, a pair
1520could play against another pair, alternating moves. Chess players call this a game for four hands.
1521In this game variation one could form homogenous or mixed pairs (women and men) and the
1522length of games would be decreased.
1523One could arrange so-called blind competitions (not for blind people or the visually
1524handicapped), in the same way as decreased time limits. One should popularize competitions
1525with 5- and 30-minute matches. One could organize telephone, fax, radio and television matches
1526more often. A great disadvantage of chess competitions with traditional time limits (for the
1527competitors as well) is, that they drag on for a long time, sometimes for several weeks, always
1528causing greater and greater stress. They require long absences from one’s family. In addition,
1529the organizers must spend more, and eventually the spectators do not have the time to observe
1530the games. Slow games are boring for lay people.
1531In the practice of qualifications, it would be worth considering introducing three steps of
1532grandmasters for active competitors: super-grandmaster above 2650 points, grandmaster above
15332550, and candidate grandmaster above 2450.
1534Chess should be accepted for the Summer Olympics. One should organize a yearly individual
1535and team world championship competition with several game time limits (5-minutes,
1536Raise a Genius! - 50
153730-minutes, standard time). All this would increase peoples’ interest and attract more recruits,
1538athletes and amateurs around the chessboard.
1539Raise a Genius! - 51
15402. How did the Polgar sisters learn to play chess?
1541“In chess a partner is as essential as in love.” - S. Zweig
1542“Chess is preparation for life.” - B. Franklin
1543“One cannot play chess while the house burns.” - Italian proverb
1544Public opinion considers you a chess teacher, and believes that this is the field where you can
1545certainly add something. Some people are even convinced that you are hiding a secret.
1546So I will reveal it: I have applied my general pedagogical concepts in a specialist field. I could
1547apply them to others as well. I am certain the results would be similar. There is no magic even in
1548chess instruction, so I want to “warn” those who are expecting to discover miracles. The main
1549pedagogical method and explanations of basic psychological ideas can be found naturally in
1550pedagogical, psychological and technical chess textbooks.
1551There is at least one aspect of your method that astonishes everyone: namely your results in
1552the field of chess pedagogy. How did your daughters learn to play chess at the age of 4 or 5?
1553How can one achieve disciplined and continuous work in infants?
1554One thing is certain: one can never achieve serious pedagogical results, especially at a high level,
1555through coercion. One can teach chess only by means of love and the love of the game. If I may
1556advise: one should make sure that before everything the father or mother should not diminish
1557the child’s habit of chess playing by too much severity. We should make sure not to always win
1558against the child; we should let them win sometimes so that they feel that they also are capable
1559of thinking. In this way we should bring them to a feeling of success.
1560How would you formulate the essence of your instructional methodology? What lies in it that
1561makes you so successful?
1562I think that there is nothing astonishing in it, nothing secret: I try to apply my psychological and
1563pedagogical knowledge to chess instruction. Of course I supplement this with my own ideas, and
1564try as a consequence to realize it in practice. Self-evidently I always look for suitable co-workers
1565who are prepared to help me.
1566At the start it is most important to awake interest. We should make the child aware that who
1567learns this knows this. And chess is learnable. If we educate the child such that they can be a
1568partner, can accept, create, and initiate, then we can always entrust them with more
1569independent tasks. We should get the child to love what they do - to such a degree that they do it
1570almost obsessively. The Hungarian psychologist Tamas Vekerdy warns of the same thing, that
1571infants more easily master things that awake and draw their interest, their attention. And even
1572at the beginning, the child should feel joy. We should not be angry, if they jump around here and
1573there during a chess game; indeed, it is a known fact in psychology that even though a child
1574Raise a Genius! - 52
1575might frolic aimlessly because of their age-appropriate character, their thoughts can still stay on
1576the task. We should not tell them everything; we should try to get the child themself to say
1577something! We should not ourselves make all the moves; we should try to get the child themself
1578to make the moves! This is the so-called Socratic method, and the essence of instruction in
1579problem-solving - projected onto chess.
1580Of course great success is not achievable without motivation. At the age of 5-6, if the activity is
1581sufficiently interesting, success can also function as a strong incentive. Stimulation,
1582encouragement, and instilling passion and trust are very important. If the parents and tutors tell
1583the child that they are foolish and bad, the child will probably truly believe this. But the opposite
1584also applies: if we say that they are clever and skillful, they will believe that as well. They often
1585truly believe that, and try harder to actually become so. I consider it a basic principle that
1586success is extraordinarily important. When I began the experiment, I thought that although I
1587would not let my daughters avoid failure, they would nevertheless need to grow up accompanied
1588by success. The proportion of failure to success should be 1 to 10.
1589Should one apply all this according to the nature of early childhood?
1590Of course, one should make everything appropriate to the stage! With regard to the content of
1591instructional materials and also the duration of instruction, one should start from the traits of
1592the age of the child, and tailor the tasks for the optimum ability of the child. At first we should
1593only play chess for half an hour; after some time a bit more. After a week we can extend the
1594duration. At first we should solve only simple problems, and with the passing of time we should
1595always progress to more complicated ones. One should get the child to play a great deal, but
1596always with suitable partners, who have a generally similar playing ability. On some occasions
1597they can be weaker, on some stronger, so that the child experiences what winning and losing are
1598like. But one must certainly find the right proportion. In childhood they should play rapidly, so
1599they should play many blitz matches and those with a short time limit.
1600I know that you possess a large library and card file system with 200 thousand records. How
1601did you use this at the start, and how are you able to use it now?
1602We have a library with 4-5 thousand volumes that greatly helped with the children’s instruction
1603and learning. It is well organized and provided with several different catalogues. We organized
1604the card file system (which we have just supplemented with a computer database) by the names
1605of players, variants of openings and types of middlegames. The girls knew how to use it from a
1606young age, and if they need anything, they can find it in seconds. The chess books serve us as
1607manuals.
1608We use the card files for openings as a first step in inventing new openings. For a single variant
1609we look through 50-100 matches, to choose - mainly for comparison - the most appropriate, but
1610my daughters themselves are capable of inventing novelties. And because this catalog contains
1611complete games, they can on those occasions study the middlegames of those matches. The
1612database is similarly suitable for writing articles and analyzing matches.
1613Raise a Genius! - 53
1614We use the catalog by names to prepare for opponents. We developed the catalog of
1615middlegames for two purposes: one is strategy, the other is the tactics of middlegames. A section
1616of middlegame strategy contains 40-50 types. For example, an isolated pawn, castling long,
1617occupying open lines, etc. In a section of tactics, for example: gambits for major pieces in
1618squares f7, g7, h7, g6, h6, f6, d5, c3, or intuitive pawn and major piece gambits, etc. If I want the
1619children to look over some type, for example, they research 50-100 examples of it, and after this
1620study they become informed enough to be certain of the legalities and induce generalizations.
1621We do not have an organized collection of end-games in the form of card files, but we have
1622enough related books. The encyclopedia of endgames published in Yugoslavia, and the collection
1623of pawn and rook endgames, etc., are very good material. They substitute for the most part for
1624the card file.
1625Children at an early age like mate combinations of two or three moves very much. These are not
1626too difficult, but aesthetically very beautiful and entertaining and help the children master the
1627mate, develop their combination ability, and enjoy the game of chess. We have already released
1628two books about two-move mate combinations, and we still have a lot of material in manuscript
1629form.
1630Doesn’t problem-solving in repetitious topics contradict the idea of independent creative work?
1631Of course not, because we do not do the problem exercises only in the form of topical
1632problem-solving. The children have worked through a great many of these kinds of books, where
1633the problem topics are mixed, or where they are not arranged by topic.
1634And competition means the exercise of independent creative work; as does the analysis of their
1635own competition matches (and often their publication in the press). With regard to competition,
1636it is very important that the child take part in competitions that have a suitable level for their
1637ability. In a too strong competition an onerous failure might occur for the child, and in a too easy
1638competition they do not develop their skills, nor do they experience success. If the child loses in
1639competition, we should never reproach them: losing is sufficiently painful for them. Rather we
1640should console them and encourage them to further work. We should help them discover the
1641reasons, shortcomings or errors and correct them. We should be attentive to not only enduring
1642and mitigating failure, but also to having too much self-confidence, for this is as unrealistic as a
1643lack of self-confidence.
1644What do you think about blindfold games? I know that all your daughters play well with their
1645backs to the chessboard.
1646The development of chess memory is very important. In competitive chess one plays for a fixed
1647time, so a good memory capacity helps save time. In contrast to science, here we may not use
1648manuals, so rightly or wrongly we must memorize the concrete information. We also may not
1649move the pieces to work out variations. We must analyze and plan in memory, and it is not
1650irrelevant how many moves we can calculate beforehand, think through in memory. For a good
1651Raise a Genius! - 54
1652blindfold player this happens more easily, better and more precisely. Blindfold games develop
1653spatial visualization skills, thinking about the whole board.
1654How can one develop their blindfold playing?
1655First by visualizing matches. Later, by developing positions (that is, continuing a game from a
1656given situation) from diagrams, analyzing board positions without moving the pieces. Finally, of
1657course, by playing many matches with one’s back to the opponent and the board. Memory
1658exercises also give information, enlarge and develop the imagination.
1659What do you think about blitz matches, where the players only have 5 minutes each?
1660Many fear that this makes the game superficial, and hinders profundity and concentration. I
1661think that these kinds of games are not generally damaging: they are obviously even useful. A
1662chess player must very rapidly - precisely and well - look over the chessboard on many
1663occasions. Let us think about time pressure during a match. During a competition game it is not
1664irrelevant what kind of first idea comes into our head, and also during analysis or at school how
1665rapidly we progress should not be neglected. By means of blitz games we can exercise ourselves
1666very well in opening variants. It is natural that we experience the utility of blitz exercises most in
1667blitz competitions.
1668You mentioned that the girls regularly write specialist articles for foreign periodicals. Why is
1669this important?
1670If one writes an article, one considers a matter more deeply than without a goal, thinking alone
1671or speaking with someone about it. One of the best methods for developing one’s ability is to
1672write articles, essays, and books. This requires conscious preparation and active analytical work.
1673Do you consider foreign languages as tools for helping to work in chess?
1674Yes, they are doubly necessary tools for working. On the one hand, it is necessary to study the
1675(foreign) literature, on the other a chess player is a world traveler, so they need to interact with
1676companions in the sport and others. Thus I attribute a great significance to foreign language
1677instruction. But right now I think that for Zsuzsa fewer languages would be sufficient. The two
1678younger girls first learned English and Russian, and I will encourage them further to learn
1679Esperanto more deeply. (Zsuzsa has learned 7-8 languages, and this has clearly slowed her
1680development in chess.)
1681Raise a Genius! - 55
1682To which should we attribute greater significance, in your opinion: the theory of openings, of
1683middlegames or the theory of endgames?
1684It is very important to find the right proportion. When teaching children, one often neglects
1685learning endgames, and later vice versa, one over-estimates their significance. I always claim
1686that a chess player, in every stage of their development, should spend more or less equal time
1687studying these three parts of the game. Later they can devote less time to the endgame, which
1688one uses less often; openings and middlegames are in every game, but not every game develops
1689to an endgame. This does not mean that I underestimate the importance of studying the
1690endgame.
1691How do those who neglect opening theory instruction in infancy argue?
1692They claim that one should start with the endgame, because in it there are fewer pieces on the
1693board, so the child can more easily look over the situation. They are incorrect. An endgame can
1694be very easy, but also very difficult. It is not the number of pieces that determines the difficulty
1695of a problem. A middlegame combination can also be easy, interesting and simple; even some
1696variations of openings. In my opinion, one should teach all three areas at the start as equally
1697important, so that the child’s problem-solving can develop in all areas. For a successful
1698competition game one must open the match well, orient oneself in the middlegame, and
1699successfully close the match in the endgame. If one begins with a bad opening, things will be
1700difficult from the beginning of the match, possible irreparably, and this will soon result in the
1701end of the game. The argument that for learning the repertory of openings it takes 2-3 years also
1702supports the idea of studying openings early. One must assimilate endgame theory not by
1703mechanistic grinding study, of course, but principally by analysis, discovery, and creation of
1704novel variations…
1705You have mentioned several times that many people at many times have posed obstacles to
1706your daughters’ development, instead of supporting them. Does this influence their style, or
1707decelerate their development?
1708This self-evidently influences their style. Zsuzsa, who has received the most “blows to the
1709cheek,” has become the most careful player. It is easier for her sisters, as they can face the
1710“powers-that-be,” representing the authorities, three at a time; thus the negative effect of
1711decelerating forces affects their futures less. But if their development had not been decelerated
1712they would certainly have progressed even faster.
1713Representatives of political organizations caused the greatest damage; power is in their hands.
1714The responsibility for this falls even on the “highest” leadership, because people advised or
1715referred to him in situations that discriminated against us. Sandor Szerenyi, the ex-president of
1716the Hungarian Chess Association (he resigned in 1989) even now, in a just-released interview
1717said, “I always acted in line with what I agreed with Janos Kadar [chief secretary of the
1718communist party], Istvan Buda [minister of sports], or with other comrades occupied with
1719sporting affairs.”
1720Raise a Genius! - 56
1721For what do you blame the leadership of the Hungarian Chess Association?
1722They did not help with our specialist work. For example, for many years they did not send my
1723daughters to youth world championships, although my daughters were the best in the country.
1724They wished to remove Zsuzsa from the top of the women’s world rankings. This effort led to
1725Zsuzsa in fact being removed (to the second place); Chiburdanidze went ahead of her - unjustly -
1726because she received a “gift” of 100 points to her score.
1727Not just then, but only after several years, they presented her to the International Chess
1728Association (FIDE) for the title of women’s grandmaster. They misled public opinion in the
1729press. They did not send Zsuzsa to the men’s competition, although she had qualified for it in the
1730Hungarian men’s championship. For several years she was not allowed to travel to foreign
1731competitions - whether in capitalist or socialist countries. (The Ministry for Internal Affairs
1732refused our written request for a passport completely until the middle of the 80’s, declaring that
1733“your extraterritorial travel is harmful to public order.”) They did not trust our daughters, did
1734not establish a tranquil atmosphere around us, and I could go on endlessly…
1735Even now we are pressured by concerns about a lack of tutors. Our daughters stand in vain at
1736the top of the world rankings, they were first in the Olympic Games in vain, they won gold
1737medals in world championships for their ages, and Judit received an Oscar prize in vain. Zsuzsa
1738has not had a tutor or training partner for several years. The situation of the younger girls is not
1739much better. Although with Zsuzsa they form a small team, a specialist work group, this in itself
1740is very little. Only now can we expect a minor step forward in this area - we will soon receive
1741help from other countries. A Dutch patron is now altruistically paying for a training partner for
1742the girls, and he has similarly bought a personal computer for them that is useful as a work tool.
1743A german journalist provided us with a database program. He also taught the girls how to
1744operate the machine.
1745Does the Hungarian press influence your work?
1746It does, and very unfavorably. We would have progressed more if there had not appeared many
1747years of attacks, malicious articles that falsified the facts. We also had lawsuits with the press.
1748Although we won all of these, we nevertheless have no wish to be endlessly fighting legal battles;
1749for us relatively tranquil preparation and good work is more important.
1750What kind of press response have you had in other countries?
1751People write about us, whether in specialist, psychological or pedagogical matters, with the
1752greatest acclaim. This recognition increases our belief in the work and our persistence, and
1753signifies a clear success for us. Naturally this brings recognition for Hungarian chess and
1754Hungarian pedagogy and psychology as well. Almost 40 thousand articles have appeared about
1755us up to now.
1756Raise a Genius! - 57
1757Now a specialist question: do your daughters play a game of combinations or position?
1758The younger ones prefer combinations, while Zsuzsa prefers positions. A truly great player must
1759alloy both styles. Unfortunately, Zsuzsa has had many tutors who represented the positional
1760school, and thus after some time she took it on. Now she finds herself at a stage where she is
1761recreating her style. V. Korchnoi has convincingly warned how one can change styles: “I did not
1762know how, and did not like, to attack; defense was my milieu. My opponents often used this
1763one-sided strategy: they intentionally threw away a pawn, because they were certain I would
1764capture it. And often severe consequences followed. I came to understand that I must vary my
1765style, and that I needed to know attacking and fighting for initiative.” And Zsuzsa attacks well
1766and knows well how to combine; she merely needs to “take back” her caution a little. The
1767outstanding Hungarian chess player Geza Maroczy said, “Whoever sits at a chess board without
1768wanting to win, and needing to win, who only hopes that an eventual inattention of their
1769opponent will help them to an unexpected lucky point, and who considers their opponent
1770stronger, can never achieve success. For the cowardly chess player there is no joy in a
1771competitive game, but pain, torment, and psychic stress.”
1772What do the children think of themselves?
1773Ask them!
1774I asked them. They unanimously said that Zsuzsa is a thoughtful positional player, Zsofia
1775prefers risks, and Judit - although she is closer to Zsuzsa - tries to alloy the two styles. Related
1776to this, I am interested in what makes, in your opinion, a good training partner?
1777They should like their work as a tutor and training partner. They should be honest, have
1778experience in training and competition; it is useful if they also compete (old achievements in
1779themself are not sufficient, mainly if they are accompanied by pathological vanity). The
1780personality is important. They should be ready for collaborative work, intimate reciprocal
1781communal activity. The young competitor should not be able to always do everything with them.
1782They should be self-critical, and the development of the student should be important to them.
1783They should take care that their disciple not always be attached to them. If they have a great
1784reputation in the field, they should criticise very carefully; this can have a very great effect.
1785They should respect the young competitor, trust in them, and strive to create a tranquil
1786atmosphere around them. It is not sufficient for them to only oversee and direct; they should
1787encourage and influence the development of the disciple, but take care not to paralyze them.
1788They should know how to treat the young person fairly. They should encourage attempts at
1789original competition research. They should be capable of expressing recognition, they should
1790know how to praise the worker and the successes of other. They should avoid indifference, be
1791enthusiastic (“Enthusiasm is something infectious” - wrote Selye), and they should be suitable
1792for raising this ability higher in others.
1793Raise a Genius! - 58
1794You are a father, a tutor, and a manger in one person. How do you balance these functions?
1795These three functions were interwoven in fact only at the beginning. Today my daughters are so
1796superior to me that I cannot be their tutor. I only organize the training team. I am their
1797father-manager, and I will say sincerely that I only play even these two roles with difficulty.
1798It would be easier to only be a manager without a fatherly role, or a father without managerial
1799functions. The biggest problem is that a father can only with difficulty demand that the child
1800complete these difficult training tasks, which - well, let us say - children do not do willingly.
1801I believe this; it is indeed know that fathers - out of “love” - often do not even demand a
1802minimum of discipline from their daughters.
1803This is not only a question of love. A tutor who is not a father to his student may dismiss one
1804who does not complete the tasks according to his demands. But with one’s own child, he cannot
1805do that. The trainer father of our European table tennis champion Csilla Batorfi says the same:
1806“It is hard for a father to demand something that is tedious for a child, they may even dislike him
1807for that.”
1808However, we should not make too much of this problem. It also has an advantage: if the child
1809loves me, they will complete everything more easily.
1810The three girls together possess around 40 Guinness World Records. It is obvious that they
1811beat each other’s records. But let us switch to another topic! How does the press evaluate the
1812chess achievements of your daughters now?
1813The press of the last year has responded very positively. I will cite several opinions as specimens.
1814I must say that in past years no one believed that women could also - at least almost as well -
1815play chess as well as the most skilled men. One must compare this with current statements!
1816M. Gurevich (one of the strongest grandmasters in the world) writes in Actuell Schachmagazin
1817(July 1988) about Judit: “...this girl is a giant. It is completely certain that no one has shown this
1818kind of result at 12, including world champions Fischer and Kasparov. In which Bible is it
1819written that the world champion of the 2000s must be a man?”
1820Grandmaster Keen (Chess, 1988-08-08): “If Judit can sustain the admirable arc of her success,
1821then it seems completely probable that around the turn of the millennium she will be able to
1822take on the role of a challenger in the world championships. At the age of 12 neither Fischer nor
1823Kasparov, nor Nigel Short had walked at such a high level of success.”
1824In the New York Post (1988-09-10), grandmaster A. Soltis directed the following question to the
1825ex-world champion Tal: “Who has the greatest chance among current chess players to step in the
1826place of Kasparov?” Tal: “Ivanchuk and Judit Polgar.”
1827Under the title “The Wonderful Polgars” the Spectator (London, 1988-10-29) writes: “Judit is
1828the most extraordinary phenomenon in the history of chess… At such a young age no one - even
1829Raise a Genius! - 59
1830Kasparov - was as good… nor Bobby Fischer… Go anywhere and bet that at the end of the
1831century the world champion will be a woman.”
1832Daniel Molnar (Reform, Budapest, December 1988): “When I asked Kasparov if he considered it
1833possible that in a few years they would be opponents [speaking of Judit Polgar] for the title of
1834the ‘men’s’ world champion, first he explained a bit about the difference between the male and
1835female brain, and later with a sudden ‘Although God knows!’ he ended the interaction.
1836Grandmaster Speelman (a candidate for world champion) declared with English phlegm, ‘I do
1837not understand how anyone believes this impossible’.”
1838On the title page of the chess journal New in Chess (February 1989), under the photo of Zsofia
1839one read “Super-Sofia.” In Inside Chess (7/1989) we find, “Zsofia conquers Rome! This result
1840was willingly accepted by even Kasparov and Karpov.”
1841In his article “Judit is better than me this time,” which appeared in Reform (1988-04-05),
1842Tamas Harle puts the following question to Karpov: “What do you think about the Olympic
1843achievements of the Hungarian girls?” Karpov: “If they sat at the chess board again, I would give
1844a greater chance to the Hungarian women.” Harle: “How much do you think the Polgar
1845daughters will achieve?” Karpov: “Zsuzsa is extraordinarily strong, but Judit… At that age
1846neither I nor Kasparov played like Judit does now.”
1847In the Hungarian magazine Szabad Fold (December 1988), Tibor Florian wrote, “Zsuzsa’s game
1848is multi-faceted. She has enormous knowledge about openings at her disposal, she even knows
1849openings that she never uses. In the middlegame she evaluates the position objectively,
1850realistically, and thus she can handle positions of any type. She is persistent and prudent in
1851defense - she loses very little - rich in ideas and elan on the attack… And she does not lack what
1852is most important in the endgame - patience.
1853Judit’s game is also characterized by a good foundation in opening theory, a childlike
1854unprejudiced evaluation of positions, and a good endgame technique. In many ways she is
1855similar to Zsuzsa, but her game maybe contains more dynamism, initiative, and sometimes an
1856‘urchin defiance’. Zsofia is in fact a ‘socially handicapped’ child: there exist ‘best’ and ‘worst’
1857daughters, but there are no ‘middlest’. She also knows and sees much on the chessboard, but she
1858might lack courage to do much. She likes artistic, aesthetic solutions. All three daughters are
1859modest and charming. Zsofia smiles the most. While one often sees child chess players who are
1860morose and closed, the Polgar daughters have stayed open, merry children. This is clearly
1861attributable to the prevailing ethos in their family.”
1862Raise a Genius! - 60
18633. How do we get our children to like chess?
1864“There are two kinds of people: some conform to circumstances and play cards; others want to
1865change their circumstances and play chess.” - M. Collins
1866“If you play your opponent into the ground at the chessboard, this does not prove that you
1867played the best.” - English proverb
1868“It is easy to lose one’s way on the chessboard; all the squares look the same.” - J. Szekely
1869Let us continue the chess lesson. There certainly are parents who would be interested in how to
1870teach 4-5-year-olds how to play chess.
1871I will tell you some of my tricks. I took two pieces of graph paper, one for me, the other for the
1872child. We marked out 8x8 squares. First we began to learn the name of the squares. I named a
1873square, she found it and marked it with an X. Later she named one, and I marked it with a dot.
1874(This could be done as well with different colored pens.) At the end of the game we checked the
1875results of the task, and counted how many each one had done. For the next step we learned the
1876colors (white and black) of the squares. We named a square, and without looking at the board,
1877we had to say the color of the square in question. (For this one could use the method of a square
1878net.) This activity is somewhat similar to the well-known game of Battleship.
1879When should one use diagrams?
1880In this case age-appropriateness is also very important. First one should learn the movements of
1881the king. We practiced this for several days, and later we play “king against king.” The task is
1882this: one king must reach the opponent’s baseline, that is, one must go to the other side of the
1883board. Whoever does this first wins. If some king can stand next the other, then the game ends
1884without a decision. When we had learned this well, we added the next piece, the pawn. In this
1885game the goal was the same: to get to the other side. After several days we added the rook, then
1886the knight.
1887After 3-4 weeks we arrived at the queen. Understanding the queen’s mate followed later.
1888Possessing this knowledge, we played great pawn battles during the following weeks. That is,
1889only the pawns and the two kings were on the board. After a pawn changed to a queen we played
1890until mate. The children really liked this. During this we started learning the knight’s moves.
1891This is most difficult for children, but not truly a problem, although one must carefully practice
1892this.
1893Later we became acquainted with the simplest mating moves. First I collected around 1,000
1894one-move mate diagrams; later I found two-, three-, and four-move mate diagrams and posed
1895them as problems. Only after this did we begin playing real chess. The time we spent getting
1896there lasted about 3-4 months. We should not begrudge the time for this! In this way we
1897assimilate (very deeply and solidly) not only rudimentary knowledge, but the children become
1898Raise a Genius! - 61
1899accustomed to the carefully considered and foundational game, work. Possessing solid
1900knowledge, they simply and easily learned the later tasks. The possessed resolution, and
1901self-confidence, and arrived at success. They experienced the knowledge and enjoyment of its
1902use.
1903After the start, the following step is combinations. We solved many combinations, for example: I
1904sacrifice one or two major pieces, and in the end the weaker force wins against the stronger, so
1905the small beats the big. Of course in this case one should be careful: give only easy combinations
1906at the beginning. The child cannot solve very difficult ones. It is valuable to play many miniature
1907matches, as these (less than twenty moves) contain many combinational elements. These also
1908interest the children, and because of the flashiness and shortness of the matches the child’s
1909attention does not waver.
1910When the children began to play well, we switched to memory exercises (to widen our
1911knowledge as well), for example we played several miniature matches in our heads.
1912This is a hard problem for adults. Do children do this easily?
1913Yes. More easily than memorizing a poem. When a five-year-old child learns verses, they do not
1914always understand the logical interrelationships. But in chess they know that one move follows
1915another, and they are able to get through the steps.
1916One should then almost teach the children to “play” like a game. Do you have more advice?
1917One should have great patience. We should let the child arrive at a sense of success, but we
1918should not handicap ourselves (we should not give up major pieces or an advantage in pawns),
1919because in that case the structure of the game changes. Preferably the parents or teachers should
1920provide a temporal handicap, or weave intentional mistakes into the game, so that the child can
1921use them for themself. During the game the tutor should organize their position on the board
1922intentionally as is appropriate for the student and the development of the child at their age.
1923I ask about a small practical matter. Should one also teach the use of chess timers, or is this
1924superfluous as some claim?
1925Chess timers can make the game especially interesting for a child. (And their use can enliven and
1926make other kinds of games and studies enjoyable.)
1927Can one teach children using similar methods in the framework of school instruction?
1928Yes, but at a more rapid pace, since this applied to older children. The essence is always the
1929same: both at home and at school one must teach each part carefully, and everything always
1930solidly. Half efforts make no sense, since the next stages will lack a foundation on which to
1931construct the material to be assimilated. In addition it seems to me that one of the deficits of
1932Hungarian teaching is that one does not construct knowledge upon other knowledge. I consider
1933Raise a Genius! - 62
1934it a further error that - mainly because of the lack of intensive instruction - after three weeks the
1935child forgets what they learned earlier.
1936Do you have proposals for how to inspire students during school hours? Should one give
1937grades?
1938If the instruction is good, one has no need of giving grades. In addition, this truly makes no
1939sense in chess. I would rather arrange various in- and inter-class contests. It is worth sending
1940children to foreign competitions only if we feel that they will do well there. Competition only
1941makes sense when it is evident that it will develop those who are capable of it, and can inspire
1942greater accomplishments on the basis of the results. We should never drive students to failure.
1943But there are some who develop in leaps.
1944These kinds of children should be switched to higher classes or compete with them. For
1945competition there are also various adult contests possible. The current school organizations are
1946not suitable, because one is not occupied with the children where one should on the basis of
1947their innate capacities. It is useless to try to make a child jump 120 cm if they are capable of only
194880. But it is as useless to make them jump 120 if they are already capable of 180. They will not
1949develop by this.
1950How do you explain that you also organized your daughters’ chess instruction in the
1951framework of home schooling? Is there no organized chess instruction in Hungary?
1952Unfortunately this problem has not been solved. Aside from a few sporadic local initiatives
1953(sometimes in the city of Tapolca, for example) there is a lack of systematic chess instruction -
1954despite that the world is taking a great step forward in this field as well.
1955There are no clubs in Hungary with regular daily chess instruction. Even the youth tutor of the
1956Hungarian Chess Association does not direct regular training. This is strange, because in no
1957branch of sport do the youth have such a deficit of training. There are no chess tutors, or if they
1958can nevertheless be found, they do not even make a half-hearted effort. The best chess players
1959mostly only compete, and do not pass on their expertise. Although one should be aware:
1960successful education is not possible without a great deal of work. Education only bears fruit after
196110-20 years. But if we begin it only ten years from now, we will have results after only 20-30
1962years.
1963In which country are there good chess schools?
1964There are many in the Soviet Union. The Soviets begin chess instruction very early. There are
1965nursery schools that focus on chess, and there are elementary schools (boarding schools) where
1966the students only go home on Sunday afternoons. However, it surprises me that these schools do
1967not function with sufficient efficiency, as though they had been bungled… It seems to me that
1968Raise a Genius! - 63
1969they count on a few eminent chess players certainly growing somehow or other out of so many
1970children. But also in England, the Netherlands, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany,
1971they are doing a great deal to educate young people in this direction.
1972By what instructional techniques can one contribute to children liking chess and to its more
1973successful instruction?
1974The two most important instructional techniques are the television and the video player. In the
1975US they have produced video cassettes for chess instruction. In one of these, for example,
1976Seirawan lectures about chess topics. We need many like this. I believe that I do not need to
1977detail the advantages of television, but in Hungary, for example, there are almost no television
1978chess programs. In the Soviet Union and the FRG there are many like this: interviews,
1979broadcasts of competitions, complete presentations of matches, etc. But maybe the most needed
1980instructional tool is the computer, because:
1981- Personal computers primarily fulfil the role of databases.
1982- Chess computers can serve as good partners, especially for children, beginners, and
1983amateur chess players (my daughters play blindfold games with computers).
1984- With chess problems one uses them to check for errors.
1985- Powerful computers are usable primarily for precise analysis of endgames with few
1986pieces.
1987If this depended on you, would you found a chess school? What method would you introduce
1988there?
1989I cannot respond to the first question, but if I were to establish something like that, I would
1990primarily implement those ideas I have proven and successfully applied with my daughters.
1991Is it possible to suppose that if it were to implement these kinds of schools, Hungary would
1992stay at the pinnacle of the contest of nations for a long time?
1993The question would be answered by asking if others also did the same or not. If one worked with
1994similar methods in twenty other countries, one would attain similar results there, as I could
1995promise.
1996Raise a Genius! - 64
19974. Chess in psychology, psychology in chess
1998“The game of chess, like scientific research work, is primarily a passion.” - A. Szentgyorgyi
1999“A good player deceives their opponent; while a bad player deceives themself.” - J. Szekely
2000“I avoid struggling, on the contrary, I’m always thinking about winning.” - R. J. Fischer
2001Your genius-education system is constructed on a strict unification of pedagogy, chess theory,
2002and psychology. However, in my opinion it is worth separately examining how they are
2003interlinked. Let us first examine the psychological side!
2004Chess and pedagogy are woven together by many threads. Chess has its own place in
2005psychological research, and psychology is also present in competitive chess playing.
2006Competitors expect and can receive help from psychologists. Competitive chess playing
2007demands a specific state of mind, whose conscious influence - and theoretical foundation - can
2008contribute to a successful competition.
2009Psychological knowledge can strongly aid in understanding one’s own personality. What are my
2010weaknesses? What are my virtues? How am I progressing in self-instruction? In which direction
2011should I be going? Which style is most appropriate for me? One can pose many questions to
2012oneself. If it is true that without a certain degree of self-knowledge one can succeed in no area of
2013life, this relates even more to competitions of every kind.
2014Psychologically founded competition can seriously help in the development of personality traits:
2015it forms the will and emotions, increases persistence, self-discipline, competitiveness, etc.
2016Botvinnik, for example, emphasizes that a competitor must reach a state of maximum capability
2017during a competition, and he thinks that the development of an appropriate mental state and
2018humor are also very important. By means of special training he has mastered fighting his
2019negative emotional manifestations. He has also developed his ability to concentrate on himself
2020to a maximum. He has successfully alloyed in himself tranquility and aggression. Currently
2021psychology functions as a supplementary science for every outstanding competitor…
2022… used to understand the opponent …
2023Naturally chess is also a mirror for the soul. Certain of the opponent’s psychic traits are well
2024reflected in their play. Studying them can deliver a great deal of information about the
2025temperament and character of the chess player, so partners can prepare themselves for each
2026other. This is also important because chess training occurs without the psychic atmosphere of
2027the struggles of competition. One can also analyze past matches before the competition to
2028determine what the opponent is like and choose the most appropriate tactics. If I know their
2029weaknesses, I endeavor to choose the variations of play and style that will be psychically
2030uncomfortable for them. If I know that they do not like surprises, I must surprise them with an
2031Raise a Genius! - 65
2032opening or combination. If I know they have an aggressive temperament, I endeavor to direct
2033the game to a calm flow, etc.
2034Emanuel Lasker is just that chess player who regards the personality of the person highly, hiding
2035behind the “life” of the chess figures. For example, he has many times made not the positionally
2036optimum move, but that which he considers most unpleasant for his opponent. He even risks a
2037worse move merely to annoy an opponent. This will not disequilibrate a good chess player today.
2038If things work like that, one can evidently misuse psychological knowledge…
2039One can, of course, as one can on certain occasions misuse any knowledge. Thus for honest
2040competition the ethical standard and correct moral bearing I mentioned above are necessary.
2041What are the abilities whose development you consider specially important?
2042I will list several which Dyakov, Petrovski, and Rudyik (they performed an interesting
2043experiment on grandmasters in 1925) describe in their works, as well as Lasker, Krogius, Fine,
2044Kotov, Hartson, etc. Above all it is necessary to achieve and maintain a good physical state,
2045health, and state of nerves. A chess player must sit at the chessboard with a sufficient reserve of
2046physical strength and good nervous system that they can resist unpleasant and annoying
2047provocations. This requires serious physical hardiness: these effects touch the very “soul”
2048(attacks by the press, for example, can significantly decrease one’s powers of accomplishment).
2049Persistence, as well as physical, mental, and soulish stability are worth the same, as they are in
2050physical branches of sport, where they are called hardiness, but in fact there also they mean
2051conserving the ability to work in spite of sustained and repeated burdens.
2052I would put in this category the ability to handle monotony, the capability to sustain interest and
2053persistent attention. Their lack can cause significant oversights, chess blindness, errors made in
2054winning positions, or overlooked combinations, for example. Maybe the most important
2055component of stability is whether the player can concentrate in the “main direction,” holding
2056themself apart from distractions, annoying factors, that is, how much they can “apply” their
2057knowledge and character.
2058Further: discipline and self-control. It is not possible to achieve good results without conscious
2059discipline and self-discipline. During a game mental factors intrude one after another:
2060after-effects of earlier defeats, stress about possible variants of the match, the sex, age and
2061psychological tactics of the opponent, and random or intentional changes in the surroundings.
2062One factor that must be noted is the capability to educate oneself on the basis of realistic
2063self-knowledge, which manifests as constant self-criticism and readiness for self-correction.
2064While it is possible to have healthy self-confidence, self-deception certainly leads to failure in
2065chess.
2066It is very important to develop several intellectual capabilities, among which are a good memory,
2067preparation in combinations, a capability for pure logic and an appropriate intuition. For
2068example, a good memory serves to easily visualize the moves and combinations of pieces in the
2069Raise a Genius! - 66
2070match. Preparation in combinations enables goal-directed assembly of thoughts and ideas, as
2071well as imagining the pieces during movement and in different situations.
2072Apart from everything the development of a healthy capacity for conflict is specially important -
2073primarily, of course, for competitive players, but it can be useful for anyone. The conflict
2074happens simultaneously in various fields:
2075- the struggle to rise above oneself (current results, one’s own obstacles),
2076- the struggle to acquire a definite position in the group or community,
2077- the struggle with the opponent,
2078- the struggle to attain or get near to some “extra-competition” goal or value.
2079Of course it is true that sport - aside from being many other things - functions as one of the
2080possible methods to promote and distinguish oneself. The latter should never be directed against
2081others or in a fashion damaging to others. This is a basic premise of the athletic life. The conflict
2082presupposes the knowledge of the opponent, the evaluation of their strength, the knowledge of
2083their style and their victories. In Hungary, Geza Revesz has focused on the psychology of chess
2084players in order to use it in the developing of talents. I can continue the examples. Experiments
2085performed in the Soviet Union in 1925 aimed at founding a new branch of psychology: chess
2086psychology. The Soviet chess grandmaster and chess psychologist N. Krogius created something
2087worth attention in this field.
2088Lasker as well claims that chess style is a projection of certain aspects of the personality. In his
2089opinion, one can also infer the chess player’s characteristics from their game, and this is correct.
2090Because of this psychology can conceive of chess as a test in which aspects of the person are
2091mirrored. Obviously this test, like others, can be accepted only as one part of a complex
2092investigation.
2093What is your opinion of scientific research on specific abilities, and all in all regarding the
2094evaluation of others’ capabilities?
2095Unfortunately one often performs this evaluation without having sufficient information; even
2096some specialists do this although knowledge of the personality, and within it, the realistic
2097evaluation of abilities is very significant both from a theoretical and practical viewpoint.
2098Many make the error of trying to derive information on exceptional abilities on the basis of
2099intelligence tests. In the literature, for example, Margit Varro researched extraordinarily
2100musically talented children, and found with them that intelligence tests are insufficient. Geza
2101Revesz, a renowned specialist in talent research, came to a similar conclusion. He observed in
2102testing exceptionally talented children that their intelligence was hardly greater than solidly
2103middling-intelligent children. According to him, the result of the test also did not characterize
2104the “extraordinary intellect, comprehensive ability and mental level of the children” well. Many
2105researchers in other countries, many chess psychologist among them, concluded the same on the
2106basis of their research.
2107One of the most important methods for recognizing creative capacity is also the research of
2108biographies. One can recognize, learn, and evaluate this merely on the basis of actual actions.
2109Raise a Genius! - 67
2110Every attempt to define capabilities outside the particular sphere of action leads to logically
2111erroneous findings.
2112A very important aspect is comparing the results (competition results and inventions) of
2113exceptionally capable people. The principles of researching child creativity are not different in
2114that sense from those principles which guide us in analyzing adult inventions. But because it is
2115about currently developing children, one should not neglect the nature of the developmental
2116stage in evaluating creativity! To analyze the endowments of exceptionally capable children, and
2117to have a picture of their expected development, one must collect inventions and competition
2118results from various periods of development, and compare them on the one hand with
2119themselves, and on the other with childhood inventions of other exceptionally capable children.
2120Family archives are very useful for this: photos, newspaper clippings, specialist reports,
2121correspondence, chess matches, etc.
2122Can one also use chess in medical psychology?
2123Yes, both in diagnostics and psychotherapy. For example, therapy direction can be helped by
2124chess, when it brings a patient success (or otherwise). To completely simplify: if I sit with a
2125patient and see that they should strengthen their self-confidence, I let them win; if I see that
2126they have too much self-confidence, and it should be decreased a bit, I do not concede the game.
2127One must, of course, sense the proportions correctly. Aside from this, chess is a therapeutic
2128method also in the sense that it is capable of activating the personality of a sick person, and
2129stimulating their dull spirits. On certain occasions one can use it to strengthen results already
2130attained.
2131Does this property also apply to psychopedagogy?
2132Definitely. It is very applicable, for example, with antisocial, neurotic, emotional and
2133aspirationally defective children. By it a child’s attention can be captured, and the game can
2134bring at the right time the experience of success. Again I simplify: if someone plays chess a lot,
2135they have less time to do drugs. Deviant acts are generally performed by those who do not have a
2136compass, perspective, who do not experience success in other fields.
2137Do chess teachers utilize the results of psychological research?
2138Although this is certainly useful for them, in my experience they rarely do this. Generally they
2139merely instinctively use scientifically proven expertise. I should give an example: many people
2140pass examinations in logic, but how many people consciously apply logical theorems? Well, the
2141matter is similar with chess psychology as well. Unfortunately.
2142Raise a Genius! - 68
2143Let me verbalize a question of many parents. By which psychological-pedagogical method can
2144I recognize chess talent in my child? Namely, many say: I would willingly raise my child to be
2145a chess player, but I am not able to recognize whether they have a talent for this or not.
2146I believe that every child is potentially talented in chess. Specific capabilities are not people’s
2147endowments from birth, but one must make them manifest through education. So the ability to
2148recognize chess talent is not really a problem. The question should rather sound like this:
2149whether the parents are ready or not, whether they have sufficient self-confidence and courage
2150for the education. I can educate every healthy child to be a chess master. Parents should be
2151interested in how chess masters are made to be chess masters, and be able to study how to create
2152similar psychological and topical conditions for their child. They should not worry about
2153whether the child has talent or not!
2154Raise a Genius! - 69
21555. On the emancipation of women
2156“Only an equal measure! Allow to women what is allowed to men, or do not allow to men what is
2157not allowed to women.” - B. Bartok
2158“Among every woman know to me, Mme. Curie is the only one whom success has not
2159corrupted.” - A. Einstein
2160“Teaching girls is needed as well as youths; they are as useful to the country as these.” K. Mikes
2161At this time both nationally and internationally, great attention is turning to the struggle of
2162your daughters for equal rights for women. Do you all think that there will come a time when
2163the “men’s” chess world champion is a woman?
2164You express yourself incorrectly. A woman will never become a men’s chess world champion
2165because the title “men’s chess world champion” does not exist. A world chess champion can be a
2166man or woman. Kasparov’s title is not “men’s champion,” but simply chess world champion. For
2167a long time the game of chess has been such a men’s activity that the creators of its rules did not
2168even expect it to be called a “men’s” competition. So there is no such thing as a men’s chess
2169competition.
2170So women are allowed to compete in men’s competitions without a sex test?
2171Our daughters are allowed to play in men’s competitions any time: this is not contrary to the
2172rules. But in women’s competitions, Olympics, and world championships, only women are
2173allowed to compete, which means that the women’s accomplishments are not equal to the men’s,
2174and these competitions are merely “second-class.”
2175You are in the first rank of the struggle for equal rights. In the words of the philosopher
2176Gyorgy Andras Szabo, “You have become an early revolutionary” in the battle. It is true that
2177several women have now entered men’s competitions, but you are the only ones who have
2178lately not played in women’s competitions (aside from the Olympics). You have done this to
2179prove that women have not lagged behind men. How did this goal appear in your experiment?
2180I believe that this is the sole point that was formed incidentally, during the work. I generally
2181planned the whole of my pedagogical system before the birth of my first child. I did not
2182anticipate that only daughters would be born, and when they were born, I encountered a
2183particular problem: discrimination against women.
2184How did this af ect you all?
2185When I wanted to guide my first daughter Zsuzsa to the summit, in the spirit of my pedagogical
2186concept, many tried to hinder us in this. She was not permitted to compete among boys; she was
2187Raise a Genius! - 70
2188forced to participate only in girls’ competitions. Of course, my primary goal remained to prove
2189the correctness of genius education, but I supplemented it incidentally with the goal of
2190demonstrating that biologically there exists no essential, decisive difference between the
2191intellectual endowments of men and women, and arguing by this that one has no right to
2192support the “subjugation” and shoving aside of women.
2193People did not let you develop this ambition of yours?
2194The experts communicated to me that Zsuzsa could only practically be raised as a mere women’s
2195competitor; women were simply not capable of results equal to men, etc., etc. On the one hand
2196this old song was heard; on the other hand discriminatory regulations rained down on me.
2197Was it then you decided to turn against this idea?
2198Yes. First I studied the literature and saw that girls could start out brilliantly in this field. In the
2199first elementary grade they show similar or better capabilities than boys, and they progress
2200similarly until they take on and play the womanly roles demanded and destined for them by
2201society. These roles later act negatively on the development of their capabilities. For example,
2202the fact that girls are introduced early to house cleaning, washing, and cooking, educated to
2203follow fashion, pay attention to details of clothing, etc., or that they are prepared for life so that
2204they are married as soon as possible, contributes to the formation of these disadvantageous
2205roles. So one expects essentially different things from them than boys. Do not misunderstand, I
2206do not wish to say that women should not take certain feminine roles that are good and
2207necessary. It is important that they are married, are mothers, raise children, etc. But they can
2208also do this together with the husband, and so raise children together, take on familial burdens
2209and advantages together. Maybe men will storm at me for this opinion, but I believe that I must
2210declare it in the interests of societal justice and emancipation.
2211So for you it is evident that girls develop similarly to boys in school, and you concluded from
2212this that women can attain the same results in chess as well, and on the basis of this you
2213created a special strategy.
2214Yes. Its essence is that for women one should create approximately the same psychological and
2215(chess) specialized conditions, and then they will attain the same results as men.
2216I tried to arrange this for my daughters. But I could not solve the problem of others, both chess
2217friends and and society, believing in them. Few tutors were inclined to accept this theory, but
2218there were many who explicitly disapproved of and opposed it.
2219Raise a Genius! - 71
2220What did you base your hopes on? If we look at current competitions, we find a considerably
2221large dif erence between men and women.
2222Current results are not scientifically trustworthy, for as the psychologist Sandor Klein
2223determined, we know only that current adult women are weaker in chess than adult men. But
2224what causes that, whether biological endowments or only education, we cannot determine from
2225the fact itself. Experience proves that in other mental fields like mathematics or language
2226learning, girls keep up with boys one hundred percent during the whole period of school studies,
2227not only in elementary school but also in middle school. The differences appear to be drawn only
2228later. So the facts let us infer in favor of equality.
2229According to Gabriella Rasko, “A great many experiments have been performed throughout the
2230world regarding intelligence, including memory, logic, abstraction and combinatory abilities.
2231The results clearly prove that the average intelligence quotient of women essentially compares to
2232those of comparable populations of men, at least in civilized countries. When evaluating logic
2233tasks separately, the widely disseminated assertion that women’s capability for logic is less
2234worthy is found to be baseless.”
2235Endre Czeizel interprets one of the tendencies of modern genetics thus: “Various research
2236methods have long since proven that, for example, in the area of spoken communication and
2237spacial orientation measureable dif erences between the sexes can be shown. Women’s spoken
2238communication is significantly better than that of men, who for their part have a better
2239capability of spatial orientation. Somewhat humorously, one could say, “Women sacrificed
2240spatial orientation for increased speaking capability.”
2241I nevertheless stand by the opinion that research up to now has only examined completed
2242products: youths and adults, and has not sufficiently explored growing children without
2243discrimination.
2244Moreover, as G. W. Allport, an American socio-psychologist writes, “We have made too much of
2245primary and secondary sexual characteristics, and fluffed up these differences according to the
2246imaginary theory one uses to justify discrimination against women to their disadvantage.”
2247One should also research the genetic results in a population that lacks social differences! In the
2248name of freedom of research, I demand that we cast doubt upon the starting points above, as not
2249necessarily proven. This is why I adopt, as a logical consequence of my system, equal rights for
2250women.
2251Nevertheless, tell us which arguments are still launched currently against women’s equality.
2252For example, the weight difference of the female brain, or that female blood has fewer
2253erythrocytes, etc. According to neurophysiology, these factors do not signify a disadvantage for
2254women. Or that women menstruate, and this hinders them in competition. About this it is my
2255opinion that on the one hand it does not cause difficulty for all women, and on the other that
2256today the timing of menstruation can be altered. (And, among other things, anti-cramping pills
2257Raise a Genius! - 72
2258exist.) The argument is often heard that (alluding to the properties of the female psyche) women
2259are generally attached to old and customary things, that they fear novelty, are not sufficiently
2260courageous, lack initiative, cannot be aggressive, are too mild and weak, are not oriented to
2261completeness or success. But the research of the world-famous scientists Mead, Allport,
2262Maccoby, and others proves and demonstrates that on the contrary these hallmarks of
2263psychological nature are without exception socially determined. And I agree completely with
2264this.
2265If this is so, why do teachers (and mainly the chess association) not hear these facts?
2266Well, this is a more complicated question. This has several causes. First, because the current
2267system is convenient for women themselves, since female chess players can stand among the
2268women’s elite with much less effort, and those who stand there would not willingly give up their
2269positions. This is the reason why the greatest enemies of my daughters can be found among their
2270“own kind,” women: the latter fight them tooth and nail. According to the current women’s
2271world champion, Maya Chiburdanidze, it is not possible for women to achieve the knowledge
2272that men can. And if she considers herself unsuitable for that, she will certainly not say that she
2273knows those - my daughters, for example - who with suitable support might be able to do so.
2274Someone said ironically, “The Hungarian Chess Association is needed to ‘check’ the Polgar
2275girls.”
2276Yes, their “blessings” we have received abundantly. Slander, contempt, discrimination, press
2277campaigns. They also say that we lack patriotic feeling.
2278This is obviously myopic; the Polgar girls often appear on the title pages of the world press
2279beside or even before Boris Becker, Stef i Graf or Italian footballers. Judit Polgar was awarded
2280a chess Oscar, and in my country there has never been a chess Oscar prize even among men.
2281Provincial Hungarian viewpoint!
2282A provincial and selfishly male point of view. One of the main causes of discrimination against
2283us is that men wish to prove their superiority to women on the basis of differences in this field. I
2284do not claim that men and women are equal in current society, but that indeed the cause of this
2285inequality is not biological but social. And I begin the proof for this in a field that serves as the
2286last and greatest argument for “manocrats,” the game of chess. Those who promote the idea of
2287intellectual differences between men and women always end up using chess as an argument. But
2288maybe my daughters’ results will unmask the flimsiness of their arguments.
2289So what is the essence of such great opposition?
2290Modern genetics has already accepted the similarity in IQ of men and women, but it theorizes
2291about the diversity of dispositions between the sexes. This as well I do not believe. This is
2292formed similarly under the effects of societal education; the game of chess is taught to very few
2293Raise a Genius! - 73
2294girls (why?!), and mathematics is also not considered a “sport” for girls. But if female
2295competitors wish to achieve similar results to the chess world champions Karpov and Kasparov,
2296they must learn in similar conditions, and must compete in similar conditions. Anyone who
2297prepares herself to be a mere woman competitor faces different demands from the environment,
2298expects different things of herself, and experiences success and failure in a different way. Female
2299competitors are at a very low level, and if we wish to change this situation, we must make
2300women compete among men, and absolutely only among men.
2301In my experience, whoever competes among men attains better results than someone who plays
2302with both men and women, and of course immeasurably better than someone who enters only
2303among women. This draws the following figure:
2304Female Competitors
2305Who play in women’s Who play in both women’s Who play with women in
2306competitions and men’s competitions similar conditions as men
23071 2 3
2308A mountain analogy: the most direct route to the summit leads up a steep slope.
23092700 2700 2700
23102400 2500
2311Only a winding A winding path combined Only a steep slope
2312path upwards with a steep slope
2313From this viewpoint chess is in no way different from other intellectual areas of study or
2314specialties. In study competitions no one thinks of demanding that someone first prove their
2315worth among girls and only later enter among boys. It would be more than strange if Rozsa
2316Peter, the outstanding Hungarian mathematician could not receive her doctorate in
2317mathematical science if she did not prove that she is the best mathematician among women.
2318Today mathematics competitions are not organized separately for boys and girls, and if someone
2319tried to do this, they would immediately be advised to resign their post. Why then should one
2320separate the sexes in chess?
2321Because we consider chess a sport.
2322Are mathematics competitions not a sport, then? They also have Olympics! And are there
2323separate Nobel prizes for women and men?! Absolutely not! Among intellectual activities it is
2324only chess.
2325Raise a Genius! - 74
2326Do you think that in current circumstances one could end separate competitions for men and
2327women?
2328They should be ended at all levels, because this is the reason women cannot develop further.
2329And because women say, If I am a star at the female level, why become so at the male level? It is
2330very strange that at the conference in Dubai in 1986 a discriminatory rule was voted in according
2331to which a women would not be allowed to play in a “male” team in global competitions in the
2332future. The grandmasters’ advisors are rightly occupied with the plan to petition the
2333International Chess Association to end this kind of discrimination against women, even to
2334initiate the complete end of women’s chess.
2335Did you intend to have your daughters compete with men from the beginning? Did you not
2336fear that this was the kind of level that would lead to failure?
2337I did not fear, because I assumed that men and women have equal capabilities at their disposal. I
2338agree with Janos Selye, “Women can also become eminent scientists.” I started from this, that
2339although it was not yet proven in one sense that women can attain the same results as men, as
2340long as the opposite was not proven, there was no right to exclude women. But up to now my
2341experiment has confirmed only a part of the correctness of my hypothesis, since I have proved
2342only that it is true for this age group. If my daughters do not further prove it in later times, it still
2343does not follow that it is not possible. Errors can hide even in my educational principles. But it
2344greatly hinders my daughters that few believe that they can achieve results. So aside from my
2345methods, there are also external effects, circumstances independent of us, that strongly
2346influence the development of this “match.”
2347Many people consider you a curious bird, even those who feel liking for you, whether in or
2348outside your country. They say, What would happen if the girls also entered in women’s
2349competitions? Even on the worst occasion they would not lose, although they might not seem
2350extravagant. A colleague of mine, a university professor and renowned chess player from
2351Baku, Yasha Abasov, declared, for example: “For a certain time I have also thought that Soviet
2352women’s chess is so superior that it is not worth being occupied seriously with competition.
2353Relatedly, I considered the fact that the Polgar sisters only play against men to be a typical
2354female caprice… But after the Olympics in 1988 we had to revisit everything.”
2355Understand well, the matter is not as simple as that! The personality is a very complicated
2356system. I will give a seemingly unproblematic example: My daughters took part in the Olympics
2357for the first time in 1988, and immediately became champions. What did this result in? They
2358gained more self-confidence, became more famous, narrowed the circle of those who bet against
2359them, they did not need to fear crude discrimination any longer, they received more
2360encouragement, etc., and all this worked well. But they possibly became too self-confident, and
2361experienced success not in a realistic measure, and this had a negative psychological effect: I
2362observed that they played more and worked less. The idea seized them: If we are at the summit,
2363Raise a Genius! - 75
2364why work any more than now? I fear that from the viewpoint of the final goal, the men’s world
2365championship competition, these Olympics worked disadvantageously.
2366I have a provocative question: your younger daughter was awarded an Oscar prize this year.
2367Will you suggest that she accept it, or dissuade her on the basis that it will help in the battle
2368against discrimination against women not to accept a prize for women?
2369Of course I will not dissuade her, for several reasons. On the one hand, I myself helped her to
2370decide to participate in the women’s chess Olympics; on the other hand she has in fact achieved
2371the best result in this global competition. In 1988 as well, she won another competition much
2372harder than the Olympics, she stands at the summit of the women’s global rankings, etc., so she
2373deserves the prize. I am only against discrimination against women.
2374So you are not a militant feminist.
2375Of course not. I have raised my daughters to be true women. I have not only not hindered their
2376feminization, among other things, but on the contrary: I very much expect that their
2377psychosexual development is also normal and healthy. I work towards their being regarded as
2378true, attractive, attention-getting women. I endeavor for them to fulfil suitable so-called
2379“necessary womanly requirements.” Among them I disapprove only those things that could be
2380harmful to their intellectual development.
2381If it were necessary, I could also confirm that the girls are indeed truly joyful, frolicsome, and
2382sympathetic. Friends, specialists, and intimate acquaintances claim the same. The famous
2383female psychologist Judit Meszaros, who lives with you in the same house, said to me, “These
2384girls are charming and womanly. Although they dress a bit more simply than their peers, they
2385are as attractive as them.”
2386And this logically leads me to the idea of love. Love that could lead the girls down new paths.
2387What will happen if “He” shows up? Richard Muenzert, the notable West German psychologist,
2388a supporter of the Polgar family, introduced the theme: “The time will come when these
2389charming and pleasant girls will burden the heads of boys not only with chess combinations;
2390they will also turn their heads.”
2391This is a very important and decisive question, and I myself do not know how to give a definitive
2392answer to it. In any case, I am raising my daughters so they get married, have children, but
2393always remember that they have the kind of life program, and stand on such summits, that they
2394should not give it up. I hope that they will have two loves, their careers and the ones they care
2395for. And that they “cheat” neither of those. Furthermore, they are also responsible for one
2396another. They form such a strong team now that they should preserve it; they must, if necessary,
2397also sacrifice, principally if they are recompensed with joy. I hope that they will also solve this
2398great task of life well. A good example of this for them is the Curie couple. One thing is certain:
2399Raise a Genius! - 76
2400getting married in itself has risks, but one must also accept risks. But this belongs to the second
2401and third acts of the psychological-pedagogical experiment.
2402But how does it relate to those concerned that they are flag-bearers for the emancipation of
2403women?
2404Ask them!
2405I have already asked all three. Zsuzsa answered reasonably that this is an emotional feeling;
2406she often thinks about the idea and she is proud that she competes at the chess board also for
2407equal rights for women. Zsofi answered flippantly, “Of course we willingly participate in the
2408experiment, and happily we prove - if we win (and we like winning) - the skillfulness of the
2409female sex.” Judit, the youngest, had the shortest answer: “I don’t care about that.”
2410Raise a Genius! - 77
2411IV. The Meaning of the Whole Thing
24121. The family as a value
2413“Do not spit in a well, for it may happen that, thirsty, you may come to drink from it.” - I. A.
2414Krilov
2415“Other people are among the most elementary needs of the person.” - K. Marx
2416“It is not possible to find a substitute as good as a good father.” - V. A. Sukhomlinsky
2417Many consider the most important result not the achievements of your daughters, but the
2418familial ethos in which you live. “In this family,” writes the West German Reinhard Muenzert,
2419“harmony and love reign. This is possibly the greatest success of the Polgars.” Do you agree?
2420Of course it gladdens me to hear that even foreigners observe what we hold together and kindle
2421internally. Which one considers the greatest result depends on the viewpoint. I would choose the
2422happiness of our family. “Harmony and love reigning” in our home, although important, is not
2423the only factor in our happiness. I can declare one thing with definite certainty: without a good
2424family background and loving family relationships my daughters’ successes would never have
2425happened.
2426I can imagine that you stood with a fully elaborated family model even before the of icial
2427registered your marriage.
2428Yes, of course. I planned our life in my imagination. I thought that everyone must do this.
2429Considered communication beforehand is a precondition for a healthy marriage. It is important
2430that both adults clarify for themselves whether they want to entirely live in a marriage, and if
2431yes, what they expect from it. Who will have which function in it? Later they should endeavor to
2432manager their lives so that they in fact follow this mutual agreement or - for the happiness of
2433both - they should change it together.
2434I do not think that spouses inevitably become strangers to one another after several years; I even
2435confess the opposite: with the passing of time they can keep loving each other more. Reciprocity
2436in work done for the partner, the place of mutual life experience, raising children, good habits,
2437etc., all contribute to this. Although it is fashionable nowadays to tire of one’s partner as early as
2438possible, to emphasize the unfavorable aspects of marriage and the disadvantages of mutual
2439compromise. I think that one should not make too much of mistakes, and one should look for
2440that which is pleasing in one’s partner. This is not too difficult, as the good side of a person is
2441generally stronger than the bad side. A basic need of children is to feel secure, but they will
2442hardly receive this in a family where one conflict follows another. One should try to make
2443quarrels mild and rare. In our home the principle applies that we should end the day only in love
2444and peace. Naturally I do not wish to say about this that if the situation becomes very bad one
2445Raise a Genius! - 78
2446should not divorce; this would possibly even be good for the children just in interrupting a life
2447lived together burdened with conflict.
2448The success of genius education would indeed be doubtful in either case. What, in your opinion,
2449would a healthy family model be like?
2450I think that two people link themselves together by marriage so that both their lives become
2451more complete (and diverse) and happier. On the other hand, in order to have children, at least
2452three if possible, to whom they give everything necessary to also become happy. We planned for
2453six children, but circumstances prevented us. One should not consider raising children to be a
2454necessary evil, make it instead joyful and creative.
2455But it should also be specialist work!
2456It can also be specialist work, but preferably a calling, or an additional calling. Obviously not
2457everyone can leave their job and stay at home to raise children, but it would be desirable for one
2458of the parents to do so. I consider it totally possible for men to stay at home and raise children.
2459One thing is certain: education also needs much more educated parents. One should devote
2460more time to the children. I propose that the state should establish, alongside marriage
2461counseling, “parent counseling,” and even child-raising classes for parents.
2462What do you think about open marriage?
2463I am not a convert. I even think it dangerous. Naturally I have nothing against it in theory, if one
2464can achieve a normal education for the children. In these kinds of cases, both adults organize
2465their lives as they please. If they can arrange them so they are also good for the children, then I
2466say: OK! If not, then it is irresponsible.
2467The danger is hidden in this, that open marriage often lends a sporting character to human
2468relationships, and the sex life - in my opinion - is not appropriate for sport. If these relations are
2469without emotions, I disapprove of them, and if they are based on love, they have another risk,
2470that the feelings of the two partners will cool at different times; one still loves while the other
2471does no longer, and this emotional “winter” hurts the one who still loves. I do not believe that
2472anyone has the right to cause hurt, often very bitter hurt, to their partner, and eventually
2473provoking by this even suicide.
2474But let us speak of the conditions for specialist education! I do not believe that someone can do
2475careful and outstanding work, if they often change partners. Think of a scientist who sits in a
2476library in the morning, and maybe stays there until evening. I did this for a long time. When I
2477went home, I continued the work. So I ask how one can do with with changing partners? And
2478mainly, it is not irrelevant - let us return to education - whether I love the women with whom I
2479have children, and whether she loves me! It is not irrelevant whether we together love the
2480children. Finally, it is not irrelevant what the child sees in the home.
2481Raise a Genius! - 79
2482Do geniuses need siblings?
2483Yes, a good brother or sister is of great value, but who becomes a good sibling depends a great
2484deal on the parents and the education. But a good friend is more valuable than a bad sibling. I
2485am very happy that our children our good sisters, good friends, good colleagues, and they love
2486each other very much. And this is a matter of education: one must establish a healthy
2487competition among them, but to raise them to help each other at the same time. Many believe
2488that human contacts become better on their own. However, one must always be doing
2489something for them, to improve them unceasingly, to form these contacts. This demands much
2490energy, but it certainly pays.
2491They say that someone who has three children is a hero in current circumstances.
2492I do not accept this qualification. I have observed that in many families that have three children,
2493life generally flows very peacefully, the parents are more balanced and the children develop
2494normally. Their experience is that they can always count on one another.
2495Are three children not too much of a burden?
2496It is difficult to answer this. If the problem of lodging is solved, it is not too much trouble in a
2497family of a medium financial level. For example, I have never dressed fashionably. And I have
2498raised the children to prefer clean, sporty, simple clothing. Similarly I do not much care about
2499cuisine. One must learn to rationally manage money. And one should teach the children about
2500this independent of whether one lives richly or poorly.
2501Did you spend time preparing yourself for fatherhood?
2502Of course. Before marriage. Before planning this experiment, I read through a long series of
2503specialist books on fatherhood. And I had to set myself to this “work” emotionally as well.
2504How much should parents intervene in the future of their children? Should they influence the
2505choice of profession, partner or politics?
2506Let us begin with the choice of profession. I will speak only about parents who seriously
2507endeavor to smooth the way for their children. Among them there are two types. Some say that a
2508child should be many-faceted, “taste” everything, and in adulthood or close to it they should
2509decide for themselves what they will do. I can also understand this standpoint. However, if the
2510parents wish the children to achieve genius results, then - in my opinion - the parents’ decision
2511should not be put off, and one should decide the direction of their specialization even in infancy.
2512Raise a Genius! - 80
2513But is the knowledge and capability of the parents suf icient to guide a child along the chosen
2514route? What will happen if by some tragic event they can no longer help.
2515Let us examine the first question to start. Are parents capable of the task or not? I believe that if
2516they are decisive and have a suitable viewpoint, and are also in the habit of reading some of the
2517literature, and are not ashamed to ask help from others, they are definitely capable of this kind
2518of work.
2519In the other matter: if an unfortunate accident intervenes. This can happen. But if something
2520intervenes, the people involved do not even then lose much more than if they had been traveling
2521a different road. A child can become a good specialist, a good teacher, a good economist, etc.,
2522without being a genius. Even if one raises a child from a different viewpoint and with different
2523methods, a tragic event could still intervene, could it not?
2524Both ways of instruction, multi-faceted and specialist, can create healthy, happy children, and a
2525good family ethos. But one must consciously choose either system, and implement it
2526consciously. Freedom of education is as much a fundamental human right whether one educates
2527by my method or some other.
2528Let us switch to the choice of life partner. What role do parents have here?
2529Two extreme tendencies are drawn out in history. One extremes is when parents themselve
2530choose a life companion for their child. The other extreme, to which by my belief we have now
2531swung, is what we now experience, when parents are almost completely excluded from the
2532choice of partner. In my opinion the ideal would be a combination of the two tendencies, some
2533kind of middle way, where the parents’ opinion is also important, so the children also hear their
2534opinion. This is important, because it surely can be supposed that parents wish good for their
2535child, and they are more experienced, and they are not blinded by feelings (young love), so they
2536can decide and anticipate more objectively. Further, as it applies to a healthy family, then to a
2537certain degree, directly or indirectly, the generations will live together and work together to raise
2538the following generation.
2539Thus in my opinion a good decision is made communally, of course the young people should
2540have the last word.
2541Should the parents have the right to a veto in your conception?
2542This is about independent adults, so here a veto should not exist. Today parents have only
2543practically a 5-10% “vote.” In my opinion 40% would be more ideal, and the young people could
2544still decide 60%, so in the end they would choose. In our case 50% was parental influence and
254550% our own decision. I am very happy that I obeyed my mother, because I have a wonderful
2546marriage. If I had married the woman I originally wished to, my educational experiment and
2547happy marriage would have dissolved away.
2548Raise a Genius! - 81
2549How much can the family influence a child’s choice of faction, or the development of
2550worldview, world conception, or political orientation?
2551I always smile to myself when someone says: now I am raising the child to be a believer (or an
2552atheist), and later in adulthood they should choose their world view for themselves. It is indeed
2553decisive what kinds of influences reach a child in their family, what kind of example they see, in
2554which direction they are raised - not only in what subject, but in what world view. I consider it a
2555completely natural matter that parents will hand down their own world view: for indeed they
2556can give nothing else. It is therefore absurd if someone - being religious - says to their child: you
2557should be an atheist.
2558At the same time I believe that one should hand down in childhood fundamental moral values,
2559which are generally human, so one does not need to restrict them, in the traditional sense, to any
2560particular world view or political party.
2561What role does the family and parents have in preparing the child for a life of sport?
2562Sport is one of the best educational methods that parents have, because they hardly have to
2563make an effort; in almost every child there is a desire to move, to actively compete. At the same
2564time the practice of sports makes one used to observing certain rules, and contributes to right
2565conduct, a regulated way of life, and discipline. Plus it is very useful if the members of the family
2566play sports together, if they do anything together. If the family plays sports, they pass more time
2567together, and this is incomparably beneficial. But if this is not possible, the child should visit a
2568club, and train for one or two hours a day, even if they do not want to become an athlete. But if
2569they want to become a competitor, then it is obvious that the parents and tutors should have a
2570plan and follow it.
2571In Hungary, people still have reservations about experiments (not only in chess, but in other
2572areas as well) in which the parents are partly or completely tutors for their children. There is
2573the Batorfi family (table tennis players), Temesvari (tennis), and Mizser (pentathlon). But you
2574are the first where an independent family “enterprise” has been formed.
2575The official institutions completely disapproved of this enterprise then, and even now they do
2576not appreciate it on its merits. The attitude of the press is also strange. When the Capital Council
2577gave my wife and me a medal “For the Sport of Budapest,” some “competent” journalist
2578indignantly and demagogically wrote that other parents also deserved it, because other parents
2579also care for their children. He is definitely right about the latter. But he forgot to add that we
2580are different from other parents in that we, forsaking our jobs, through long years of 15-hour
2581days - directly or indirectly - made a huge effort for the development of our daughters in the area
2582of chess. We bought neither a summer cottage nor a car, nor anything like that; we only paid for
2583tutors and a chess library. Sometimes we slept only a few hours in two days, because we were
2584preparing a sample from 200,000 matches for our children. We studied the literature nightly.
2585We had to fight for the possibility of our daughters’ development in extraordinary ways. This
2586article appeared in the beginning of February 1989 in the magazine Esti Hirlap. I will not name
2587Raise a Genius! - 82
2588the journalist, as I agree with the author Gabor Goda: “Debate means raising the other - despite
2589the difference in viewpoints - to a certain spiritual rank. Take good care with whom you begin a
2590debate, lest you raise a bunch of meritless people to a spiritual rank!”
2591The press and sports organizers also do not like parents to follow the sports careers of their
2592children with special care. Ironically, they call these “hockey moms” or “tennis dads.” Some of
2593the mass media even now treats these kinds of parents dismissively.
2594This kind of conduct is damaging because it causes a child’s trust in their parents to falter. It is
2595easy indeed to make children uncertain. On the other hand this kind of rough influence can
2596awaken family conflicts, which could be “avoided.” I support the family in relation to this also.
2597One must protect and shelter peace and respect in the family.
2598Another question: who wears the hat in your family?
2599In general my wife does the housework, but when she accompanies one of the girls out of the
2600country - and this happens often - I take care of the household. But during our marriage she has
2601been able to continue her education: she learned languages (she speaks 7 or 8), acquired three
2602degrees, traveled throughout the whole world, and practiced languages, collected a great deal of
2603knowledge, saw many beautiful things in nature, architecture, and museums, so her life has been
2604full, despite fulfilling “womanly” tasks at the same time.
2605In addition, she participates in the pedagogical experiment, in which she also works together
2606creatively, because we do and are a little communal pedagogical group experiment. I wanted to
2607have the housework or part of it done by someone else, if our material circumstances enabled
2608this, because then she could better dedicate herself to her specialty, her profession, but during
2609our work together for the development of our daughters’ capabilities she was practically in a
2610somewhat disadvantageous situation. But my family structure would be against my principles if
2611she only cared for the household or the uncreative part of child raising.
2612From the tone of your discussion I feel that you have a crisis of conscience.
2613I myself also confess the clarification from the ancient Jewish literature, according to which the
2614command of Holy Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” does not apply to your father,
2615your mother, your children or your wife; you must love them more than you love yourself. I
2616sincerely confess that I have a bit of a crisis of conscience, but I do not accept the opinion that I
2617am realizing an orthodox family model.
2618What do you think about your wife?
2619I believe that our results are a product of our common activity. But rather ask her!
2620Raise a Genius! - 83
2621An example from Mrs. Klara Polgar: A thread goes where the needle pulls it
2622I have already spent several days with you, Mrs. Polgar, and I see that you spend the whole
2623day working silently and intensely. The house shines with order, dinner is ready on time, and I
2624can assert with a clean conscience that it tastes good. Was this kind of work destined for you?
2625Yes and no. At the center of my life, along with my family, is chess. I do everything that
2626contributes to the preparation of my daughters. The world revolves around them, and I believe I
2627have the task of being their manager. If they need textbooks, I bring them; if they need
2628translations, I do them; I correspond with foreigners; if necessary I drive the girls; sometimes I
2629give interviews; other times I clean the house. I make dinner and wash the clothes. So I believe
2630that I have so vast a “repertoire” that in the end I am not bored. If there were only housework for
2631me I would surely find it boring.
2632If I could compare your family to a great tree, your husband would be the roots and the thick
2633part of the trunk, and you would be the triple top of the trunk that supports and links together
2634the three bright, healthy child branches with the trunk. Do I have a good view of this?
2635The initiator of the big idea was Laszlo, but I have always participated in its implementation.
2636Tireless work from both of us is necessary for the girls to achieve success. But instead of the
2637comparison with the trunk and roots, I prefer quoting the proverb, “A thread goes where the
2638needle pulls it.” The thread is me. He thinks of things, and I try to implement them in practice,
2639as I am able.
2640If you like, consider my next question a provocation. You are participating in an experiment
2641one of whose goals is is to prove that there is equality between men and women, at least
2642regarding the intellect. In your family - as you have said - one fulfils the function of the needle
2643and the other that of the thread, so it follows that nevertheless there are dif erences between
2644men and women.
2645An occasional visitor might be inclined to believe that in our home the physical work is separate
2646from the mental, and that mental work belongs to Laszlo and everything else to me. But in fact
2647the matter is otherwise, because I very often drive to chess competitions with Zsuzsa, Judit or
2648Zsofia, and then Laszlo stays by the hearth and does all the tasks at home. But of course there is
2649also a certain level of “discrimination” with us, as there unfortunately is in every family. The
2650time is still far off when this kind of discrimination will cease. Of course ideals always diverge
2651from reality, because the latter also depends on the given conditions, and the conditions still do
2652not enable the full implementation of the ideals.
2653Raise a Genius! - 84
2654Did you plan your pedagogical program together?
2655In fact, it was Laszlo’s dream. When I first met him, in 1965 in Budapest, I only listened and
2656listened to him. Sometimes I had the feeling that he was a fantasist who was full of ideas one
2657could only half believe. I went home with the thought that I had made the acquaintance of a very
2658interesting person, but I did not believe that I could ever become his wife.
2659Afterwards we corresponded a great deal. It is unfortunate that these letters were not preserved,
2660because we sent each other wonderful letters. At the start they were not much about love; we
2661exchanged opinions about pedagogical ideas.
2662Do you remember anything you did not believe about him?
2663I did not believe that in 24 hours one could get through as many matters as - according to him -
2664were bottled up in him… Where to start? He said that he had been occupied by psychology,
2665pedagogy, philosophy, and art, that mathematics also interested him, and as well he was an
2666educator, a teacher, took part in the youth movement, visited libraries, swam, etc. He listed so
2667many things that I did not believe him. Time passed, and we corresponded…
2668And his pedagogical concepts?
2669At first I doubted that one could begin serious work with children so early. Zsuzsa was three and
2670a half when he began her specialization.
2671What did you think about at first, when you began the experiment?
2672We knew that we wanted to manifest something significant in the children, but at first it was not
2673totally clear which specialist field we would choose. Zsuzsa progressed very well in mathematics.
2674She had already learned all the material from the first four grades by the age of four. Then she
2675saw some chess pieces by chance, which was later shown to be a “happy accident.” She found a
2676chess set in a drawer and began to play with it. At that time Laszlo was often with her, and one
2677fine day coming from work I saw that they were playing chess. I was very surprised.
2678So the beginning was an accident. Not a planned choice?
2679Speaking for myself it was not planned for the child to become a chess player. Zsuzsa first
2680learned Russian in a Russian kindergarten, then German, and chess followed, which was a new
2681game for her, and which she seemed to find very interesting.
2682Did Laszlo know how to play chess?
2683He knew how and loved to play; I remember that one time he asked me to play with him, but I
2684did not even know the moves. I said that it was very boring for me, and did not interest me.
2685Raise a Genius! - 85
2686Unfortunately this was the truth, but when Zsuzsa began playing chess I was ashamed that a
2687child was capable of mastering something that I still did not know how to play.
2688Aside from this accident, what motivated staying with chess?
2689We could have chosen something else; we could have continued the mathematics or foreign
2690languages; nevertheless we decided on chess - in my opinion because we felt that Zsuzsa was
2691very happy at the chessboard. And because this was the first success, and we thought: if
2692someone wins on 64 squares, that is already proof. Although the grandparents and neighbors
2693often shook their heads: a girl at the chessboard? What a thing!
2694So many found the choice strange. Obviously it is not an accident that in public opinion this
2695kind of activity makes children’s lives joyless and unhappy. Did you hear those kinds of
2696opinions?
2697Unfortunately we had to face them. It is true that chess is not traditionally a children’s game.
2698People don’t hear about girls playing chess; people think it is a game for boys. Many asked me:
2699what kind of mother are you? Why do you let your husband play chess with Zsuzsa? I had to
2700struggle with myself, and had to reconsider if I was doing this well and rightly, if I agreed. But
2701looking back to the past, I now believe that my motherly “greatness” really consisted in letting us
2702follow this road.
2703You are best able to answer: are the children closed up in themselves, turned away from the
2704world, or do they truly live happily?
2705I believe that my daughters live at least as happily as any of their peers. But I might claim that
2706they live even more happily. In my opinion they are balanced and have very rich internal lives.
2707Many doubt that they had and have real childhoods. I feel that they have not only real
2708childhoods, but also those that prepare them for all of life and are foundational for their
2709happiness. A person is truly happy when they do what they are willingly occupied with. They
2710have found themselves, and are also respected for it. They have been doing from infancy things
2711that are close to them, about which they are self-confident, and doing which they feel good about
2712themselves.
2713Were there any methods during the girls’ educations that you threw out or modified or
2714changed?
2715I would not speak the complete truth if I claimed that we raised all three in the same way. But of
2716effort, love, care, and provision we gave the same level; indeed we loved all of them equally
2717strongly. Of course circumstances differed with Zsuzsa, Zsofi and Judit. I gave the most
2718languages to Zsuzsa. Unfortunately I made an error with Zsofi. She was not diligent enough, and
2719Raise a Genius! - 86
2720maybe also for lack of time left language lessons behind, although both Zsofi and Judit learned
2721English and Russian and basic Esperanto.
2722How many languages do you speak?
2723I have assimilated 7-8 languages: I am a teacher of Russian, German and Esperanto, and I know
2724English and Ukrainian, and I know a bit of Bulgarian and Spanish.
2725Are the children healthy?
2726Yes, luckily. Aside from colds, (and sometimes ear infections for Zsuzsa), they are never sick.
2727Do you have, or have you had, an ideal for families? Have you succeeded in realizing it?
2728I always wanted to live a beautiful, peaceful family life, and to make my children good, honest
2729people, who achieved at a high level. I believe that we have accomplished this. As a mother and a
2730wife I am very happy and balanced. I believe that if reciprocal love and respect reigns in a family,
2731one has what is most important.
2732What do you think about open marriage?
2733I condemn it. In this area I am conservative; I insist on the traditional role of the family. In the
2734current uncertain world this small community is maybe the only refuge where one can feel
2735oneself truly well, where one is completely free. I believe that I also need it very much.
2736Have you raised your daughters in a religious spirit?
2737No, completely not.
2738Are you also not religious?
2739No. My parents were not as well, and I was also educated thus. I do not need religion.
2740Have you taught your daughters about so-called women’s roles? For example, do they know
2741how to cook as well as you?
2742If they are capable of solving extraordinarily serious chess problems, which demand a great deal
2743of energy, inventiveness and skill, why could they not also master cooking, if necessary? They
2744have certainly learned, but at this time I do not tire them with this kind of work. And I did not
2745know how to cook when I was married.
2746Raise a Genius! - 87
2747What plans or ambitions do you have?
2748Plans, dreams? I want to continue what we have begun, for the girls to achieve a higher level,
2749and my work certainly contributes to that. Of course as a mother I want them to marry, have
2750children, make me a happy grandmother, and enjoy the fruits of my labor as a pensioner.
2751You wanted to raise geniuses. Have the girls really become so? Do you also think your husband
2752is a genius?
2753I think he is the greatest genius. In our family there is no lack of genius, but he is most truly so.
2754It is his idea that we are implementing. When I first told a journalist that he was a genius, he
2755marveled and did not believe me. That the girls have become so is owed to very serious,
2756stressful, balanced, responsible work, which has been and is being implemented under his
2757guidance.
2758Moreover, in this matter Klara Kasparova (the wife of the world champion) said: “... Without
2759clenching one’s teeth, without visible and lasting work, it is not possible to achieve the end goal.
2760For us the idea of ‘tranquil’ does not exist. From the age of 9 [for Gary] not even a day passes
2761without serious intentional work. We are constantly working. It is very difficult to reach the
2762summit.” (From the work of Reinhard Muenzert: Die Familie Polgar und ihre Bedeutung für die
2763Anlage-Umwelt-Kontroverse-Deutsche Schachblätter. 1989 pp. 32-35).
2764How do you see yourself?
2765I believe that I am an adaptable type. I have adapted to this great idea. I have submitted myself
2766to chess, and this adaptation is my “genius.”
2767And if Laszlo establishes a school, to educate exceptionally capable children?
2768I will also take part in the work. I would teach languages, and endeavor to help with everything
2769so the school would function well.
2770Raise a Genius! - 88
27712. In the minority
2772“Learning is a Jewish sport.” - Saying
2773“What do Jews learn better than non-Jews? How to hate and persecute Jews.” - The Talmud
2774“I cannot be a Jew to the bones, the less I can completely not be a Jew.” - G. E. Lessing
2775It seems to me that your Jewishness is something other than a simple link link to a community.
2776It is at the same time an important source of your pedagogical concept. Is my opinion correct?
2777Yes. The consciousness of my identity undoubtedly attached me from birth to the Jewish
2778community; I am primarily in this sense attached to the Jewish people. One of the veins of my
2779pedagogical system incontestably originates there, but the analysis of my state of existence also
2780hides philosophical relationships.
2781It is generally known that Jews have achieved outstanding results in the field of mental
2782activities. This poses the theoretical question: does this have a biological genetic cause, or is this
2783socially determined?
2784The fact is that today a newborn baby, being Jewish, has a much greater chance, by the
2785statistics of Nobel prizes, at this prize, than if they are born in a non-Jewish family. This seems
2786to many to be genetically determined.
2787I have a completely different opinion. I conclude that social “heredity” and the response to one’s
2788own Jewishness causes this phenomenon. I accept - this is indeed a fact - what Endre Czeizel
2789also mentioned on Hungarian Radio (1989-05-23), that the proportion of Jews among Nobel
2790prize-winners is 30%..., and if one is born Jewish, they have a hundred times greater chance of a
2791Nobel prize than an average non-Jew. And most of the Hungarian Nobel prize-winners were
2792Jews. Among chess world champions their proportion reaches - to my knowledge - more than
279350%: Lasker, Steinitz, Tal, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kasparov and Fischer are half Jewish. However,
2794I claim that this is also socially determined.
2795More precisely?
2796To mention a few factors: The first essential point is that Jewish families - partly because of
2797strong traditions - are relatively stable, and they are always very concerned with education.
2798Another reason comes from the minority status of Jews and from the frequent persecutions
2799throughout their history. How do these factors contribute to the development of the mind? From
2800a negative side in this way, that because of the always disadvantageous situation of the Jews they
2801always had to appear in almost everything doubly more capable than others. Because of the
2802frequent persecution they knew that at any time they might have to leave their homes, dwellings,
2803and even homelands, and begin lives elsewhere. So what is fixed in Jewish tradition? “Learn, my
2804son, because (1) only thus can you succeed in life, and (2) if you must flee, no one can take
2805Raise a Genius! - 89
2806knowledge away from you, so you can take it with you anywhere.” Jews could not take their
2807houses with them, so they customarily preferred to buy no houses or unportable things, but gold
2808and diamonds and trinkets, so that during persecutions they could pocket them and run away.
2809And their knowledge bore fruit everywhere.
2810On the other hand, Jews are always on the periphery, and this awakens stresses in them; they
2811become “eternal adolescents.” Adolescents do not know whether they are children or adults, and
2812their uncertainty comes from this. Similarly, Jews most often do not know to what degree they
2813are - for example - Hungarian, or Jewish, or both. This situation is difficult to clarify to
2814themselves. Because of it they constantly live with internal conflict. This makes them develop
2815with open minds, a habit of problem-solving, and also develops their adaptability. (This can also
2816cause certain negative qualities, for example over-sensitivity, loudness, aggression, extremism,
2817being critical of oneself and others, a very strong ambition for accomplishments, over-driven
2818activity, etc.)
2819If these traits are a constant of history, do they not become hereditary?
2820No. Mental capabilities or acquired qualities of a person are not hereditary. I accept, of course,
2821that certain diseases are more frequent in this or other peoples. But the causes of disease should
2822be searched for primarily in the life circumstances and way of life. Thus there exist, for example,
2823typical Jewish diseases. But mental traits are unambiguously socially determined.
2824So in your opinion, with regard to intellectual gifts and moral traits every people is equal in
2825potential?
2826At birth every person is equal. After birth a person takes on so-called ethnic-psychological
2827characteristics, adapting to cultural traditions and educational demands. This means that
2828throughout history the so-called Jewish qualities are always changing. For a long time people
2829have falsely accused Jews of not being capable of creative physical work, of always being
2830cowardly, which, even if partly true, followed from the education and imposition of the
2831environment. But today one cannot find these qualities in the Jews living in Israel or elsewhere.
2832Today the soldiers of the Israeli army are the best warriors in the world; Mossad is one of the
2833most effective secret services in the world. The Jewish settlers also surprised the world with
2834their oases growing from the desert of the Holy Land. So today it is no longer valid to say they
2835are only occupied with mental work.
2836What characterizes the Jewish pedagogical tradition?
2837The Jewish religion stipulates that parents should teach their children from early childhood. The
2838Talmud stipulates that parents should be the first teachers of a child, because they are
2839emotionally close to and love them. It is important that a child senses what a parent expects of
2840them; this strongly influences the level of their needs, and later also that of their
2841accomplishments. In a Jewish family children are raised to love knowledge, like books, and
2842Raise a Genius! - 90
2843respect each other. One does not begrudge material sacrifices for the development of a child’s
2844capabilities. One is brave enough to challenge them early and teach them intensively.
2845How much did your Jewishness contribute to the development of your system? Did you
2846consider the tasks prescribed in the Jewish literature as personal duties, and teach your
2847daughters because of that?
2848Probably not. I accepted those stipulations, because I found them to be well-founded and
2849rational. Of course my family had something in common with my system, because my parents
2850were already quite occupied with me in kindergarten. They taught me much, for example,
2851translating from Hebrew to Hungarian and similar things. My great-grandfather was a
2852pedagogue and taught languages in his school in intensive form to 4-5-year-olds. All of his
2853students became exceptionally talented people. For example, the world-famous author, poet,
2854and translator Jozsef Patai attended his school. In one of his works he remembers my
2855great-grandfather with pleasant feelings.
2856What does Jewishness mean to your family. A religion, a culture, an identity, an ethnicity, or
2857pedagogy?
2858Pedagogy definitely, this is certain. In a larger sense I accept my Jewishness as an ethnicity, in
2859the same way as my Hungarian-ness. Of course I have been affected by good Hungarian culture,
2860and good Jewish culture, and good European culture in general.
2861Jews can feel in their own flesh what it means if people act toward them like Nazis or
2862chauvinists. So Jews endeavor to cast away all prejudice, and represent equal rights and equality
2863for all people. Not understanding this, people often accuse them of cosmopolitanism.
2864Or of being world citizens?
2865I confess sincerely that I accept even this. Although I am a Jew and a Hungarian, in practice I
2866primarily respect in a person human values and not nationality. I also accept being citizens of
2867the world. I consider both Hungary and the Earth my homeland. I say the same thing as Bela
2868Bartok: we must assimilate only good and valuable culture, whatever nation it belongs to…
2869What still links you to the Jewish people?
2870That 600,000 Hungarian and 6 million European Jews were exterminated in the Second World
2871War, so I wish to be a living memorial. And another matter still: I am a Jew not because I accept
2872it, I would also be a Jew if I did not accept it, because the fact that others consider me a Jew
2873inevitably determines my situation.
2874Raise a Genius! - 91
2875What does Jewishness mean in your life from the viewpoint of a religious world view?
2876I was born into a religious Jewish family. My father is still a Jewish believer. After my parents’
2877divorce, my stepfather was the chief rabbi of the city of Gyongyos, and a teacher of the Talmud
2878in a rabbinical seminary. Until around the age of 13 I was not very religious; at 12-13 I led youth
2879religious services. I prepared several children for their “Bar-Mitzvah,” the initiation rite into
2880manhood. But at the age of 14 I encountered a teacher of biology and physiology who guided me
2881to materialism. Primarily he guided me to freedom from the Jewish high school and orphanage,
2882and now I am an atheist.
2883For a Jew there are two possibilities: assimilation or integration. At that time I drifted
2884unequivocally toward assimilation. I felt that I had almost nothing in common with the Jewish
2885people. I grew up primarily in Hungarian culture, and I believed that I could assimilate. But
2886experience made me recognize very early that Hungarian anti-Semitism (more precisely: not
2887Hungarian anti-Semitism in general, but that of some Hungarians) would not allow that. At 23 I
2888recognized that the road of assimilation was in practice not possible. Because of the lack of
2889acceptance of society. Because of the definite condemnation of Jewishness by non-Jews. Now it
2890is my opinion that the task is to integrate. Integrate, in other words, to conform in such a way
2891that we openly accept our Jewishness.
2892Do you still experience unpleasantness because of your Jewishness? Do you encounter
2893anti-Semitism nowadays?
2894I have experienced a great deal of unpleasantness both in childhood (and my parents as well),
2895and as an adult; even now it is abundant. We often receive foul, hateful letters and telephone
2896calls, for example, “Disappear from here, your place is in Auschwitz,” and the like.
2897What do you see as the cause of the still living and loud anti-Semitism?
2898There has always been anti-Semitism in Hungary, but now, partly because of the stresses that
2899accumulated during the dictatorship, partly because of the economic difficulties, its voice is
2900becoming louder. In an unfavorable economic situation people usually look for a scapegoat, and
2901they find one most often in Jews. In addition, people see that some Jews are spiritually and
2902materially rich, and this evokes more hatred.
2903What can be done to counter anti-Semitism?
2904Anti-Semitism fears only opposition. Only organization and organizations can fight against it. I
2905have never understood those Jews who are ashamed of their Jewishness, and are self-hating or
2906hurtful to other Jews, to prove to those around that they have nothing in common with such
2907things. If someone strikes another person, and that one does not strike back, later they will
2908regularly and even for pleasure beat them. But if the one does fight back, the other will think
2909twice the next time, whether to strike.
2910Raise a Genius! - 92
2911It is my firm conviction that only groups or organizations (Jewish organizations among them)
2912can successfully fight against anti-Semitism, and for that reason I find it the foundation of
2913democratic Jewish associations in Hungary very praiseworthy. In addition, it is psychologically
2914beneficial that Jews can live and in fact experience group life in these associations, because this
2915“filters” or dulls anti-Semitism to some degree. It is advantageous if a group restrains the
2916unfavorable effects, so an individual need not suffer them alone. In this way stress is lessened,
2917and commonality gives strength, initiative, and support. Jewish organizations are needed which
2918take upon themselves the responsibility to fight against anti-Semitism. Without this how could
2919we expect non-Jewish organizations and their members to fight against it?
2920Of course, one should not make too much of anti-Semitism, but in my opinion it is as much an
2921error to trivialize it. We should think of Jews unfortunately marching to Auschwitz,
2922underestimating the significance of being forced there, believing that they were only going to
2923suffer at hard labor while the war lasted…
2924In you opinion, is it possible to fight against prejudice by means of information?
2925Mere information and debate cannot successfully fight against anti-Semitism and prejudice.
2926However: one must speak about it often, openly and honestly. If besides debate various
2927well-intentioned social effects are strengthened, then it is to be expected that anti-Semitism will
2928retreat. For this a long time and patient, persistent work are needed. Looking at the whole
2929world, I am also optimistic about this question.
2930Raise a Genius! - 93
29313. Chief witness for genius education: the happy children
2932“A person is happy if they have work and are able to love.” S. Freud
2933“There does not exist such a modest happiness that it can avoid the teeth of malice.” - V.
2934Maximus
2935“A person lives to be happy and pass on that happiness to others.” - A. V. Lunacharsky
2936It is my experience that everyday people would be uncertain if you said to them, “You as well
2937can raise a genius.” They observe from afar, but in general do not let that thought near, which
2938they find bizarre. They fear it a little. I have asked several young people if they would raise
2939geniuses. They answered: if they could know that the child would be happy, maybe yes, but if
2940there were no guarantee of that, and the risk were too great, then no.
2941I believe that that answer is permissible and sympathetic - I also hesitated. The future of our
2942children is on my heart, and my chief aspiration is to make them happy. But is not enough to
2943merely desire the happiness of our children; we must create and develop in them the capability
2944to be happy. Many ways lead to happiness, although not all with the same certainty, but among
2945them the most certain and guaranteed is - in my opinion - that of genius education. Because of
2946this I chose that way.
2947According to contemporary opinion, the contrary is true, that is, that the life of a genius is
2948dif icult: it is more dangerous to follow that way than a traditional, average way of life.
2949Again a wrong opinion. It is incontestable that a genius’s future can also be difficult, but that
2950does not mean that a difficult human life cannot be happy, and it mainly does not mean that
2951people with easy lives are happier. Among non-geniuses, there are proportionally more unhappy
2952people, like alcoholics, drug addicts, lonely, neurotic, irritable, monotonous, aimless people, etc.
2953Even if I accept this claim, it does not follow from it that geniuses will arrive at happiness. One
2954reads of many cases in newspapers where, for example, an Olympic champion leaves their
2955sport and declares that they will never take an oar in their hand again, or stand at the tennis
2956table, or leap into the water, etc. They have become weary, cheated of their hopes, over-sated.
2957I do not doubt that there are bits of truth in those stories. People can also be found who are
2958bored of their present occupations. There are those who are fed up and who make sudden
2959unthinking declarations. But we should not judge too quickly, or derive theoretical conclusions
2960from those stories.
2961Firstly, sports journalists are thirsty for sensational stories, and blow everything out of
2962proportion; they make unthinking declarations seem like definitive decisions. Secondly, I am
2963acquainted with many athletes who, after leaving the sport, continue their activity in the same
2964field as trainers, club leaders, referees, or managers. Finally, why is it bad if someone modifies
2965Raise a Genius! - 94
2966their career or changes their specialty? I do not understand this disapproval. Why is this bad?
2967This simply demonstrates adaptability. To change one’s career one must have several diverse
2968kinds of capabilities. I really see this as an advantage of geniuses. The abilities of geniuses can be
2969converted more effectively than those of others. Changing careers truly proves the vast sphere of
2970freedom for a genius’s life, and not their deficit. However, I must remark that the situation of
2971stars of physical sports is more disadvantageous; they can become aged in youth as a result of
2972their sport.
2973How can it be proved that genius and happiness belong together?
2974This is also provable theoretically, but I can confirm it with the example of my daughters - in
2975practice. In theory genius and happiness are more interlinked than the opposite state. As I have
2976already mentioned: genius = work + luck.
2977Happiness is a complex phenomenon (a process and a state), which also contains components of
2978genius. It consists of several elements: enjoyment of work, honesty, health, wisdom, material
2979conditions, cheerfulness, love, optimism, courage, tranquility, lack of worry, fulfilment of duties,
2980the satisfaction of spiritual and material needs, a sense of joy, satisfaction, perspective, a correct
2981view of life, a full experience of love, rest after work done well, creativity, success, establishing
2982goals, high-level needs, and I could continue for a long time… To summarize and categorize
2983these components, we can describe happiness with the following formula: happiness = work +
2984love + freedom + luck.
2985I categorize under profession: work, accomplishments, creativity; under love: feelings given to
2986others and reciprocated; under a state of freedom: the potential and capability of a person to
2987become an independent, autonomous, and creative individual; and under luck: the union of
2988random external (recognition, peace, family environment, etc.) and internal (health, strength,
2989physiological endowments, spiritual and material goods, etc.) factors.
2990Happiness is a complex phenomenon in this sense. From the formula it is possible to sense that
2991it does not exclude, but indeed includes the components of a genius’s life.
2992I agree that happiness and adult genius are interrelated, but the answer to the question of how
2993this relates to the happiness of genius children does not directly follow from this. Many think
2994that a genius child equals a robbed childhood, and a child prodigy equals the wonder: “a
2995child?”
2996You have verbalized a very important question, although a bit ironically. Firstly, childhood is not
2997so uncloudy as average people remember nostalgically. As a teacher I saw that very often not
2998many people had a happy childhood. Others also confirm my impression. A few days ago I read
2999in the philosopher Eva Ancsel, “Observe a child’s face at length, and you will see: if fate exists, it
3000begins very early.”
3001Parents do much for the happiness of their children, but they do not all raise them well, or do
3002not succeed in what they wish. They do not prepare children well for the future; often the
3003Raise a Genius! - 95
3004“suitcase” the parents give them for their life is not sufficient. And they do not always take
3005precautions materially. They buy the children gifts, high-fidelity sound systems, cars, and
3006similar things, but they begrudge the money for language instruction. Later they shove the
3007responsibility onto school - which generally lack the necessary conditions - and to the circle of
3008bad friends.
3009Of course I do not only blame parents for this situation. Society also does not give the necessary
3010support. For example, it happens that people frighten parents who wish to fully develop their
3011children’s capabilities away by the argument that they are too ambitious. They say that they are
3012pushing their children to achieve in that way what they themselves never succeeded in
3013achieving. I personally know a person who wanted to walk with their child along the same way
3014as ours, but when the press and radio opened a full frontal assault on them, the parents’ nerves
3015almost collapsed, and they gave up working on the matter.
3016Can you prove, despite all this, that your daughters are happy?
3017Yes, I firmly claim this, and among my educational successes I consider this the most important.
3018I am doubly joyful about this! First, because it is true, and second, because the value, sense and
3019utility of my pedagogical method of genius education has been proved in practice by this.
3020But how can you attest to your claim?
3021Primarily by the reality. Look at my daughters, and if you have a bit of psychological sense, you
3022can determine much from their appearance, and how they carry themselves, their laughter,
3023unworriedness, their movement. It is not by chance that I proposed publishing many photos in
3024the book, so that others could also see this.
3025I know that you never boast about your way of life, but if others doubt the happiness of your
3026daughters, you must illustrate how colorful and varied their lives are.
3027They have already met many famous people: prime ministers, ambassadors, and Princess Diana;
3028they have taken part in society receptions with millionaires, and mayors; they have played chess
3029with UN delegates in the UN headquarters. They have connected with world-famous artists,
3030Olympians, and world champions; they have participated in a counter-narcotics campaign in
3031Canada; they have been in special direct TV program; they have given TV, radio, and newspaper
3032interviews throughout the whole world. A little while ago they took part in the reception given by
3033the US President Bush in Budapest.
3034In the Strait of Magellan, close to the South Pole, they played with penguins; in Australia with
3035kangaroos and koalas, and in the Negev desert with a camel. In Iceland they sunned themselves
3036in a meter of snow, threw snowballs in bathing suits, and saw the famous white night. In New
3037York they flew in a private helicopter between skyscrapers. They have hiked in the
3038Mesoamerican old-growth forest, and glided on parachutes into the Gulf of Mexico.
3039Raise a Genius! - 96
3040They have played chess in interesting places, like the center of the Common Market in Brussels,
3041and the World Trade Center in New York, one of the tallest buildings in the world. They have
3042visited such amusement parks as Disneyland, the Tivoli in Copenhagen, the Prater in Vienna,
3043and the most famous botanical gardens and zoos in the world. They have played in the casino of
3044San Juan, swum in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Mediterranean, Dead, Caribbean, and
3045Black seas. It has happened that when it was gloomy winter in Europe, they summered in
3046Australia or Mexico. (In summer, if we are home, they sun themselves most often on the
3047panoramic terrace on the roof.)
3048They have visited and continue to visit the most famous museums of the world: the Louvre in
3049Paris, the British Museum in London, the Vatican Museum, etc. Wonderful airports welcome
3050them, in Singapore and Dubai, for example. They stay at the most famous luxury hotels. They
3051have seen wonderful fireworks in Paris and Biel in Switzerland. The have walked around and
3052seen the sights in cities like New York, Vienna, Reykjavik, Zurich, Paris, Cannes, Varna, Sofia,
3053Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Brussels, Buenos Aires, San
3054Juan, Moscow, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Athens, Salonica, Rome, Madrid,
3055London, Mexico City, Prague, Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Monte Carlo, Las Vegas, Baden-Baden,
3056Bucharest, and Belgrade. I could continue for a long time.
3057They regularly participate in Esperanto gatherings. If they want to and have time, they take
3058pictures and videos, they listen to music, they collect chess books, chess-related stamps,
3059chess-themed pictures, and chess sets. They have a large collection of records and cassettes.
3060They have many friends in various parts of the world with whom they correspond, contact
3061personally or telephone. The house - if they are home - always stands open to guests.
3062Thus for the “color” of their lives. But I am sure - and this truly gives me strength - that this
3063nevertheless is not the most important thing for them, besides their family, their sisters, their
3064successes, and their communal joy.
3065I can add that I have never visited you without coming across a guest, several guests actually,
3066friends, chess colleagues. But what do the girls say about their own lives? Do they feel that they
3067are happy?
3068Ask them!
3069I do not want to ask them directly, as I fear that they will mock me like another journalist
3070asking similar questions.
3071So I will speak myself. For example, yesterday my oldest daughter Zsuzsa, who is at the age to be
3072thinking of marriage, said to me, “Papa, how happy I would be if I had a daughter like me.”
3073Raise a Genius! - 97
3074This is a very spirited response to the question. Not less striking is her response to my interest
3075in whether she would raise her son or daughter as you raised her. She said first, “I don’t
3076know.” But after further insistence she answered, “I feel uncertain that there is in me the same
3077amount of sacrifice and selflessness as in my parents.” For me this is a convincing argument, a
3078“QED.” Those who know them well think the same. Your neighbor, the clear-sighted
3079psychologist Judit Meszaros, decidedly answered yes to my question whether the girls are
3080happy. “Certainly, although maybe in other ways than other girls. But happiness does not
3081wear a uniform.”
3082I quote several statements of psychologists who know your family well. For example, an article
3083by Jochen Harberg appeared this year in the West German magazine Stern entitled “Genius is
3084Plannable.” Having heard the girls’ laughter, the author closes the article with the words, “...
3085this signals that these girls are happy.”
3086Reinhard Muenzert, the renowned psychologist (his book entitled Schachpsychologie appeared
3087last year in the FRG) writes the following: “In the end has the experiment truly succeeded?
3088Should one not say that although the girls have achieved good results, are they also happy
3089people? Have they not been educated too narrowly, deprived of a carefree childhood? I was
3090able to observe the Polgar family… and what I saw absolutely convinced me: I saw three
3091totally natural, friendly, charming, sensible, and frolicsome girls. They are often joyful. One
3092can clearly see that they are happy.”
3093In this category belongs the article by the psychologist and international chess master Leon
3094Pliester with the title “Prodigies,” which he wrote for the periodical “Dutch Chess Player”
3095(1986), whose contents he personally confirmed a little while ago when he visited the family,
3096“Of course when I visited Budapest in September, I wanted to use the occasion to become
3097acquainted with the girls. I was interested in not only their chess abilities; I wanted to
3098experience for myself what kind of prodigies they are, where the secret of their strength in the
3099game is hidden, and what kind of education they received. I was agreeably surprised when I
3100met two warm-hearted parents in the company of three charming, untroubled children. I must
3101acknowledge that this family impressed me deeply: I highly admire their way of life.”
3102Permit me to also mention an evaluation in Hungary. Not long ago Mrs. Laszlone Dudas, who
3103wrote a successful thesis at the Pedagogical University of Eger regarding my educational system,
3104visited me. According to her, “It is clearly evident that the children are happy. I could not find
3105even one element in their life that could make one suppose that they were less happy than their
3106peers.”
3107These opinions, citations, and instances cannot separately be considered scientifically valid
3108proof of the happiness of the three girls, and they are also not enough to refute opinions that
3109the girls are joyless, tedious “chess machines.” But all this information together can be
3110considered a sort of proof. In addition, I can also personally attest that all of your daughters
3111are healthy - both physically and mentally. For 4-5 months, when I was visiting you, they were
3112not sick even once. I spoke to their doctor, and even he did not remember when they were ever
3113ill. During this period they participated in many competitions, bringing outstanding successes
3114Raise a Genius! - 98
3115and also relatively weak achievements. From a psychological viewpoint the latter case
3116interests me: how do they justify losses to themselves? I did not hear them even once attribute
3117a lesser accomplishment to external factors. They never cast the blame on their surroundings,
3118or the weather, not once did they excuse themselves by a cold or a toothache, as I have become
3119“accustomed” to hearing from competitors in other branches of sport.
3120I was once present for a “miracle”: I overheard a telephone call informing you of an
3121outstanding victory by Judit in England. Zsofia took it at home with a wide smile and signs of
3122unclouded happiness on her face, proudly she snapped her fingers - without the smallest
3123shadow of jealousy.
3124Another time I became a witness to Zsuzsa’s linguistic juggling, when in a circle of foreign
3125guests she smoothly interpreted from German to English, from English to Russian, and from
3126all of them to Hungarian, completely accurately. The reader should think about what it would
3127be like for one’s most important problem - this is about Judit - to be whether or not to train a
3128bit more in table tennis, to become a player of international rank, or not to take on any more
3129and so damage her uninterrupted high-arching chess playing career. To all who would wish to
3130become happy, I desire only these kinds of worries.
3131We must also discuss a theoretical question concerning this idea. Can one intentionally educate
3132for happiness, or should we leave it to create itself? According to Freud, “The plan of Creation
3133does not contain the intention of making people happy.”
3134I am a pedagogue, so I am concerned “ex officio” with the goals of education, and it is natural
3135that one of the goals of education, happiness, must have its place in my system. Can one
3136intentionally educate for happiness? I think that yes, even if not with the same certainty as for
3137concrete language understanding or skill in physical sports. The first and essential condition for
3138becoming happy is for one to want happiness. Many people want to make their children happy,
3139want to see them thus, but they do not do enough, or even very little. They let themselves be
3140guided by accidents of education. I, on the contrary, have the principle that one should approach
3141and perform education very intentionally for happiness.
3142The specialist pedagogical literature ought to research this.
3143The literature does not even place the basis of the theory of education on happiness. But my
3144genius education concept can serve as a contribution to the development of a theory on
3145happiness.
3146What can be considered a goal and what a method in your pedagogical system?
3147The all-encompassing goal is undoubtedly happiness, and in relation to this genius education
3148can be considered a method, but also it is about a dialectical process: in real life one grows
3149through the other, that is, they prepare and strengthen each other reciprocally. Achievements
3150lead to feelings of happiness, and happiness gives new motivational strength for higher
3151achievements. Thus the method is formed from the goal and the goal from the method.
3152Raise a Genius! - 99
3153Nevertheless, what would happen if genius education contradicted the happiness of your
3154daughters sometime?
3155This is not acceptable. But if there were some breakdown in my system, then undoubtedly the
3156goal has the higher rank, and in its interest I would abandon bad methods.
3157Now, luckily, there is not even a shadow of danger. So you have proved that it is possible to
3158raise geniuses. This is all very well, but what does this serve? Does it validate the ef ort?
3159I answer with a unequivocal and decisive “yes.” It validates it, because this leads individually to
3160happiness, but it is about more than just that: genius education is desirable and beneficial in a
3161social sense as well.
3162I see that you do not understand the question, so I will try to express it again. Is genius
3163education a completely positive goal? Do we need a so-called hierarchy of values? Gasping, we
3164climb to the summit. But for what? This can be neither an individual goal nor a social
3165program.
3166What to say? I do not claim that at the bottom or middle of the pyramid an individual cannot be
3167happy, although let us not make the bottom level a societal goal! Humanity progresses, and the
3168history of our country needs as many and as good specialists as possible, and always more
3169creative geniuses. Without this progress will be gone. If society does not strive for the summit, it
3170cannot progress.
3171If it is true that education determines our intellectual development in a decisive way, it could
3172easily happen that less ethically developed geniuses could be more damaging than
3173medium-capable ethically developed people.
3174The history of humanity shows that primarily the less capable or middling capable (thus not
3175geniuses) and the morally undeveloped are dangerous for society, especially if they gain power
3176(like Hitler). Of course, it is also dangerous if a very talented person in some specific field, but
3177immoral, is in charge. For example, Napoleon was undoubtedly an extremely talented organizer
3178and leader, although he used these abilities to endlessly make war and subjugate peoples.
3179Genius education - according to my definition - aims for the development of personality, happy
3180people, and the development of socially and morally progressive individuals. Therefore I say:
3181genius education, education for happiness, and humanism are unified things; one does not
3182develop one without the others. In addition, whoever intends to raise their children as
3183outstandingly capable people would certainly not wish them to become ethically undeveloped,
3184dishonest people. In history geniuses represent more good than bad.
3185It is true that one can turn most of the elements of my educational method - as tools - in any
3186direction. But the same is true for any tool, even a stone. With a stone one can break a nut, and
3187Raise a Genius! - 100
3188also a human head - but the stone is not the guilty one. Although I am not responsible for how
3189one applies my concepts and methods, it is nevertheless my duty to warn about the possible
3190dangers of incorrect, damaging application. So it is not permissible to apply only part of my
3191methods - namely those related to intensive training in some narrow specialty - while neglecting
3192my standpoint on moral education. It is necessary to raise exceptionally talented specialists so
3193that they present extraordinary qualities not only in their specialty, but also in morality.
3194People often claim that scientists are not responsible if others use scientific achievements for
3195immoral goals. This is only partly true: today it is generally not possible to use scientific results
3196without the active collaboration of scientists. The more educated and the more talented someone
3197is, the greater is their social responsibility. My wife and I endeavor to live conforming with this
3198principle, and we have raised our daughters according to it as well.
3199Education has two “M”s: miracles and mistakes. You have proved the one, but it also has risks.
3200Sandor Klein thinks as follows: “I must say that when I did not know about the Polgar
3201phenomenon, I did not believe that it was possible to raise geniuses. But if one could
3202successfully achieve this, why couldn’t another? If people are truly this educable, the greatest
3203risk lies in the extremely large responsibility on the parents. But if we do not utilize this
3204method, then our responsibility will be enormous: we have at our disposal a wonderful thing,
3205and we do not use it.”
3206Raise a Genius! - 101
32074. Your life should be an ethical model
3208“Guilt does not worry a mis-educated person.” - The Talmud
3209“What is humanism? The love of people, nothing else, and by this to rebel against that which
3210dirties and shames the human person.” - T. Mann
3211“Pleasure does not go along with virtue, but virtue goes along with pleasure.” - Aristotle
3212Leafing through the preceding chapters, I observe now that to my questions requiring rational
3213answers, you always reacted by revealing emotional “colors” and moral values. I feel a bit like
3214I did when reading Kant, who wrote, even about the purest logic and cold consequentialism,
3215always with high pathos, if it had to do with morality. What is the reason for this?
3216Whoever wishes to live in peace with themselves and others, who wish to have a clean
3217conscience, who is occupied with promoting pedagogy, who loves their family, who wishes to live
3218in harmony with their social environment, cannot leave out ethics. Without moral values one
3219lacks a compass for life. The task of people on this Earth is to conduct themselves and others
3220toward perfection.
3221During our interactions the thought always kept coming back to me: why are you, who have
3222been hit by so many blows, misunderstandings and traps, and yet not closed yourself of or
3223retreated or been of ended, now publishing your thoughts, methods, and experiences, when the
3224fruits of your labor have matured, your chosen road been shown to be correct, and when you
3225have no more need of insisting there is evidence?
3226For me it is an internal law to do good. In my whole life I have endeavored to realize high moral
3227values; I have always believed in moral ideas, and as a pedagogue and a father I have always
3228disseminated them. I could not live otherwise than what I profess. Striving for harmony between
3229words and actions, needing to put ideas into practice, is an integral part of my moral concept
3230and practice. Because of this every kind of small-souled reaction, vengeance, or trickery is far
3231from me - for me openness is an internal command. Although I know that this book will “incite”
3232many to attack, I know that people will criticize and offend me, and I have exposed myself to
3233hostile action, but nevertheless I am taking this step - not following the counsel of the wise king
3234Solomon: “Do not be too virtuous, and do not reason too much: why must you confuse
3235yourself?”
3236Many who know you more closely claim that your primary interest is not chess, that your
3237pedagogical theory is not most important, but it is the moral model that you have implemented
3238in your life. They say that you are a hero of our time: you have endured a dif icult trial, during
3239which you have succeeded. You have not let yourself be diverted from your way, have not
3240changed your skin, and have stayed simple and modest. They praise you for throwing a stone
3241Raise a Genius! - 102
3242in the deadly water of the world of chess since the 70s, because you have invented a new family
3243model, because your individual example has become a socially and morally applicable model.
3244This is too much, in a certain sense. I did what I had to do, and now I am doing the same with
3245this book. I am passing on my experiences, as the Talmud says: “Who knows something
3246beautiful and does not pass it on is as guilty as one who knows something ugly and does pass it
3247on.”
3248The book is about the education of geniuses. Do moral geniuses exist?
3249Let us approach the idea from several sides! If we understand the notion of “genius” to be
3250activity in an avant-garde level of the current epoch, and social maturity or “perfection,” then a
3251moral genius is one who stands at that level of moral “perfection.” Extraordinary people always
3252appear in extraordinary situations (Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Tivadar Herzl, Raoul
3253Wallenberg, Ignaz Semmelweis, Albert Schweitzer, etc.), who we must definitely call moral
3254geniuses. But people can become moral geniuses not only in extraordinary circumstances.
3255Permit me to relate to this the thought of Bertolt Brecht: “One must pity the people who need
3256heroes.”
3257I agree with this, that one should pity the people who need heros, but I would add that one needs
3258to pity even more the people who - when they need some - do not have heroes. Moral education
3259must not suggest: “Be a hero!” It must pass on values which in times of need can lift a person to
3260be a hero. A moral genius is an example - both in extreme situations and stable periods. An
3261example always finds followers.
3262I have also spoken with the master trainer Janos Gyimesi, who responded to my question
3263whether there were geniuses in the sport of basketball as follows: “If five players train
3264themselves in basketball, I say that a fivesome is at work, but if there appears among them a
3265Larry Bird [an American professional basketball player], then six geniuses are now playing on
3266the court.” Indeed, a genius has an emanation, an aura. From which qualities do you choose,
3267when you “plan” a moral genius?
3268I see before me a person who is sacrificial, honest, and courageous; a good friend and family
3269member, not cynical, not egotistical, but empathetic and good-hearted, who feels responsibility,
3270is attentive, and is capable of keeping secrets, who does not misuse their power, does not gossip,
3271and can master their ambition, who is just, demands quality, an internationalist and not
3272envious, who generally behaves in a friendly way and does not judge others easily, who is
3273persistent, has initiative, conscious of duty, critical, self-critical and conscientious, who relates
3274well to learning or ignorance, and who is capable of self-education (self-perfection), who has
3275self-control, who is sincere and strives for freedom for themself and others, whose ethics are at a
3276similarly high level, who is modest, able to love others, who has solidarity, tolerance and
3277Raise a Genius! - 103
3278politeness, has a healthy competitiveness, is helpful, peaceful, and well-intentioned, who shows
3279respect to those who merit it, etc. This kind of person is definitely an exemplary moral authority.
3280Whoever has in themselves all of the qualities above to a high level is a moral genius, even if they
3281never become a hero, and even if those around them never consider them to be one.
3282How should we raise moral people?
3283A person is not born morally ready, does not bring moral values along from the womb, a
3284maximum capability to become a moral being. But how they become, a loving family member or
3285a hateful one, an altruist or an egoist, a humanist or a fascist - is not genetically fixed, but
3286depends primarily on education and surroundings. As with all abilities, the moral ones can be
3287and must be learned.
3288It is true that here childhood influences are most important. But an adult is also formable in the
3289same way. Democracy can transform into fascism or fascism into democracy. It can also happen
3290that someone leaving prison can arrive in a good society and become an honest person.
3291Here also we cannot let ourselves be led spontaneously: one must structure morality
3292intentionally. In our century ethics is a very neglected field of instruction education. One could
3293certainly do much more in this regard, than society has done until now. Not only family and
3294school education can have an enormous role, but also a scientific direction for society and the
3295use of mass media. Information itself of course is not enough, although it is better than nothing.
3296One must create the conditions for the practice of morality.
3297What do you think about the so-called decalogue of moral values?
3298I feel that this code is superfluous. The moral life of a person is so complicated, complex, and
3299wide, that it cannot be contained in 6 or 12 or 128 points or commands. Moreover, this kind of
3300rigid and closed system I think radiates from a dogmatic way of living. Of course this does not
3301mean one cannot, from the viewpoint of education, formulate some changeable, modern
3302decalogue.
3303Try nevertheless! What kinds of principles do you think are important for you?
3304I will do as you desire, and list ten principles without more thought. This means that tomorrow I
3305might insert other values (preserving the originals) between the following ten:
33061. Be an example: live such that others follow you!
33072. Learn and work hard, be demanding on yourself and others!
33083. Be willing to love, give and receive love!
33094. Live with yourself and others in peace, live a healthy and moderate life!
33105. Strive for happiness and endeavor to make other people happy!
33116. Have humanistic ideas and fight against prejudice!
33127. Preserve peace and tranquility in the family, raise your children as perfectly as possible!
33138. Be honest, respect your and others’ freedom!
3314Raise a Genius! - 104
33159. Trust the development of people, nurture small and large communities!
331610. And finally, the wild card, that is, everything that you think moral and current, but which
3317is not in the other nine points.
3318If you could state one “command,” what would it be?
3319I will quote Hillel from the Talmud: “Do not do to your brother human what is unloveable for
3320yourself - this is the whole law, the rest is mere details.”
3321From the values above comes a humanistic, puritan concept. I think that you truly live
3322according to it in a simple manner, while many consider you really contradictory: a careerist
3323and lover of money.
3324I am neither an ascetic nor a puritan. However, there come times when one must reduce one’s
3325needs. Thus it was at the beginning, when almost in misery - feeding ourselves on bread and
3326butter - I began the work with my wife and daughters. But I do not consider myself an ascetic. I
3327refuse asceticism in the same way as the other extreme, hedonism.
3328I do not claim that I do not require that which is owed to me. For example, this year when we
3329signed a contract with the sports club MTK, the press published that we receive 600,00 forints a
3330year. In past years this sum was much less. It seems a large sum of money, but one should not
3331forget that it pays for us five, and it is no more than 10,000 forints net per month. (= Monthly
3332salary, competition fees, financing for training, and other fees together.) Is that a lot?
3333Do not misunderstand me: I am not saying that someone should give their worth without pay.
3334We also wish to charge the price that other professional competitors do, because we are really
3335worth it. According to our competition and advertising value. I also require money for hosting
3336guests, but this is a different matter, which we spend on not luxuries, but books, tutors, language
3337learning, and the like.
3338Mate Gaspar, international chess master, who often visits you, says regarding this: “These
3339children are not pampered. I have seen pampered children, but these are not like that.
3340Regarding the classical dilemma, ‘a villa or a child,’ people generally vote for material goods.
3341Not the Polgars. One can see what kinds of circumstances they live in, and what kinds of
3342material dif iculties they also have. So I consider their way of life and the fact that even now
3343they have not changed their original habits not only a pedagogical model but a moral one. As
3344people, they seem too normal to me.”
3345In my opinion my life is normal, not extraordinary. I am convinced that other people can do the
3346same, and there are times when a possible example can indeed become a model.
3347Raise a Genius! - 105
3348“The example of the Polgar father is decisive for the future,” wrote Andras Mezei, “because the
3349future of the Hungarian people depends on whether it is capable of recognizing, culturing, and
3350increasing spiritual perfection.” Is the pedagogical experiment we have been speaking about in
3351harmony with the moral values explained above, including whether one has the right to
3352experiment with people?
3353The object of a pedagogical experiment can be nothing other than a person, and for their good
3354one not only has the right, but even the duty of performing pedagogical experiments. In fact, all
3355parents, even if not consciously, “experiment” with their children. An intentional, humanistically
3356organized experiment is much more likely to succeed. Experiments are one of the methods of
3357scientific discovery, by which we rigorously and organizedly establish some phenomenon,
3358condition, or cause. During an experiment we can observe the supposed effects and modify them
3359as desired. I agree with the academician Pal Tetenyi, who differentiates between, on the one
3360hand, experiments in closed and open systems, and on the other - from the viewpoint of their
3361effects - those dangerous or safe for people. The specificity of our experiment consists in it being
3362performed in a closed system, and its danger is zero.
3363Our program has been repeated many times throughout history. Similar life paths are known of
3364many exceptionally capable and accomplished people. We merely did it intentionally, and by
3365this raised it to the status of a theory. Our experiment is, in an absolute sense, humanism. The
3366experiment is not contrary to moral values, as it is useful and gives happiness to its participants.
3367It does not hinder specialist and moral progress, harmonious development of personality; it
3368even has the opposite effect. By decreasing failures, lack of success, and unhappiness, the
3369formation of a way of living and the realization of life principles are effected in ideal
3370circumstances.
3371Of course one must perform the experiment with great responsibility and optimism. But for this
3372society must be more tolerant. This kind of complex experiment lasts for 15-25 years, and can be
3373disturbed by external factors in many ways, like a lack of understanding by official authorities,
3374the press, and public opinion. Traditional educational methods can be either damaging or
3375beneficial. Our way - in our experience of the experiment until now - has proved to be primarily
3376good and beneficial. In my opinion it is an example that others can repeat in creative ways.
3377Today you have many admirers; although some people still try to shove you aside, they cannot
3378erase you any more; your results are woven today into the fabric of Hungarian society. You
3379are not now merely an object of sensation or discussion: you have a valuable social influence.
3380Primarily because you have implemented your pedagogical theory in practice on yourselves.
3381In pedagogy you have created a model worthy of following because you have unified theory
3382and practice.
3383But maybe I am speaking too much. Maybe my extended laudatory sentences only weaken the
3384power of proof of the fact, as in the words of Albert Szentgyorgi, “One honors a creative artist
3385best not with words of praise, but with understanding and appreciating their work.”
3386Raise a Genius! - 106
3387So: who is this book speaking to? Who are you addressing?
3388It is addressed to my colleagues, of course, to specialists, to psychologists, pedagogues, to those
3389who are interested in chess, but primarily to parents, grandparents, future fathers, mothers,
3390teachers. They should think about this way of life and the fact that one can in this way raise a
3391happy person.
3392I do not give a prescription, only a way of life, and I wish to persuade no one to raise geniuses. I
3393merely wish to show that it is possible to raise geniuses. I invoke no one, and instigate nothing;
3394everyone must decide for themselves what they wish to do. I am only passing on my pedagogical
3395system, and guiding everyone along the road that I have also traveled, with the certainty that it is
3396possible and necessary to raise geniuses, because geniuses become happy people.
3397Budapest, June 3, 2004
3398Raise a Genius! - 107
3399Biography of Laszlo Polgar
3400He was born on May 11, 1946 in Gyongyos. His first degree was in philosophy; his second in
3401psycho-pedagogical education. He had a 15-year successful career as a teacher, and later
3402managed the training, competition, and promotion for his daughters. He acquired his PhD with
3403a dissertation on the development of capabilities. He is a master teacher (this is the highest level
3404of teaching recognition in Hungary).
3405His daughters have won 12 Olympic gold medals, and several world championship titles. Since
34061984 they lead the women’s world rankings. They have been awarded Oscar prizes several times.
3407Specialist books, graduate degree work and doctoral dissertations have analyzed and recognized
3408his pedagogical activity.
3409Around 20 books have appeared by him. The first “Raise a Genius!” appeared in 1989 in
3410Hungarian.
3411Raise a Genius! - 108
3412The Polgar Girls’ Latest Competition Results
3413Zsuzsa:
3414- The first woman to receive, after fulfilling the standards, the title of “Men’s
3415Grandmaster.”
3416- World champion in speed chess.
3417- World champion in blitz chess.
3418- World champion in chess with traditional time limits.
3419- Olympic champion several times.
3420- Oscar prize several times.
3421- Beat by a large margin the world champions Chiburdanidze and Xie.
3422- Won the separate men’s blitz chess championship.
3423- Even match with Anatoly Karpov 3:3 in 2004.
3424- Even match with Anatoly Karpov 3:3 in 2005.
3425- First in the world rankings in 1984, 1985, and 1986, later second after her sister Judit.
3426- Winner of very many international competitions.
3427- In 2004, when Judit had her child, she switched back to first place in the women’s
3428rankings.
3429- Gained a university degree, mother of two sons.
3430Zsofia:
3431- Olympic champion several times.
3432- Silver medal, after her sister Zsuzsa, in the speed chess world championship.
3433- Her competition result in Rome is a Guinness world record: out of 9 she received 8.5
3434points, ahead by two points of world-famous men’s candidates for world champion. This
3435result is the 5th best result in the history of chess (after Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, and
3436Alekhin. Judit is the 6th per her Madrid result).
3437- An Oscar prize.
3438- World champion in speed chess in men’s under-20.
3439- Silver medal in the world championship of traditional chess for men under 20.
3440- Winner of very many international competitions.
3441- Finished high school, mother of two children.
3442Judit:
3443- Olympic champion several times.
3444- US Open #1: 8 points out of a possible 9.
3445- First ahead of men’s world champions in Benidorm.
3446- The youngest grandmaster in the world at the age of 15, breaking the record of Robert
3447Fischer (at the fulfilment of the first standard she was no more than 13).
3448Raise a Genius! - 109
3449- At 15 won the Hungarian men’s super-championship.
3450- Several Oscar prizes.
3451- Beat in an even match at 5:3 the men’s world champion Anatoly Karpov.
3452- Beat the former men’s world champion Boris Spassky at 4 ½:3 ½.
3453- In the match of the globally chosen team against Russia, beat the world champion Gary
3454Kasparov.
3455- By a vote of - the most important publication - Sakk-Informator (regarding the best and
3456most beautiful match) finished 7 times in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
3457- Since January 1988 has led - without interruption - the women’s world rankings, and 7th
3458in the men’s world rankings.
3459- Winner of many international competitions.
3460The Polgar girls have 15 Olympic gold medals.
3461Elo Ratings
3462Judit: 2735
3463Zsuzsa: 2567
3464Zsofia: 2500
3465Age A. Karpov Zsuza Zsofia Judit
3466Learned chess 4 4
34673rd category 7 7
34682nd category 9 8
34691st category 9 10
3470Candidate master 11 11
3471Master 15 13 12 10
3472International master 18 13 14 11
3473Grandmaster 19 19/20 14(1) 13/15
3474(1) GM standard + 1.5 points