| Interview with Sofi Polgar - by Harvey Mandell | ||
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Harvey Mandell: How old were you when you played in your first tournament? Sofi Polgar: My first memory from a tournament was when I was less than five years old. It was a kid's tournament until the age of 11 mainly boys. I was very proud to get the third place. I remember giving mate at the other end of the board was quite a physical achievment at the time, I had to kneel on the chair for that. HM: Did losing games upset you when you were a child? SP: Sometimes losing hurt a lot as a child as it does at any age, depending on the game. I remember I was also very disappointed once after winning a game. By the look of my face when I got home , they were sure I lost. The thing is I realized after the game, that I missed a beautiful queen sacrifice...Funny I still remember not the exact position but the idea of the combination. HM: Did you have a coach other than your father? SP: My Dad was my first coach, later with the years there were many coaches, training partners to help my and my sister's careers. HM: What grandmasters have you beaten? SP: Well that can probably be checked in a database. the ones I like to remember most are form the Rome tournament is 1989. Cherning, Razuvaev, Suba HM: Is there any single chess book that you found more helpful than all the rest? SP: Not really. There are many good books out there but even more, good parts of books. Since I was taught by trainers most of the time, I remember more from the materials rather than the books themselves. Also when I grew up, most good chess bibliography was printed in Russian. I still used many Russian books when I teach. HM: How long have you lived in Israel? Is it true that thanks to the Soviets, Israel now has more grandmasters per capita than any other country? Do all of the Israeli grandmasters know each other? SP: I have lived in Israel since 1995. It is true that most Israeli grandmaster weren't born here but again it's a young country with immigrants so it's similar in many fields. I think there are about 30 GMs here but as far as I know Iceland is leading the kind of list you refer to. I believe the active GMs all know each other. HM: Where and when did you play ping pong with Bobby Fischer? SP: It was in my parents' summer house, where he visited my family a few years back , probably 1993 not sure.
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