Judit Polger retires from tournament chess

Sparks

As reported in the Times. End of an era? Or the start of a new one as Hou Yifan takes over as the strongest woman player in the world?

Chessbase has a nice summary up of her career in chess.

Sparks

TWIC has a piece up about this now as well. Looks like tomorrow is her last ever game, assuming she's playing in the final round.

Valmont

I love watching Polgar's games - she was ferocious. The game against Shirov was out of this world.

checknraise

She is(was) an unbelievable player and will probably go down as the strongest female player of all time. I do find it strange that she is retiring now just when she has an equal in Hou Yifan and there is the possibility of organising a match between the two. She has not played many games over the last few years and has not been the same player compared to her peak. I do think she is retiring to protect her legacy, doesn't have to play a match against Hou Yifan and will retire as the number 1 female player.

mikhail

She has young children. Her priorities may not include the extensive travel of an active grandmaster and the kind of preparation a title match at that level would entail.