Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess - Tapa dura

In a major event in chess publishing, Susan Polgar provides a candid inside view of the lives of the Polgar sisters, each with their own goals and aspirations. She takes readers through the incredible development of the three sisters as they pursued their dreams: becoming chess prodigies, growing into contenders, winning World titles and Olympiad gold medals, ending the Soviet dominance in women's chess, breaking through the gender and age barriers, and generally revolutionising the game. Readers will also be privy to the thoughts and feelings the sisters experienced during major triumphs and disappointments, as Susan shares their most joyous moments and biggest heartbreaks. Another important issue covered is the strict but ultimately successful training techniques used by the Polgar sisters in their chess evolution. Finally the chess public will have a chance to find out how the sisters really feel about these controversial methods of studying the game. This volume wouldn't be complete without a marvellous compilation of the Polgar sisters' most stunning chess games, providing a move-by-move explanation of their best and most memorable encounters.

Breaking through is the inside story of the lives of the famous Polgar sisters. The three sisters, born in Hungary, have taken the chess world by storm over the past two decades. All three achieved grandmaster results in their teens and followed up their early promise with astonishing achievements. In 1989 Sofia scored an incredible 8 1/2/9 in a powerful tournament in Rome; in January 1991 Susan became the first ever woman to achieve the male grandmaster title and in December 1991 the youngest, Judit, broke Bobby Fishcher's record to become the youngest grandmaster ever. Between them, Susan and Judit have occupied the world number one ranking slot for the past 21 years.
Breaking Through charts the lives of all three sisters and witnesses their development from child prodigies through successes in junior events, Olympiads and finally World Championships. Along the way the sisters revolutionized the public perception of chess and broke gender and age barriers. They not only had to defeat top players in competition, they also had to overcome sexism, hypocrisy and resentment arising from their parent's individualistic educational approach. The training methods used by the Polgars are controversial. These methods are fully discussed and the sisters themselves reveal what they think about them.