The Jewish chess legend Judit Polgár has declined an invitation to become Hungary’s president, a largely ceremonial position that would have increased the visibility of one of the country’s most celebrated Jewish figures.
“I do not feel enough strength within me to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation, so I am unable to accept the request,” Polgar wrote on Facebook on Monday.
Her comments came a day after Hungary’s newly elected prime minister, Peter Magyar, announced in a post on X that he planned to invite her to take the position until a new constitution takes effect.
“Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of,” Magyar wrote. “Judit Polgár’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.”
Magyar wrote in a subsequent post on Facebook that he respected Polgár’s decision to decline the nomination, adding that he was sorry if his “enthusiasm, born of joy and absolute trust, caused communication errors that contributed to the situation and the decision.”
On Saturday, the current president, Tamas Sulyok, signed a constitutional amendment passed by Magyar’s ruling Tisza party to end his term.
Since defeating former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in April, Magyar has repeatedly called for Sulyok to leave his post, accusing him of failing to stand up to Orbán.
“Our country needs unity, peace, and a president in whom every Hungarian can take pride,” Magyar wrote. “The presidency is not a profession, not a job, but the highest form of service.”
Polgár, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors and who became a grandmaster at the age of 15, at the time the youngest to attain the title, is widely considered the greatest female chess player in history. In 2019, she lit the ceremonial flame for the 15th European Maccabi Games, held in Budapest.
Earlier this year, a documentary about Polgár, titled “Queen of Chess,” was released on Netflix. While the documentary made little mention of her Jewish identity, a 2014 Israeli documentary called “The Polgar Variant” chronicled the meteoric rise of her and her sisters, fellow chess prodigies Susan and Sofia Polgár. Susan Polgár, a World Chess Hall of Famer, told What I Wanna Know in 2013 that she had confronted chess legend Bobby Fischer over his antisemitic views.
Judit Polgár also recounted her own experiences with antisemitism in a 2012 interview with the Independent.
“In 1988 I received a letter with a picture of my father with his eyes cut out, and an anti-Semitic message,” Polgár said at the time. “You don’t forget things like that. We’re still not doing too well in Hungary on this, and maybe it’s worse now than when I was a kid.”
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