Chess Legend Judit Polgar Rejects Hungary PM’s Offer to Become President

Chess legend Judit Polgar has rejected Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s offer to become the country’s president as part of his move to distance Hungary from the Viktor Orban era.

Magyar, a pro-European conservative, had nominated Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest female chess player in history, as a non-political figure who could help deliver his promise of a “regime change” after Orban’s 16-year rule.

“I do not feel I have the strength to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation, and so I am unable to accept the invitation,” Polgar posted on social media.

“I will do everything in my power to support a new, independent, and respected President of the Republic in achieving these goals,” she added.

After ejecting unpopular President Tamas Sulyok by constitutional amendment last week, Magyar backed Polgar late on Sunday as “a president of whom all Hungarians can be proud”.

“I regret her decision, but I respect it,” Magyar said on social media after Polgar’s announcement.

Polgar, who will turn 50 on Thursday, was the top-ranked woman chess player for 25 years before retiring in 2014, and commands widespread respect in Hungary.

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But Magyar faced criticism for pushing ahead with her nomination on Sunday, a day after pledging a public consultation on the matter. After her rejection was made public, the prime minister apologised for any “communication mistakes”, but insisted that his Tisza party “asked the Hungarian people for their recommendations”.

“It seems Peter Magyar made his first communication blunder of his premiership by missing a beat in the nomination process,” Szabolcs Pek, a senior analyst at Iranytu Institute think tank, told AFP.

– ‘Did Magyar a favour’ –

“In the end, Polgar did a favour to Magyar by declining the offer… I assume Tisza will try to involve his supporters more before making his next choice,” Pek argued.

Who Magyar would seek to nominate next was not immediately clear.

Any choice of nominee would have had to be approved by parliament, which elects the president in Hungary’s political system.

In the wake of Polgar’s rejection, Magyar said that his party “is expected to meet several more times this week” and would “make a responsible decision on whom we consider best suited to become Hungary’s next president”.

Had Polgar accepted, she would have enjoyed the unanimous backing of Magyar’s Tisza party, which commands a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Polgar remains the only woman to have reached the chess world’s overall top 10.

Her career has often drawn comparisons with the hit Netflix show “The Queen’s Gambit”, with Polgar saying that she enjoyed the show’s “attention to detail”.

Polgar has frequently spoken out against the sexism and stereotypes she had to tackle in the male-dominated sport, telling AFP in a 2020 interview that “I had to prove myself more than if I were a boy”.

She scored notable victories against several male world champions, including Russia’s Garry Kasparov in 2002.

After retiring from competitive chess in 2014, she turned her attention to education and promoting chess amongst young people.

Her name as a possible presidential nominee was first put forward in an open letter signed by sixteen prominent Hungarians, including the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, Erno Rubik.

– Orban ‘puppet’ –

Her proposed ascent to high office comes after Hungarian lawmakers last week passed an amendment removing Sulyok, whose last day in office was on Sunday.

Sulyok denounced the amendment as the end of “democratic rule of law” in Hungary, but still signed it on Saturday, saying he had no recourse to challenge it.

Magyar has accused the unpopular Sulyok and other top state officials of being nationalist Orban’s “puppets”.

Some rights groups have criticised the constitutional change, with Human Rights Watch saying the tinkering was “reminiscent of (the) Fidesz era”, referring to Orban’s party. Fidesz has criticised the ousting.

But Magyar insisted the tweak was a necessary step towards loosening Orban’s grip on the Hungarian state.

A former head of the Constitutional Court, Sulyok was little known to the public before his election for a five-year term in 2024.

Polls suggested that a vast majority of Hungarians wanted him gone.

Agnes Forsthoffer, the speaker of parliament, is temporarily serving as head of state.

AFP