Best Game
Judith Polgar won the Best Game award with her win over A. Mathe of France in round 7. Denker describes it as a typical example of Judiths attacking style.
Polgar Judith (HUN) - Mathe A. (FRA)
Fond Du Lac, WI, 1990
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. 0-0 Nf6 8. Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Qe1 0-0 11. Qg3 Bd7 12. Kh1 b5 13. a3 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Bc6 15. e5 Ne8 16. Bd3 Qb7 17. Rae1 b4 18. ed Bxd6 19. Ne4 Be7 20. f5 ef 21. Nc5 Qa7 22. Ne6 Bd6 23. Qh3 Qb7 24. Nxf8 Bxf8 25. Qxf5 Bxg2+ 26. Kg1 g6
Diagram to be added
27. Qxf7+ After 27...Qxf7 28 Rxf7 Bd5 29 Rd7 1:0
GM Schwartzman says,
"I mentioned the word viciousness in my last comments. I dont think it applies better to anyone than Judith Polgar. Her attacks are the ultimate in terms of viciousness, and believe me I know what I am talking about: twice I had to face her aggressiveness, including once during this particular tournament.
"In my case, I managed to survive. Both games had similar scenarios. Being black I came immediately under fire, and believe me, it was not friendly! However, with a very careful defense I managed to avoid the checkmate. And interestingly enough, by the time the attacks were over it was Judit who was scrambling for a draw, which in both cases she successfully achieved. The point though is that surviving her attacks is almost impossible.
"Her aggressive style is so intimidating that perhaps the most important thing is to remain calm. And thats not easy when playing against the phenomenon that Judith is. And the worse part is that she exploits every tiny mistake.
"One small slip in the defense will lead to an immediate defeat as this particular game very well shows. The player with the black pieces is not a bad player. As a matter of fact it was a loss to him that caused me to drop down to third place in the final rankings. But he simply couldnt find every move, the only move, which is often what it takes when playing Judith. Starting with move 9 every one of her moves was somehow related to the attack and she built it with the skill of a spider preparing a web. Very soon it was the black king who got caught in this web, and you must admit that 27.Qf7 is a very fitting end to the masterpiece. Can you blame anyone for being intimidated after seeing this?"
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