Judit Polgar is the most powerful female chess player ever. She was the top rated female player in the world for over continuous 26 years from 1989 until August 2015, when she became inactive after her retirement in August 2014. She reached a peak rating of 2735 and a peak ranking of #8, both in 2005.

After winning the U12 and U14 Boys World Championships in 1988 and 1990 respectively, she became a Grandmaster by winning the "men's" Hungarian championship in 1991 at the age of fifteen years and five months, at the time the youngest grandmaster in history, breaking Fischer’s record set in 1958.

Polgar is the only female to have contested the World Championship for all players when she participated in the FIDE World Championship Tournament (2005). She also played in the 2007 Candidates Tournament.

Polgar's notable tournament performances include:

• 1^st (twice) and =1st (twice) at Essent
• 1st in London 1988,
• 1^st at Varna 1988
• =1^st at Hastings 1992/93
• 1st at Madrid in 1994
• 1st at the Isle of Lewis 1995
• =1st in the 1998 US Open
• =1st at Hoogeveen in 1998
• 1^st at the Japfa Classic in Bali in 2000
• 1st at the the Sigeman & Company International Tournament in Malmo
• =1st at the Najdorf Chess Festival 2000
• 4th in the 2001 European Championship
• 1st at the Superstars Hotel Bali (2002)
• 2^nd at Corus Group A (2003) and
• =1st first at the European Championship (2011), which qualified her for participation in the World Cup 2011, where she made it to the quarter final but losing to the eventual winner of that event, Peter Svidler

Polgar represented Hungary at the (open/men’s) Olympiads in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014, winning two team silver medals and an individual bronze medal during this era. At the European Team Championships 1999, she won a team silver medal (playing for Hungary), and an individual silver medal for her result on board 2.

In rapids, amongst many other results, she beat such luminaries as David Navara 6-2 in a rapid match in the Czech Republic in 2010, and later in 2010 she beat Vassily Ivanchuk 2.5-1.5 and Veselin Topalov 3.5-0.5 to win the rapid Ajedrez UNAM Quadrangular (2010). In blitz, her rating reached 2736 (world #30 & women's world #1).

Polgar first entered the top 100 at #55 in January 1989 at the age of 12 when her rating reached 2555. She is still the youngest player to have entered the top 100.