BUDAPEST, February 6, 2020 - ‘We are no boring people’, those were words from Sofia Polgar, a former chess player who holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster. She was invited on the stage of the 83rd AIPS Congress by the President of the Hungarian Chess Federation, Mr Laszlo Szabo who also explained why the 46th Chess Olympiad 2024 should be held in Budapest.
Hungary is a well-recognized chess country, having several world and chess Olympic champions, which is a good enough reason why, with a population of about 10 million, there are about 300 sports clubs and approximately 10.000 chess players. Those were the statistics given by Mr Szabo who is interested in organizing the 46th Chess Olympiad 2024 if Budapest is selected as the host city.
Sofia Polgar, a five-time chess Olympic champion and one of the greatest athletes in Hungary, in a low but very confident voice, delivered an interesting talk on the Budapest bid.
She caught the attention of the room by saying that chess players are not boring people, and that the sport which has been a huge part of her life for as long as she can remember is much more lively and interesting than only a black and white sport/game.
Sofia, who moved with her husband, also a Grandmaster, to Canada several years ago, has never been far from chess, and now that she has retired from competing she even feels closer to it. Nowadays, she teaches chess to kids and younger people, who learn and play without even realizing that they are doing something absolutely great for their lives.
That is exactly what her parents did for her and her sisters, who are also well-known chess champions. At the beginning, her parents did not know chess was going to be a sport, but they knew their children would be very successful, having built their education around chess.
Sofia’s story was absolutely inspiring for those in the grand ballroom of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest on Wednesday. She is a woman that that broke barriers in the sport, competing against men and beating them until she became one of the greatest athletes of her time.
Before wrapping up the session, Laszlo, took the stage again to make emphasis on why Budapest should host the 46th Chess Olympiad 2024:
- It will be a Green Chess Olympiad, environmental friendly city transport, non-plastic policy, no waste paper.
- First 5G Olympiad. Real time hologram competition
- First equal number of men’s and women’s competitors
- Kids will be in focus
The International Chess Federation will be deciding on the host city for the 2024 Chess Olympiad at its congress in Khanty-Mansiysk in August and the Hungarian Federation will look forward to a final answer.
