How I became friends with the Queen of Chess, Judit Polgar

0:00 Queen of Chess has recently been released on Netflix and is

0:02 already one of the most watched films on the platform.

0:05 It is the true Queen's Gambit story, the real Beth Harmon.

0:09 Judith Pulgar is the only female player in the world that has

0:13 ever got [music] into the top top of the chess world.

0:16 And this story, if you haven't watched it yet,

0:19 will change your life in the best of ways.

0:21 It's truly [music] inspiring.

0:24 In this video though, I'm going to tell you about my truly inspiring story.

0:28 At least how she inspired me.

0:29 She was my idol growing up in Hungary.

0:32 So, I'm going to tell you how she became

0:33 from idol [music] to one of my close friends.

0:36 And I'll also tell you how you and I can be part of a world

0:40 record attempt [music] at playing a gigantic

0:43 chess match against the legend herself, Judith Puler.

0:48 Couch time story time.

0:50 I learned to play chess when I was four and I grew up in Hungary.

0:53 So obviously the superstar that I grew up looking

0:57 up at, admiring and idolizing is Judith [music] Pular.

1:01 Judith was already a superstar by the time I started

1:04 playing my first chess tournaments [music] at the age of seven.

1:06 I was studying her games.

1:08 I had the book that her dad published about chess puzzles.

1:12 [music] And when I was 11, I got to travel up to the big city

1:17 of Budapest [music] to play in a simultaneous exhibition against Judith.

1:22 To me, that [music] was a lifechanging memory, a life-changing moment.

1:27 I remember picking out my outfit and I

1:30 put on my favorite white pants because that was

1:33 such a big deal to me that I was going to meet my idol [music] in person.

1:38 I got to play a game against her and I got to ask for her autograph.

1:42 She already had this really cool signature where there's a smiley face in the J.

1:47 [music] And just this memory of having met

1:49 the person I admired so much and to this day

1:52 I admire so much [music] and how it inspired

1:55 me and motivated me to continue practicing [music] chess,

1:59 training, learning so that I could be

2:01 also someone maybe not as strong as Judith, but to become an Olympic player.

2:06 That was my goal as a kid.

2:08 I had this picture on my wall of me with the Olympic symbol,

2:12 which is something I cut out from a box

2:14 of multivitamins because they were the sponsor of the Olympic team.

2:18 So, I cut out the emblem of the Olympic team.

2:20 I glued it onto my picture and I had it on my wall in my bedroom for years.

2:25 It took me a long time from that moment

2:28 of meeting Judith to actually becoming an Olympian myself.

2:32 I was 20 when I won the Hungarian

2:34 Women's Championship [music] for the first time.

2:36 And by winning the women's championship,

2:38 I got to become part of the Hungarian national team,

2:41 [music] which to me was like the biggest day in the world.

2:44 This is what I fought for since I was a kid, training,

2:47 [music] practicing, going to tournaments, and now at the age of 20,

2:51 I am on the Olympic team, on the women's team,

2:53 and Judith is on the open team, of course,

2:56 but we were sitting at the same table.

2:59 Can you imagine this?

3:00 how big of a deal that was to me that now I'm

3:03 sitting at the same table as my idols Judith Pogar and Peter Leo.

3:08 The two of them were still the players I continuously studied and learned

3:12 from [music] and now we are just hanging out in the hotel lobby.

3:16 We are sitting at the dinner table because [music]

3:19 for two weeks now we are the full-on Olympic team,

3:22 the the open team and the women's [music] team.

3:24 We're spending a lot of time together and to me that was like oh my god.

3:30 So first day in Dresden, Germany, that's my first chess Olymp.

3:35 I sit down at the dinner table and that's when for the first

3:39 time [music] I'm actually meeting Judith as in we are on the same

3:44 team scenario and not that oh my god she is my idol

3:48 cuz she still is my idol but I need to stop fangirling.

3:51 I need to behave normal and behave normal [laughter] how to do that.

3:55 It was I remember being so excited and so nervous at the same

3:58 time because I never met a celebrity in my life at this point.

4:01 I was just like, you know,

4:02 some someone studying at university having just normal friends,

4:07 no one that would be famous or a celebrity.

4:09 So I had no idea [music] how famous

4:11 people behave or what are they like in person.

4:14 And I remember that this very first dinner

4:18 I sit down after arriving at the hotel

4:21 and I just I just couldn't believe how normal they are in the best of ways.

4:28 Judith and Peter Peter Leo were both just like

4:33 the most down to earth humble human beings you meet.

4:39 like just like someone that's like you know the the girl

4:44 next door like they were just like so normal.

4:46 I couldn't believe how there was no like you know

4:50 they are the famous people they are the the the super

4:53 strong the everyone idolizes them and they are these big

4:58 legends and superstars and [music] there was none of that.

5:01 Judith in particular,

5:04 I think her and I got to [music] get on very well from the beginning

5:10 because we were just so similar in a lot of things and still are.

5:15 [music] I guess that's why we are friends now

5:18 because we have a lot of things in common.

5:20 But at the time I didn't know at the time it's just,

5:22 you know, I'm eating this superstar,

5:23 my chess idol and I'm sitting at the same dinner table and I'm like,

5:26 "Oh my god, they are talking to me and we are talking about normal things.

5:30 We are talking about the food.

5:31 We are talking about the hotel.

5:32 We are talking about where to go uh on the free day.

5:35 Uh how was the trip?

5:36 We are just talking about like human things.

5:40 And to me that was very unique,

5:44 very special how normal everything was from the first

5:49 moment of hanging out with them now [music] as teammates.

5:54 And with Judith, we ended up being

5:57 on the on the Hungarian team very many times at chess Olympias,

6:01 [music] at European team championships.

6:04 And I think the more time we got to spend together,

6:06 the more we realize that we have a lot

6:08 in common in terms of like our personalities,

6:10 being so [music] driven and passionate about the things we love and Judith

6:14 hired me to be part of her team on the global chess festival.

6:18 So we start working as [music] a very small core team

6:21 for the global chess festival and I end up being on these Skype

6:24 calls with Judith [music] and her sister Sophia just it's just

6:29 a handful of us and we come up with this hashtag together

6:33 #chessconnects [music] us which has been the slogan of her festival

6:36 ever since it was just us brainstorming on the call on how

6:40 can we how can we put it into words [music] that chess

6:44 truly is something that goes beyond language that goes beyond on ethnicity,

6:49 religion, [music] your status, where you come from.

6:52 It it can bridge across anything really.

6:55 It can truly connect people.

6:56 Coming up [music] with the hashtag chessconnects us

6:58 was this moment of like, yeah, that's it.

7:02 [music] We've got this.

7:03 And it has been the slogan of the global

7:05 chess festival that Judith organizes every single year.

7:08 It has been the slogan ever since.

7:11 And [music] I think it truly is such

7:13 a beautiful message about how chess is a bond.

7:16 And chess has been a bond between Judith and me

7:19 for so long through working together at the festival and also

7:23 becoming the commentators the official host of the 2018 World Chess

7:28 Championship match between Magnus Scott and [music] Fabiano Carana in London.

7:32 We are the two host two female hosts.

7:35 It's one of the first times in chess history that [music]

7:38 there are two female hosts and we just had a blast.

7:42 I remember the first day the [music] game ended so late that by the time

7:47 we got out of the venue after

7:49 the game concluded and we finished [music] the broadcast,

7:51 Woody Harelson was our guest on the first day and such.

7:55 Lots of stories I have for you, but on this particular day,

7:58 we finished so late, our [music] broadcast shift that there was nothing open.

8:02 It's London, center of London.

8:04 There's nothing open and we are starving.

8:07 [music] So, we found this subway that was just about to close.

8:10 We are just making a hit to grab a sandwich before they shut the doors,

8:14 but there is no time to sit down.

8:16 So, we bring back the sandwiches to Judith's hotel room and we

8:19 are sitting on the floor eating a Subway sandwich at 11:00 p.m.

8:24 concluding the first day of the championship match and us

8:27 commentating as the two female hosts of this badass event.

8:32 We were already friends by the time and I don't think there's like

8:34 an actual line from where we went

8:36 from teammates and colleagues to [music] friends.

8:39 It was just very natural.

8:40 I think we've always had a lot of things in common about how driven,

8:45 passionate, and enthusiastic we are.

8:47 Perfectionist and workaholics too, but we are learning to be less of that.

8:52 But just this feeling of bonding [music] through

8:56 our our joint passion for chess and for promoting chess [music]

9:01 and for for doing cool and motivating things together

9:05 like the festival and like hosting the world championship together.

9:10 A lot of special and bonding moments.

9:12 We went to the waterfalls in Iceland together and on the free day it

9:16 was just the two of us going to this cool spa place in Reikavik.

9:20 [music] And by cool spa place,

9:22 I mean it's November and some of these thermal bath are outdoors.

9:28 So you're sitting in freezing cold weather,

9:31 but you're sitting in this really warm, really hot thermal water.

9:35 You see the steam [music] coming out and just

9:38 like this whole setting that the air is freezing,

9:41 but you are in this healing warm water,

9:44 chatting with each other and looking at the stars.

9:47 at one of the European team championships [music] in Poland.

9:52 Usually my birthday falls at a chess Olympia or European

9:56 team championship because it's often in November those events.

9:59 [music] So I got to celebrate my birthday

10:02 with the Hungarian Olympic team very many times.

10:05 [music] And at the occasion in Poland,

10:07 I remember I was just being called in for a team meeting.

10:11 They told me [music] captain needs to see you team meeting.

10:15 There always is a team meeting every day at tournaments like this.

10:19 So I thought, okay, it's just another team meeting.

10:21 I'm going into the room and when I arrive,

10:23 everyone is already there with a big smile, including Judith.

10:26 They have a birthday cake for me.

10:28 And and later I learned that since no one is a smoker on the Hungarian team,

10:34 it was actually like a really difficult task [music]

10:38 for them to light the candles on my cake.

10:41 And it was Judith who found a grandmaster

10:44 in the lobby who could borrow a lighter to them

10:47 so that they could light up the candles

10:49 on my birthday [music] cake and celebrate my birthday with me.

10:53 I had so many more stories and maybe I should do

10:57 a part two of this video because Judith is an incredible friend.

11:02 She [music] picks me up at the airport so that we could

11:05 spend a couple of minutes together when [music] I'm just passing in Hungary.

11:08 It was one of those occasions and I was just going back home for Christmas.

11:12 So, I [music] didn't have time to spend in in Budapest where she lives,

11:16 but she would pick me up at the airport so

11:18 that we could talk in the car and spend time together.

11:22 Um, she bought me a mug one day that talks about

11:26 how chocoholic I am because it's what I [music] used to be.

11:30 She bought that mug because she she just saw it

11:33 in a store and it reminded her of me and she

11:37 bought it so that she could give it to me

11:39 like four months later when we were co-hosts in Norway again.

11:42 [music] Two female hosts Norway Chess.

11:47 Yeah, I have a lot of stories.

11:49 But what I also want to tell you about um is that now we have a chance,

11:54 you and me, to play against Judith as part of a world record attempt.

11:58 [music] So, here's how we're going to do it.

12:01 There is this gigantic chess match on chess.com.

12:04 Judith Pogar against the world.

12:06 I'm going to join the game and you too can and should join so

12:10 that you can tell everyone that you

12:11 are playing a game against the legend herself.

12:14 I have played a couple of games against Judy,

12:16 but never to this extent where we are trying to beat a world record.

12:20 So, bear with me.

12:21 [music] I'm going to grab my laptop.

12:23 I'm going to do this together.

12:24 World record attempt against [music] my friend,

12:27 against my idol, against the queen of chess, Judith Per.

12:33 All right.

12:34 In order to join the game, all you need to do is go

12:36 to go.chess.com/playjudit link in the description as well.

12:46 It takes you to this beautiful article.

12:48 [music] There's Judit and that's us, the world.

12:52 I am going to scroll down and show you how to join from here [music] on.

12:55 If you are using your phone, by the way,

12:57 you can paste this link into the browser.

12:59 You cannot join through the chess.com app.

13:01 So, make sure to use a browser, whether on phone or any device.

13:05 Go and use the URL gets you to this page.

13:10 I'm going to scroll down and click on play against Judith.

13:15 The game started a couple of days ago on the same

13:18 day when Queen of Chess came out, February the 6th.

13:22 So, there's already a couple of moves played,

13:23 but you can join at any [music] point of the game.

13:26 So, never too late, unless Judith already won the game,

13:29 but never too late for now to join the game.

13:32 And that's what I'm [music] going to do.

13:33 I'm going to click join.

13:35 I joined.

13:36 I'm part of the game against the legend herself,

13:39 the queen of chess, Judith Pogar.

13:42 We are playing with the black pieces.

13:43 Okay, that's that's our position at the moment.

13:45 This is called vote chess.

13:47 Every day we decide together what [music] move to make.

13:51 At the moment, Judith has pushed this pawn

13:54 attacking our central pawn and attacking the bishop.

13:56 So, we got to do something about that.

13:58 We don't want to give that bishop away for free.

14:01 And uh the way you do that is you make a move that you like.

14:04 For instance, if I'm like, [music] hm,

14:06 I think I would like to capture this pawn,

14:09 then I make that move, click the tick, and that's my [music] vote.

14:14 There's already over 65,000 of us in this game, but the more brains, the better.

14:20 So, please join me.

14:22 The more the better, and the more [music] we are,

14:24 the more likely that we're going to beat the world record.

14:27 Magnus C played a game like this.

14:30 That was the largest chess match online at the time.

14:33 Then Gotham chess played a chess match like this and his one beat the record.

14:37 And now Judith is our opponent and this [music] could potentially be the next

14:42 world record if we are enough people to take down Gotham Chess's record.

14:46 Let's do that.

14:47 Who likes Levy anyway?

14:49 Um [laughter] not me.

14:52 Poor Levy.

14:53 I always roast him and we are such good friends.

14:56 Now though, for [music] instance, um this is the move I voted for.

15:01 You can vote for a different move.

15:02 We still have 17 hours to make the decision.

15:05 So, this is my vote, but you can pick any [music] other move you like.

15:08 Make sure to not use the engine.

15:09 That's very important.

15:10 This is a game between Judith against us many

15:13 human brains trying to [music] team up and beat her.

15:16 I don't know how well we're going to do,

15:18 but we're going to try our best and we're going

15:20 to have a good time cuz [music] that is the most important.

15:24 So, in order to join, you already know the link,

15:26 but what you can also do is that there's a dedicated [music] Discord channel.

15:30 I'll drop the link to that in the description

15:33 as well and you can see it here on the video.

15:36 That Discord channel is a space where [music] we

15:39 can together discuss the moves and there's some help.

15:43 National Master Dane Matson from [music] the daily puzzles

15:46 on chess.com is on Discord to react to discuss the moves

15:50 that are being suggested and [music] try to help together

15:54 the thought process of playing our best chess against the queen herself.

16:00 And the most important is that you join the game

16:02 as soon as possible because we need your help.

16:05 The more brace the better.

16:07 I will be definitely checking in with the game every single day.

16:11 And I'll [music] post a couple of more videos about the progress

16:14 of how we are doing as the world against [music] my friend,

16:17 my idol, the one and only queen of chess, Judith vlogger herself.

16:22 [music] Thank you for watching this video.

16:25 I hope you like the story of her friendship with Judith.

16:27 And I hope that you will help me try to beat

16:31 her as difficult as it is cuz she is a fierce strong opponent.

16:36 might be retired, but she beat Magnus Carlson in just

16:40 19 moves [music] a few years ago in a park casually.

16:44 You know, that's what she does in her spare [music] time.

16:47 Casually beating the world number one.

16:50 So, I feared for our life in this game, but it's also a once in a lifetime

16:53 [music] opportunity to play against the queen of chess.

16:57 I hope you'll like the game.

16:59 I hope that you will watch Queen of Chess.

17:01 I already mentioned I'm in the film, too.

17:04 Maybe that's a story for another video.

17:07 But yeah, definitely join and I'll see you in the next one.

17:12 Good luck to us, the world.

17:14 [music] Let's make this a world record.