Judit Polgar. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The lawmakers of Hungary’s ruling Tisza party unanimously support chess legend Judit Polgar for president and will make afinal decision about the nomination at their next meeting, the parliamentary group’s leader Andrea Bujdoso said on Monday (July 20, 2026).
Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Sunday (July 19, 2026) that he would ask Ms. Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest ever female chess player, to take up the largely ceremonial role of President until a new constitution is passed.
On Saturday (July 18, 2026), Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment passed by Tisza that ended his term as president.
Electing a new President and drafting a new constitution are key elements of Mr. Magyar’s drive to dismantle former premier Viktor Orban’s bastions of power, for which Magyar says he received a strong mandate from voters.
Mr. Magyar ended the 16-year rule of Mr. Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party with a landslide election victory in April.
Parliament, where Mr. Magyar’s party has a two-thirds majority that allows it to change any laws, will elect a new president who will be in office until a planned new constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years.
Mr. Bujdoso said Tisza’s parliamentary group had agreed after a long discussion that Ms. Polgar, 49, was “patriotic, honourable, empathetic, brave, outstanding and dedicated in her profession”, and “able to express the nation’s unity”.
Ms. Polgar could not be reached for comment.
“The President of the republic must be a person who guards the unity of the nation and constitutionality,” Magyar told parliament.
Ms. Polgar, subject of the documentary “Queen of Chess” released in February, is the only female player to have been ranked in the world’s top 10 of what is a male-dominated sport.
She is the only woman to have crossed the rating of 2700, the threshold that many consider the definition of a “Super Grandmaster”.
Published – July 20, 2026 11:41 pm IST
