Strategic move by Magyar as he picks chess prodigy for president

Judit Polgár says she does not ‘feel enough strength within me’ to take on the responsibility of uniting a divided nation

The Hungarian chess ⁠legend Judit Polgár has said she will not accept the nomination for president, only a day after the ⁠prime minister, Péter Magyar , ⁠said he ​would ask her to take up the largely ceremonial role.

Magyar had said he would meet Polgár on Monday to discuss the matter. “Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of,” he wrote on social media. “Judit Polgár’s name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades.”

Polgár, 49, said later in a Facebook post that she was grateful to ‌be asked but added: “I do not feel enough strength within me to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation, ​so I am unable to accept the request.”

Polgár – the 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 the 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.

The latest developments come after a months-long standoff between the newly elected Magyar and Tamás Sulyok, the president appointed during the former leader Viktor Orbán’s time in power.

Since his landslide victory in April, Magyar has repeatedly called on Sulyok to step down, accusing him of being a puppet who had failed to stand up for the country as Orbán’s rightwing, nationalist Fidesz party was criticised for weakening democratic institutions and undermining the rule of law.

Hungary’s parliament – where Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority – voted last week to back a constitutional amendment that included an immediate end to Sulyok’s term . From there, Sulyok had five days to sign off on the amendment.

The manoeuvre was criticised by several rights groups in Hungary, including Human Rights Watch, which said the rushed constitutional changes to oust the president were “reminiscent of [the] Fidesz era”.

Magyar, however, has insisted that the changes are needed as part of a wider push to loosen Orbán’s lingering grip on the country.

As news emerged that Sulyok had signed the legislation, bringing an end to his time in office, Magyar proposed nominating Polgár as his replacement. The idea was first floated in an open letter signed by 16 prominent Hungarians, including Ernő Rubik, theinventor of the Rubik’s Cube.

Born in Budapest, Polgár, who will turn 50 in a few days, had been the top-ranked female player for 25 years when she retired in 2014. She became the youngest grandmaster in the world at the age of 15, breaking the record set in 1958 by Bobby Fischer.

She won victories against several male world champions including Garry Kasparov in 2002.

Since being swept into power on the promise of “regime change”, Magyar and his party have moved swiftly to dismantle the bastions of Orbán’s 16 years in power, from suspending news broadcasts by public media outlets with ties to the former prime minister to abolishing the sovereignty protection office, which had allowed intelligence services to access information on individuals and organisations without judicial oversight.