Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said Sunday that he would ask Jewish chess legend Judit Polgar to become the country’s next president, turning to one of Hungary’s most internationally recognized figures as he presses ahead with a sweeping political and constitutional overhaul.
Magyar’s announcement came shortly after outgoing President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment that effectively ended his own term. Sulyok, a trusted ally of former prime minister Viktor Orban, had faced mounting pressure from Magyar, who has pledged to remove Orban loyalists from positions of influence and restore democratic institutions he says were weakened during Orban’s 16 years in power.
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Chess legend Judit Polgar and Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar
(Photo: REUTERS/Marton Monus, Ilya Melnikov)
“Our country needs unity, peace and a president whom the entire Hungarian people can be proud of,” Magyar wrote on Facebook.
“The office of president of the republic is not a profession and not a workplace, but the highest form of public service. The president’s role is to serve and represent all Hungarians.”
Magyar said Polgar had been recommended for the presidency by prominent figures in Hungarian public life and that he planned to meet her to ask whether she would be willing to serve until the adoption of a new constitution.
“Judit Polgar is such a person,” he wrote. “Tomorrow I will meet her and ask whether she is prepared to serve her country in a new role.”
Polgar, who turns 50 this week, is widely regarded as the greatest female chess player of all time. She spent 26 consecutive years at the top of the women’s world rankings while also breaking into the overall global top 10.
She is a five-time Chess Olympiad champion, an international grandmaster and a recipient of the Hungarian Order of St. Stephen. Her career was recently documented in the film “Queen of Chess,” and several weeks ago she was elected a fellow of Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge.
Polgar and her sisters
(Photo: Netflix)
“For decades, Judit Polgar’s name has stood for talent and perseverance,” Magyar wrote.
He said the respect she commands stems not from political affiliation or personal connections but from her “extraordinary talent, diligence, resilience and integrity.”
“She is a Hungarian whose achievements inspire respect and admiration both at home and around the world,” he added. “Personally, I would consider it a great privilege and an immense honor if she accepted this request.”
Hungarian news outlet Telex said Magyar was seeking an internationally respected public figure who is not identified with the country’s traditional political establishment for the largely ceremonial post.
If Polgar accepts the offer and is elected, she would become Hungary’s first president from the worlds of sports and chess and one of the most prominent Jewish figures ever to serve as the country’s head of state.
Polgar spent much of her career competing against men and defeated world champions including Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. She was also among the inspirations for the hit series “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Her family is well known in Hungary’s Jewish community. Her older sister, Susan Polgar, lives in the United States, while other family members live in Israel.
Polgar and Garry Kasparov
(Photo: Netflix)
Polgar spoke openly about that connection in an interview with ynet in February.
“I am very proud to be Jewish,” she said. “I know how difficult things are for us now, and I am very much with you there in Israel.”
She said she had her own way of fighting back and moving forward amid rising antisemitism around the world.
“It is amazing to me how many difficult days Israelis are going through and yet still manage to smile and live their daily lives,” she said. “I hope we all have the strength to keep smiling.”
Magyar’s approach to Polgar followed the passage of a constitutional amendment by his ruling Tisza party that brought Sulyok’s presidency to an immediate end.
The amendment cited a “serious loss of public confidence” in Sulyok, who was elected in early 2024 by lawmakers from Orban’s Fidesz party.
Magyar won a historic general election victory in April, ending Orban’s 16-year premiership. His center-right Tisza party secured a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, giving it the power to amend the constitution and reverse measures adopted under the previous government.
Among its first moves was a constitutional change limiting any individual to a cumulative maximum of eight years as prime minister.
Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and PM Peter Magyar
(Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images, Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
Since taking office, Magyar has repeatedly called on Sulyok to resign, accusing him of failing to block anti-democratic measures advanced under Orban and frequently describing him as the former prime minister’s “puppet.”
When Sulyok refused to step down, Magyar’s parliamentary bloc approved an amendment forcing him from office and gave him five days to sign it.
On Saturday, hours before the deadline, Magyar posted a photograph of himself wearing sunglasses and drinking coffee alongside the words: “Tick-tock, tick-tock.”
Sulyok later said he had no choice but to approve the amendment because it complied with the letter of the law.
The former Constitutional Court judge nevertheless warned that Magyar’s reform agenda had damaged the rule of law.
“The 17th amendment to the constitution marks a turning point in Hungary’s constitutional democracy,” Sulyok said.
“By removing public officeholders in a manner that openly violates the rule of law, it sets a negative precedent that leaves a deep wound in the constitutional values of democracy, the separation of powers and the rule of law.”
Viktor Orban
(Photo: AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Orban also condemned the move.
“Tyranny is no longer a threat but a reality,” he wrote on Facebook. “If this can be done to the president, tomorrow no one will be safe.”
Since its April defeat, Orban’s Fidesz party has been hit by a series of senior resignations and declining public support.
Parliament must now elect a permanent president within 30 days. Magyar’s Tisza party holds the two-thirds majority needed to determine the outcome.
Although Hungary’s presidency is largely ceremonial, the officeholder can return legislation to parliament for reconsideration or refer it to the Constitutional Court. Magyar had feared Sulyok could use those powers to obstruct or delay the reforms his government is seeking to advance.