Susan, only in her mid-thirties, is already a living legend. She was the first woman to prove that women can play at the level of a strong Grandmaster. She even qualified for the Men's World Championship when she was only 17 years old, by placing second in the Hungarian Championship. At the time, organizers barred her from playing in the World Championship, arguing that she could play in the women's World Championship. However, Susan wanted to play in the Men's World Championship, a stronger and more prestigious event than the women's edition. After years of lawyers and fans promoting her cause, FIDE finally relented and allowed Susan to play in the World Junior Championship, which had previously been just for boys. Ever since, women have been permitted to play in "men's" events.

Susan is one of three awesome Polgar chess sisters. Susan, Sofia (b.1974) and Judit (b. 1976) spent their childhoods training diligently in chess, for six to eight hours a day. On their off hours, they played ping pong and studied other subjects. Their father, Lazslo was an innovative educator as well as an amateur chessplayer. After teaching the girls the moves, he hired coaches to train them. Despite missing regular school, the Polgars' general education is remarkable. Susan speaks seven languages fluently. When asked if she felt she had missed anything from her highly structured childhood, she only said: "Goofing off!"

Susan's early political and competitive triumphs paved the way for her sisters to jumpstart successful careers. Judit, the youngest sister became the strongest woman in history, topping the women's rating list at the age of 13. She's stayed there ever since. Judit's overall worldwide ranking hovers in and just out of the top ten. Middle sister Sofia also had a successful career in her teens. Now Sofia lives in Israel, works as an interior designer and is inactive in chess tournaments.

Susan achieved the Grandmaster title in 1991. She is proud to be the first woman to get her norms through grueling round robin tournaments against top male players. Today, there are ten women worldwide who hold the GM title among men. Susan is the only American woman who holds the GM title.

Susan moved to the U.S.A in 1995 to marry Jacob Shutzman, now her ex-husband. She didn't only move for love though. Susan was enamored of New York from her teenaged trips here for the New York Opens "I rode the subway and marveled that each person was a different color" she said.

Although she was reluctant to play in women's tournaments in her youth, Susan decided to go all out for the Women's World Championship in 1992. She realized the title would help her promote chess. After winning a series of qualifying matches, Susan defeated the Chinese World Champion Xie Jun, in a match in Jaen, Spain. Susan surprised Xie Jun by diverging from her regular 1.d4 openings and playing 1.e4 for the first serious game of her life!

Susan's record as a team player is impeccable: She has never lost a game (out of 56) in an Olympiad. She led her sisters to victory in both the Novi Sad and Thessalonica Olympiad, breaking Soviet dominance of the title during the period. For the 2004 Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain, she decided to help the American team achieve such heights. She played magnificently on board one, silencing detractors who wondered if she's be rusty after almost a decade of inactivity. She earned the gold medal for her board one performance and led the U.S. women�s team to a silver medal finish, a historic feat.

Susan's greatest strength is in calculating and in endgames. She advises aspiring players to focus on gaining proficiency in these areas. She recommends Mark Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, GM Lev Alburt's 300 Most Important Chess Positions, and her own book, Chess Tactics for Champions (2006) .

Susan analyses a great game each month in her Chess Life column, Polgar's Pick. She updates a daily blog. In addition to several instructional books, Polgar and Truong co-authored the biography Breaking Through: How the Polgar Sisters changed the game of chess (2005).

Susan founded a community chess club in Rego Park, Queens as well as the Susan Polgar Chess Foundation. Her namesake non profit organizes open and invitational chess tournaments for girls as well as clinics and camps.

Susan is skilled at attracting media, from CBS to the Wall Street Journal with creative events. In August 2005, Susan Polgar played a simultaneous exhibition at a mall in Palm Beach where she broke the record for the largest number of "simul" games. (326!) She began the marathon session at 10:30 am and was still playing at 3 a.m. You can bet she wasn't wearing heels!