E-Book Overview
Well before having children, Laszlo Polgar wrote Bring Up Genius! where he explained “Genius equals work and fortunate circumstances” and “Geniuses are made, not born”. Laszlo went on to prove his theory by raising three exceptional female chess players - Susan Polgar achieved the GM title at 21, Judit Polgar at 15, and sister Sofia is a strong IM. While Laszlo certainly maintains an above-average IQ, biological predisposition alone cannot explain these results. The Polgar sisters developed their impressive chess skills in a favorable environment conducive to very diligent, hard work. ------------------------------------------------------------ László Polgár (born 1946 in Gyöngyös), is a Hungarian chess teacher and father of the famous "Polgár sisters": Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit. He authored well-known chess books such as Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games and Reform Chess, a survey of chess variants. László is an expert on chess theory and owns over 10,000 chess books. He is interested in the proper method of rearing children, believing that "geniuses are made, not born". Before he had any children, he wrote a book entitled Bring Up Genius!, and sought a wife to help him carry out his experiment. He found one in Klara, a schoolteacher, who lived in a Hungarian-speaking enclave in Ukraine. He married her in the USSR and brought her to Hungary. He home-schooled their three daughters, primarily in chess, and all three went on to become strong players. An early result was Susan's winning the Budapest Chess Championship for girls under 11 at the age of four. Also his daughter, Judit, could defeat him at chess when she was just five.
E-Book Content
Raise a Genius! By Laszlo Polgar Original Edition: Laszlo Polgar: Nevelj zsenit! Budapest, 1989 Interviewer: Endre Farkas Esperanto translation by Jozefo Horvath Budapest, 2004 Translated from Esperanto by Gordon Tisher Vancouver, 2017 Copyright © 2017 Gordon Tisher. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to make a single electronic copy of this work for individual personal use. Publication or sale in any form is forbidden. v1.1 2017-07-31 Raise a Genius! - 1 Table of Contents Foreword 2 I. Mysteries of Pedagogical Experiments 3 1. Instead of an introduction . . . the Polgar family 3 2.The tipping point: heredity or education, giving or receiving? 7 II. Education is Also Possible This Way 12 1. Contemporary Schools 12 2. Every child is a promise 16 3. Genius: treasure or burden? 23 4. Should children be made outstanding? 31 5. Esperanto: The first stage of foreign language learning 39 III. Chess 44 1. Why chess? 44 2. How did the Polgar sisters learn to play chess? 51 3. How do we get our children to like chess? 60 4. Chess in psychology, psychology in chess 64 5. On the emancipation of women 69 IV. The Meaning of the Whole Thing 77 1. The family as a value An example from Mrs. Klara Polgar: A thread goes where the needle pulls it 77 83 2. In the minority 88 3. Chief witness for genius education: the happy children 93 4. Your life should be an ethical model 101 Biography of Laszlo Polgar 107 The Polgar Girls’ Latest Competition Results 108 Elo Ratings 109 Raise a Genius! - 2 Foreword Genius = Labor + Luck Happiness = Labor + Luck + Love + Freedom This book of mine appeared in Hungarian in 1989. In it I described and summarized my psychological a