Laszlo Polgar, a Hungarian psychology teacher, fully supported the idea that people are not born geniuses, but become. Laszlo set out to test this theory on his own children and turn them into great chess players simply by teaching them the game of chess from infancy and playing with them throughout their lives right up to their teenage years.
He negotiated this parenting tactic with his wife. They had three children — Zhuzha, Sofia and Judit, so Laszlo received ready-made material for developing his theory. We do not claim that the only reason why he had children was to confirm the conclusions of his master’s thesis by example, but it is clear that this was the main reason.
Laszlo arranged for all three of his daughters to be homeschooled. The girls would start their day with a few hours of table tennis, then play chess for eight hours, with Laszlo doing some tests of their abilities in between.
Interaction with other children was forbidden for girls, despite the fact that the government at one point threatened to put the father in a psychiatric hospital if he did not allow them to study according to the existing education system. As a result, they agreed that the girls would be home-schooled and take the final exam every year.
Children were not allowed to play with any standard toys or friends as this would take up valuable time that could and should have been devoted to perfecting the game of chess. And, despite the fact that Laszlo seemed crazy, all three girls eventually became Grand Masters, and Judit is one of the 20 best chess players in the world and is considered the best female player of all time and peoples. The daughters are grateful to Laszlo for his efforts, as his pathological obsession with genius was eventually inherited by them.