“I started when I was five, and grew up playing against adults and agai...” — Judit Polgar Quote

I started when I was five, and grew up playing against adults and against men most of the time.

I love chess very much. I love the game, the challenges. I could motivate myself as I was curious about how to improve every game. In chess, it's very clear that if you make a mistake you are punished. If you play well, you win.

We had a happy childhood, our parents were strict but loving, and I was together with my sisters, who were my best friends.

When the Ladies Chess Club was founded in London in 1895 and the first international women-only competition took place two years later, most clubs and competitions didn't accept women at all.

After 9/11, there was so much distress in America that it led to an inter-cultural breakdown. Some of our communities were targeted. Many of our adults shut themselves off from other cultures. I tried to bring children of Indian and other cultures together in my literature.

Neuroscience is now a very important research area in biology. We are now understanding a lot more about brains in babies, as well as children and adults.

Kids who evolve into creative adults tend to have a strong moral compass.

I write for young people because I like them and because I think they are important. Children's books can be mind-stretchers and imagination-ticklers and builders of good taste in a way that adult books cannot, because young people usually come to books with more open minds. It's exciting to be able to contribute to that in a small way.