India, April 13 -- "It's not too late to back out" - Laszlo Polgar warned his daughter Susan as she set off for the airport, bound for Beijing. It was October 1992 and Susan had decided to play the Women's Candidates tournament, much against her father's will.

For Susan, then in her early twenties, it was her first women's event (other than the Olympiad). In 1991, Susan had become the first female chess player to earn a Grandmaster title through the required number of tournament norms. Laszlo had trained his three daughters - Susan, Sofia and Judit, in the game, wanting them to focus on playing male players and staying out of women's events for good.

Susan ended up scoring a historic 9.5 points out of 10 in the Women's Candidates.

It w...