Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on July 20, 2026, that he plans to ask chess grandmaster Judit Polgár to serve as Hungary's president, filling a vacancy created after parliament approved a constitutional amendment ending Tamás Sulyok's term. Magyar said he would meet Polgár on Monday, July 20, to discuss the role The Guardian.

The announcement caps a months-long standoff between Magyar and Sulyok, who was appointed president during Viktor Orbán's time in power. Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April 2026 and was sworn in as prime minister in May, repeatedly called on Sulyok to step down, accusing him of being an Orbán "puppet." Magyar's Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority in parliament — enough to amend the constitution. Lawmakers voted to back an amendment that included an immediate end to Sulyok's term. Sulyok had five days to sign off on the legislation. He signed it, bringing his presidency to a close.

Magyar framed the nomination in national-unity terms on social media: "Our country needs unity, peace and a president that all Hungarians can be proud of. Judit Polgár's name has been synonymous with talent and perseverance for decades" The Guardian. He said he would ask Polgár to serve until a new constitution is passed, suggesting the appointment is envisioned as transitional rather than a full five-year mandate, which is the maximum term for the office.

The idea of nominating Polgár originated in an open letter signed by 16 prominent Hungarians, including Ernő Rubik, inventor of the Rubik's Cube. The presidency itself is largely ceremonial — the president represents the nation at official events but does not set policy or run the government. The constitutional maneuvering required to vacate it, however, was not. Magyar insisted the changes are needed as part of a wider push to loosen Orbán's lingering grip on Hungarian institutions. Human Rights Watch, however, warned that the rushed constitutional changes to oust the president were "reminiscent of the Fidesz era," drawing a parallel between Magyar's methods and those of the government he replaced.

The presidential appointment must be voted on by parliament but is expected to pass easily given Tisza's two-thirds majority. No date for that vote has been specified.

Polgár, born in Budapest, will turn 50 in late July 2026. She is widely considered the greatest female chess player of all time. At age 15, she became the youngest grandmaster in the world, breaking the record set in 1958 by Bobby Fischer. She held the top ranking among female players for 25 years and retired from competitive chess in 2014. In 2002, she defeated Garry Kasparov, the reigning world champion at the time, in a tournament game. Her rise in the chess world was the subject of the 2026 Netflix documentary Queen of Chess.

Polgár's relationship with the Hungarian state predates this nomination. She was awarded the Magyar Szent István-rend (Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen) by President János Áder on August 20, a national holiday (kormany.hu). She also lit the flame at the Maccabiah Games, a Jewish sporting event where Áder served as main patron (kormany.hu, 2019), and was acknowledged in the Hungarian Parliament for her first Chess Olympiad success (kormany.hu).

The broader context here is the speed and method of the transition. Magyar's government used its supermajority to amend the constitution specifically to end a sitting president's term, then secured Sulyok's own signature on the legislation that removed him. For Magyar's supporters, this is dismantling the scaffolding Orbán left behind. For critics, including Human Rights Watch, it mirrors the constitutional engineering that characterized Fidesz's own period of dominance. The choice of Polgár, a figure with no partisan profile and near-universal name recognition, allows Magyar to project unity while consolidating control over the presidency. Whether Polgár accepts, and what conditions she might attach, remains an open question.