Making a Genius

Is it possible to make any child a genius or are geniuses born with a certain temperament? Here’s a fascinating true story.

In 1973, four-year-old Susan opened the cupboard of their guest room and saw many chess pieces fell out of a small bag. Just next to them was a rolled-up chess mat. She took the mat out and looked at the pieces with the intrigue comparable to any other child of her age.

“What are these, Mummy?” Susan asked innocently, holding a piece in her hand and examining it.

“These are chess pieces, Zsuzsa,” she said, careful to not sound too enthusiastic, worried it might just kill Susan’s excitement. When parents are too excited to introduce something to a child, almost always, the child rejects it. I don’t think children do it consciously, it’s more a reflex action in the beginning. They hear parents saying no all the time and that no becomes their standard response too. And once children discover the joys of rebellion, they stick with their original ‘no’ for a long time. Klara Polgar, however, was better prepared.

Eight years earlier, in 1965, Laszlo Polgar, a teacher in Hungary, had started courting Klara by writing letters. He held two degrees in psychology and education and a PhD with his dissertation in developmental capabilities. In his spare time, he would play chess. During their courtship, Laszlo had told Klara that he was working on a lifelong experiment of making geniuses and that he “needed a wife to…