Hungary PM Magyar proposes chess grandmaster Judit Polgar for president

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has proposed chess grandmaster Judit Polgar for the position of president, which became vacant after a constitutional amendment passed last week removed the current president from office.

"Our country needs unity, peace and a president of whom all Hungarians can be proud," Magyar said in a Facebook post, adding that he will meet with Polgar on Monday to ask her if she would be willing to serve.

Polgar, who will turn 50 in a few days, is considered the greatest woman chess player of all time and was the top-ranked woman player for 25 years when she retired in 2014. Polgar and her two sisters – Zsuzsa (Susan) and Zsofia (Sofia) – along with Ildiko Madl won the 1988 Chess Olympiad for Hungary's women's team, ending Soviet dominance.

Judit Polgar played in tournaments against men and became one of the top players in a male-dominated sport. She is the only woman to have crossed the 2700-rating threshold that many consider the "Super GM" distinction.

Hungarian lawmakers last week passed an amendment that removed current President Tamas Sulyok, an ally of former prime minister Viktor Orban whom Magyar swept from power during elections this year. Magyar, who won his landslide victory in April on the promise of "regime change" after Orban's 16 years in power, has accused the unpopular president and other top state officials of being Orban's "puppets".

Sulyok's last day as president was Sunday and Agnes Forsthoffer, the speaker of parliament, is set to temporarily serve as head of state until parliament elects a new president within 30 days. Some rights groups have criticised the constitutional change, with Human Rights Watch saying the tinkering was "reminiscent of (the) Fidesz era", referring to Orban's party.