54 Facts About Anna Rudolf

Anna Rudolf was born on 12 November 1987 and is a Hungarian chess player, chess commentator, livestreamer, and YouTuber who holds the titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster.

Anna Rudolf is a three-time Hungarian women's national chess champion and has represented Hungary at the Chess Olympiad and the European Team Chess Championship.

Anna Rudolf has a peak FIDE rating of 2393 and a career-best ranking of No 71 in the world among women.

Anna Rudolf did not qualify for the International Master title until seven years later in 2014, having earned her three IM norms years apart in 2007,2010, and 2014, and briefly reaching the rating threshold of 2400 in 2010.

Outside of her playing career, Anna Rudolf is a regular chess commentator at high-profile tournaments, having worked with both Chess.

Anna Rudolf was the official commentator for the 2018 World Chess Championship together with her childhood idol Judit Polgar.

Anna Rudolf had started producing instructional videos for chess24 in 2013, and has co-hosted a series with fellow IM Sopiko Guramishvili where they are known respectively as Miss Strategy and Miss Tactics.

Since 2017, Anna Rudolf has not played any competitive chess tournaments and focused primarily on her broadcasting career.

Anna Rudolf launched her own Twitch channel in 2018 and runs her own YouTube channel.

Anna Rudolf was born in Miskolc, which was then in the Hungarian People's Republic, on 12 November 1987.

Anna Rudolf grew up in Bataszek and has a younger sister named Kata.

Anna Rudolf's father, Laszlo Rudolf, is an experienced chess player with a peak FIDE rating of 2185.

Anna Rudolf has been a world champion of hexagonal chess.

Anna Rudolf learned how to play chess at the age of four with her sister through the Battle Chess computer game, which follows the same rules as chess while animating moves and captures anthropomorphically.

Anna Rudolf won the under-12 girls' division of an international youth chess tournament in Visegrad in 1998, while her sister won the under-10 girls' division.

Anna Rudolf won the under-12 girls' division of the Hungarian national championship in 1999, the same year her sister won the under-10 girls' division.

Anna Rudolf later studied Russian and English at the University of Pecs.

Anna Rudolf had the opportunity to play against Polgar at age 11 when she traveled to Budapest to participate in a simultaneous exhibition given by Polgar.

Anna Rudolf later became good friends with Polgar, helping to promote the annual Global Chess Festival started by Polgar, and the two commentated on the 2018 World Chess Championship together.

Anna Rudolf first reached a FIDE rating above 2000 in January 2000 at the age of 12, having been rated 2087 on that list.

Anna Rudolf rose to a rating of 2100 in the middle of 2002 at age 14 mainly from two second-place finishes at the First Saturday FM B tournament in Budapest and the under-20 Hungarian Junior Girls' Championship in Paks.

Anna Rudolf rose another 100 points again the following year, reaching 2200 in July 2003 at age 15.

Anna Rudolf maintained a steady rating of around 2200 for a three-year period from mid-2003 until mid-2006.

Anna Rudolf played the under-18 the following year in 2005, and finished in third place.

Anna Rudolf finished 2006 with a rating of 2279, having just turned 19 years old.

Anna Rudolf won the first four rounds of the event, including victories over Christian Bauer and Cyril Marzolo, the former of which was the top seed and a GM rated 2634, and the latter was an IM rated 2478.

Anna Rudolf faced the most difficult opposition in the tournament with her opponents having an average rating of 2421.

Anna Rudolf squandered an opportunity to finish equal first by losing her last game, which she had needed to win, against Ilmars Starostits.

The tournament became enshrouded in controversy when three Latvian players falsely accused Anna Rudolf of cheating by hiding a computer in her lip balm.

Marie Boyarchenko, another player at the event, believed these actions were key factors in Anna Rudolf losing that last-round game.

Anna Rudolf was officially awarded the WGM title in 2008.

Anna Rudolf was undefeated at the tournament, and won her games against both the second and third-place finishers.

Anna Rudolf entered her first tournament of the next rating period, the Heart Of Finland, needing seven rating points to reach 2400.

Anna Rudolf then began her next event, the Open Internacional Hotel Avenida de Canarias in Spain, with two wins against much lower-rated players.

Anna Rudolf was unable to match her success in the Hungarian women's national championship the remaining times she participated.

Anna Rudolf kept a steady rating in the low 2300s and high 2200s for about four years from mid-2012 through mid-2016, having fallen slightly from her peak in 2010.

At the 2012 Open International de Cappelle, Anna Rudolf won a game against Yaroslav Zherebukh, a GM who with a rating of 2642 was the highest-rated player she ever defeated.

Anna Rudolf was awarded the International Master title in 2015.

Nonetheless, Anna Rudolf was able to regain that lost rating and more in the last two events of her career in late 2017.

Between these last two events, Anna Rudolf gained 65 rating points to finish her competitive playing career with a rating of 2325.

Anna Rudolf was a member of the Hungary Chess Olympiad women's team from 2008 to 2012.

Anna Rudolf made her debut at the 2008 Dresden Olympiad on the fourth board, playing behind Hoang Thanh Trang, Szidonia Vajda, and Ildiko Madl.

Anna Rudolf was again on the fourth board at the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad behind the same three teammates, with Madl swapping boards with Vajda.

Anna Rudolf made her last Olympiad appearance at the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad, this time on the third board behind Hoang and Ticia Gara and ahead of Anita Gara as well as Papp, who was given a significant number of games as a reserve.

Anna Rudolf represented Hungary in the women's division at the European Team Chess Championship from 2009 to 2015, an event that is held every two years like the Chess Olympiad.

Hungary produced their best result in the years Anna Rudolf participated, finishing in sixth place with 11 points.

Anna Rudolf began her online instructional career by creating a video series for chess24 in 2013.

Anna Rudolf had already begun to combine teaching chess with her playing career when she moved to Spain and resided in Madrid in 2010.

Anna Rudolf has released several online training courses, including one titled the Anna Rudolf Method and another via the Chessable course website on attacking strategies in chess.

Anna Rudolf launched her own YouTube channel in 2016, and began streaming on her own Twitch channel in 2018.

Anna Rudolf has been in a relationship with Irish YouTuber Kevin O'Reilly, better known as CallMeKevin, since 2019.

In July 2021, the couple moved to Spain, where Anna Rudolf has permanent residency from living there previously.

Anna Rudolf later revealed that she had never "officially" left Spain, and was actually visiting O'Reilly in Ireland when COVID-19 lockdowns prevented her from leaving.

In 2017, Anna Rudolf was named "Outstanding Athlete of the City" in her hometown of Bataszek during its 875th anniversary celebration.