Just as Dr Ericsson took people with no discernible talent and turned them into champions, so, in a fashion, did a Hungarian, Laszlo Polgar.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?

Susan Polgar, aged 28, one of the six female grandmasters and the women's world champion, was born in Budapest, but now lives in New York.

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But through a deliberate (and still continuing) psychological experiment, Dr Polgar and his wife created a trio of world-class chess champions out of their own daughters, overturning this prejudice.

ECONOMIST: Who wants to be a genius?