Hungarian President resigns, Prime Minister to nominate chess player Judit Polgar for position

Hungarian chess legend Judit Polgar said on Monday that she ​will not accept the nomination for president, only a day after ‌Prime Minister Peter Magyar said he would ask her to take up the largely ceremonial role, Reuters reports.

Electing a new president and drafting a new constitution are key elements of Magyar's plan ​to dismantle former premier Viktor Orban's bastions of power, for which ​Magyar says he received a strong mandate from voters.

Magyar ended ⁠the 16-year rule of Orban's nationalist Fidesz party with a landslide election ​victory in April.

On Saturday, Hungary's former President Tamas Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment passed ​by Magyar's ruling Tisza party that ended Sulyok's term as head of state.

Magyar said on Sunday that he would ask Polgar, widely regarded as the greatest ever female chess player, ​to take up the role of president until a new constitution is ​passed.

Polgar said in a Facebook post that she was grateful to be asked.

"However, I do ‌not ⁠feel enough strength within me to take on the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation, so I am unable to accept the request," she wrote.

Polgar, subject of the documentary "Queen of Chess" released in February, is the only ​female player to have ​been ranked ⁠in the world's top 10 of what is a male-dominated sport.

She is the only woman to have crossed the ​rating of 2700, the threshold that many consider the definition ​of a "Super ⁠Grandmaster".

Hungary's parliament will elect a new president who will be in office until a planned new constitution takes effect, or for a maximum of five years.

"The ⁠president ​of the republic must be a person who ​guards the unity of the nation and constitutionality," Magyar told parliament earlier on Monday.