Best Chess Player of all Time! - Chess Forums - Page 2

Steve922477

Mar 15, 2012

0

#21

One thing which no-one can deny that Fischer was the best at is his contribution to the popularity and lucrativeness of chess.

Pre-Fischer, 500 chess players were topped by a World Champion winning $100. Post Fischer 500 million chess players were topped by a World Champion making $100,000 per move!

Almost overnight!

Steve (not a yankee)

Twill718

Mar 16, 2012

0

#22

gvanderford wrote:

Agree withTMIMITW.

Also, the simple comparison of highest ratings doesn't make any sense in choosing history's all time best player (not that there is any great system for doing this since it's obviously a matter of opinion).

The obvious problem is that there is the potential rating inflation issue which has been much discussed. That aside, as was noted above Fischer had a 73% all time tournament record, which I believe is the highest in history.

In addition, players like Morphy had no rating so cannot be compared to modern players. Simply judging the world's best player by how long they were world champion also doesn't work as we can see from Kasparov himself losing to Kramnik (a clearly weaker player both at the time and historically) due to his strubborness to continue to play the Berlin Wall which was obviously Kramnik's best chance to beat him.

So my point is that 1. Americans (or anyone from any country) who believe Bobby Fischer is the greatest player of all time are reasonable 2. There is never going to be a correct answer to this debate nor a perfect way to come up with who the best chess player of all time is and 3. It's great that people have different opinions about this as it's an interesting debate comparing all of the different players and styles from different eras. If you don't enjoy the discussion it's probably preferrable to simply ignore the thread rather than making comments that are negative in nature or aimed at disparaging certain points of view, especially if you are directing them at an entire nation like the US that has more members on this American based site than any other country.

My top 5 in order:

1. Fischer, Kasparov, Morphy, Alekhine, Karpov

well said!

Dodger111

Mar 16, 2012

0

#23

Can't believe no one has thought to mention Wilhelm Steinitz who developed modern positional play during the Romantic Era of chess and beat everyone in the world for 20 years while they were still stuck in the slash and burn tactics of the period.

Also any list of the best has to include Capablanca, who went 8 years in tournament play without ever losing a game. Has anybody else ever done that?

Rubidium

Mar 16, 2012

0

#24

The first few world champions had it tougher because they had to develop theory. Now modern people can just look it up.

PRFPascual

Mar 28, 2012

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#25

my top 5 in order :

1. Fischer, Robert James

2. Capablanca, Jose Raul

3. Kasparov, Garry

4. Morphy, Paul

5. Karpov, Anatoly

this is just my opinion...

I judged them based on their playstyle and not based on their rating.

travis1010

Mar 28, 2012

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#26

I think it's pretty much accepted that chess has improved over time, so the current best is most likely the best of all time.

TheGrobe

Mar 28, 2012

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#27

Depends on your measure of "best". In the purest sense that's probably right, but at the same time it's a little like comparing what the top grossing movies of all time were without accounting for inflation.

gaereagdag

Mar 28, 2012

0

#28

Paul Morphy. In spite of the immense talent of Fischer, Capablanca and Alekhine...I have to say Paul Morphy for the following reasons:

[1] Paul Morphy had to play when there was no real theory established. Sure, he made an effort to learn from the masters of the day such as Lowenthal, but then Morphy still had to develop theory for the first time in openings such as the Ruy Lopez.

[2] All the great players since have built upon and used Morphy's ideas.

[3] There was no engine around for opening preparation. There were few, if any coaches. Talent was all you had to use. Chess was about as theory-laden then as a game of Fischer Random.

AndyClifton

Mar 29, 2012

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#29

C H O'D Alexander

Strike-Eagle

Mar 29, 2012

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#30

Could be one of those homeless bums who play chess at the park all day.

fabelhaft

Mar 29, 2012

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#31

Dodger111 wrote:

Can't believe no one has thought to mention Wilhelm Steinitz who developed modern positional play during the Romantic Era of chess and beat everyone in the world for 20 years while they were still stuck in the slash and burn tactics of the period.

Also any list of the best has to include Capablanca, who went 8 years in tournament play without ever losing a game. Has anybody else ever done that?

Steinitz is very underestimated, I agree. He won every match he played between 1862 and 1894, that is 32 years. Lasker was more than 30 years younger and an extremely strong player from 1890 to 1935 so not surprising that Steinitz finally lost in 1894.

As for Capa, the eight years are often mentioned, but it was after all only three tournaments while for example Kramnik went undefeated for many more games in a row, all played in super tournaments. But of course Capa is impossible to avoid on any greatest ever list, even if I would place him just below the top five.

StevenBailey13

Mar 29, 2012

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#32

Fischer.

hakim2005

Mar 29, 2012

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#33

kasparov for sure

AndyClifton

Mar 29, 2012

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#34

Oh yeah, for sure! Without a doubt...lol. Great thread. Yeah, absolutely mind-blowing thread. They should send a copy of this one out into space so it can orbit in perpetuity alongside Timothy Leary (and keep him company). Wicked-good thread. You have received the trysts Seal of Approval:

trysts

Mar 30, 2012

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#35

AndyClifton wrote:

Oh yeah, for sure! Without a doubt...lol. Great thread. Yeah, absolutely mind-blowing thread. They should send a copy of this one out into space so it can orbit in perpetuity alongside Timothy Leary (and keep him company). Wicked-good thread. You have received the trysts Seal of Approval:

davensan

Oct 18, 2012

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#36

Paul Morphy for me.

waffllemaster

Oct 19, 2012

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#37

TheGrobe wrote:

I did a survey of all of the threads similar to this one and three things became very clear:

It's Fischer No it's not, it's Kasparov Chess.com members like arguing subjective topics as though they were objective, and inexplicably, also like waffles.

WalangAlam

Oct 19, 2012

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#38

Of all time? The clock is still ticking and players are still playing until both stops the answer is not yet final.

santos000

Nov 10, 2012

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#39

Its Alexander Alekhine the great tactician and stylist

bagpiper123456

Nov 20, 2012

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#40

Lasker.

His imagination and creativity were limitless