My Top 5 Favorite Chess Players

Since I got some nice feedbacks after my first text, I've decided to write a second one. But first of all, I would like to thank everyone who shared their comments and opinions on the article “Why do you like chess?”, either here or via private messages. It really motivated me to keep going and I will try my best to write more often about this game/sport we all love.

This time I would like to talk about my top 5 favorite players and why I like them the most. I chose 3 retired and 2 active players and listed them in descending order. Again, my opinion and taste may be a little too mainstream in some cases, but I prefer to tell the truth rather than pretend to be mega-cult and different for no reason. Also, please note that I'm talking about my favorites and not necessarily the ones I think are the best, there's a huge difference between them and I don't think I need to explain much more. So here we go:

5th) Garry Kasparov

Yes, I will start with the one who is perhaps the most famous chess player of all time, next to Bobby Fischer. Kasparov is such a genius that his fame is known by many people who are not even chess fans nor know the rules of the game. Part of this is probably due to his legendary match against Deep-blue, when he represented humanity so well against the inevitable supremacy of the machines. There are of course a number of reasons why I like him so much, but I have tried to pick out the main ones and write about each of them briefly:

• His aggressive style on the chessboard. Kasparov was a raging lion, drooling to go for the jugular at the first opportunity. It is beautiful to watch his combinations, his sharply calculated attacks and how he could make some of his top GM opponents look so impotent against them. Of course, many other players are very aggressive, perhaps even more so than Kasparov, but none of them did it at such a high level for such a long time and with such mastery.

• His game against the almost equally brilliant Topalov is one of the craziest and most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen. I wish I was an adult or at least a grown-up child in 1999 to see it live. My intention is not to go deep into the game itself. If you don't know it, drop everything and go watch it, preferably with someone commenting and doing a professional analysis. It will change the way you see the game, and Kasparov, as the person responsible for it, deserves to be on my list.

• Political involvement in his country. I know this is polemical, and some people may see this as something against him rather than for him. But from my point of view, I admire someone who uses his fame and prestige to try to make his homeland a better place to live. You may or may not agree with his political statement itself. Personally, I am not even fully aware of his preferences or ideology. But the fact that he is trying to play an important role in his society without any obligation is something noble in my opinion.

4th) Rafael Leitão

Except for my Brazilian friends and some very addicted people, I think this one will not be known to most of you who are reading. I will not give a long description of his career nor his chess skills and style, because the aim of this text is to give my personal reasons to like the players I like, not to give a biography of each of them. So, just as a short summary, he was 7 times Brazilian National Champion and twice Youth World Champion in the categories U12 (1991) and U18 (1996). Today we can say that he is "half-retired" and only plays for fun sometimes. If you want to know more about him, please Google by yourself. Now to my personal reasons to have him in my list of favorites:

• As some of you know, I have lived in Brazil for two years, and the country has captured my heart. Therefore, for some kind of emotional reasons, I felt that a player who represents this beautiful place should be listed among my favorites. He is actually not the best Brazilian of all time (that honor belongs to GM Henrique Mecking, who had his peak in the 70s), but Leitão was the first one I knew about, thanks to a friend who introduced me and showed me some of his games. So, I started to root for him, especially during the Chess Olympiad in Batumi 2018.

• He has a YouTube channel where he analyzes chess games for about 10% of the time and talks about random useless stuff for the other 90% of the "analysis". He is very funny, and I love his sense of humor to criticize some moves and ideas of the top GMs. I also noticed that he loves football as much as I do, so to be honest I only follow the Brazilian league these days to understand his nonsense comments. Unfortunately, his Brazilian team is not the same as mine.

• Related to the second reason is the fact that after I moved back to New Zealand, his channel is one of the ones I watch the most to keep in touch with the Portuguese language and not get too rusty. So, for involuntarily helping me to stay sharp with my ridiculous Portuguese skills, I thank Rafael and even rank him above Kasparov.

3rd) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

This may come as a surprise to most people, but as already said, I swear I am being honest about what I really think and feel. Of course, I know that Mamedyarov is not one of the best players of all time, but he is still a tremendously awesome player who was able to reach an ELO rating of 2820 at his peak, a feat that very few players have been able to achieve. Even Ian Nepomniachtchi, two-time Candidates winner and World Championship runner-up, has yet to break that barrier. Anyway, besides being a great player, here are the two main facts that made me like him:

• Like Kasparov, he is very aggressive on the chessboard, which together with his physical appearance has even earned him the nickname "The Lumberjack". I was already a fan of Kasparov when I started to pay more attention to him and his games. As I wrote earlier, I was not lucky enough to see Kasparov play live during his peak in the 90s, but watching some of Mamedyarov's games, I somehow had the feeling that I was watching the same kind of style that captivates me so much, and this time at the exact moment it was happening. Ok, ok... I am aware that it is not the same level of play nor the same consistency, but since this is a list of my favorites and not the best, I think the feeling he gave me while watching some of his games is enough to place him 3rd in my heart.

• The first chess book I read is one written by Alexey Kuzmin called "Together with Mamedyarov". It is not a collection of his selected games, but primarily a study book. It contains test positions from his games with detailed comments on the solutions to the problems. I cannot say for sure how much I improved thanks to it, but it was more about the fun and pleasure of trying to solve and analyze the positions. And knowing that all the positions were taken from Mamedyarov's games helped me to get a small taste of how his mind works and at least try to think a little like him.

2nd) Judit Polgár

Well, obviously, considering that it's a woman writing this article, you could expect that Queen Judit Polgár would appear sooner or later, and I would never forgive myself if I didn't mention her. I think I do not need to go through all her wonderful achievements and the incredible level she reached, playing on equal terms with the best players of her time, even participating in the Candidates Tournament and other top-level events like Wijk an Zee or Linares. Although you can probably guess what is coming, I will summarize the two main reasons why she is my second favorite:

• The first has to do with her playing style. As you can see from the mention of Kasparov and Mamedyarov, I tend to like and appreciate players whose names ends with "Ov"... ops, I mean... who are aggressive and go for the win when they smell blood. Polgár is another great example of such a player. She was unafraid to take risks, had a precise calculation and could launch sharp attacks which, once started, left her opponents no room to breathe until checkmate or resignation. A great and fascinating paradox is that I don't really like to play this style myself, and when I try, I don't end up with very good results. Perhaps that is why I admire so much those who succeed.

• Second, and most importantly, it is because she is a woman, plain and simple. In such a male-dominated environment as the chess world is, most girls can feel intimidated or have the feeling that "this game is not for me". Polgár is the most beautiful example that this barrier can be broken and that anyone can play and achieve great results, making even the legend Bobby Fischer change his mind about women in chess. She was for me, and I am sure for many other girls and women around the world, an inspiration, a role model, and a proof that we are able to play as well as anyone if we dedicate ourselves and give our best on the board. So, to paraphrase the famous sentence, she is the one responsible for making me believe that yes, "We can do it!”

1st) Magnus Carlsen

Oh, so creative and unexpected. Who would say that? Yes, I know it is very mainstream to say that the Greatest Of All Time is also my favorite player, but what can I do? Pretend I don't like him just to be different? Make light of his accomplishments and try to convince myself that they are no big deal? I refuse not to acknowledge the skills and abilities of someone who truly deserves all the praise he receives. Magnus is out of this world and the only reason why he is not mentioned together with Messi, Pelé, LeBron, Bolt, Phelps or Federer is because chess is unfortunately not as popular as these other sports. But without a doubt he belongs in the same room with those guys. For me he is above all others who have ever played the game. I know some might disagree and mention Fischer, Kasparov, Karpov, and many other notable players, but they will not convince me that a guy who keeps an ELO rating above 2800 for almost 15 years (and many more to come) and is so much better than all the others of his generation is not the chess GOAT. I think I have said enough already, but if you need the main reasons why I have him at the top of my list, here they come:

• Greatness is to be admired, not envied. I feel that many people tend to hate or dislike those who reach the top, as if they somehow magically got there by luck or fate. But the truth is that we do not see all that they gave up and fought hard to get there. Magnus did it not only because he is a natural talent, but because he dedicated himself, spent years studying, learning, practicing, and failing. I know the same is true for all top GMs, but he is the one who made it better, and that is why he is the best. Like all genius in the world, he is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

• I also like Carlsen because he is sincere and honest about what he thinks. I know many people can see this as rudeness and arrogance, but from my point of view he just gives his opinion about what he is asked, with very few filters or anything to hide. He is also very hard on himself when he plays badly or makes mistakes. I like this personality, which is not afraid of what other people think about him, nor of his image towards the federation or the other players, because he knows that he has nothing else to prove to anyone. Magnus is not ashamed to show that he is also a human being, although sometimes his chess moves make us feel something else, and either we accept his personality, or we can piss ourselves off while he just doesn't care.

Finally, I would like to list a few honorable mentions. If this list could be longer, I would probably include Anatoly Karpov, Anish Giri, Bobby Fischer, Murray Chandler, Pia Cramling, Vincent Keymer, Viswanathan Anand, and many others.

If you have read this far, I would like to thank you for your patience/interest and ask you to tell me who your favorite players are and if there is a special reason why you like them. Like I did, it does not necessarily have to be the ones you consider the best, but those who have a special place in your chess heart.