Does Bobby Fischer Know who the greatest Chess Player of all time is?

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e4forme

I think so. I have to agree with this!

Bobby Fischer said:

'A popularly held theory about Paul Morphy is that if he returned to the Chess World today and played our best contemporary players, he would come out the loser. Nothing is further from the Truth. In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today!'

aristeidis9

True,Fischer included Morphy in his list with the best ten players in his opinion.This is the list:

1. PAUL MORPHY

Perhaps the most accurate player who ever lived, he would beat anybody today in a set-match. He had complete sight of the board and seldom blundered even though he moved quite rapidly. I've played over hundreds of his games and am continually surprised and entertained by his ingenuity.


2. HOWARD STAUNTON
His games are completely modern, but very few of them show brilliancies. He understood all the positional concepts we now hold so dear.


3. WILHELM STEINITZ
He always sought completely original lines and didn't mind getting into cramped quarters if he thought that his position was essentially sound.


4. SIEGBERT TARRASCH
Razor-sharp, he always followed his own rules. In spite of devotion to his own supposedly scientific method, his play was often witty and bright.


5. MIKHAIL TCHIGORIN
The first great Russian player and one of the last of the Romantic School. At times he would continue playing a bad line even after it was refuted.


6. ALEXANDER ALEKHINE
Never a hero of mine. His style worked for him, but it could scarcely work for anybody else. His conceptions were gigantic, full of outrageous and unprecedented ideas. It's hard to find mistakes in his games, but in a sense his whole method was a mistake.


7. JOSE CAPABLANCA
He had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending -- even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position.


8. BORIS SPASSKY
He can blunder away a piece, and you are never sure whether it's a blunder or a fantastically deep sacrifice. He sits at the board with the same dead expression whether he's mating or being mated.


9. MIKHAIL TAL
Even after losing four games in a row to him I still consider his play unsound. He is always on the lookout for some spectacular sacrifice, that one shot, that dramatic breakthrough to give him the win.


10. SAMUEL RESHEVSKY
From 1946 to 1956 probably the best in the world, though his opening knowledge was less than any other leading player. Like a machine calculating every variation, he found moves over the board by a process of elimination and often got into fantastic time pressure.

donngerard

is that true or what?

wlapre

Fischer would beat Morphy. Come on. Fischer contributed volumes to opening theory. Morphy was great, but many of his opponents blundered into defeat.

e4forme

I didn't say Paul Morphy would beat Bobby Fischer. Bobby Fischer said it!

Paul Morphy is the Forefather of modern chess... Garry Kasparov   ;-)

rollingpawns

I think if you multiply Morphy's genius by all this current knowledge, computer programs, DBs, online, etc., which he would use he still would be the best.

rjane04

they are both great players (fischer and morphy), i love their games and i am fantasize everytime i saw them sacrificing a piece to get a win.

Hugh_T_Patterson

I think we could all agree that Morhpy would give Fischer a run for his money (if both players were alive today and Morphy was given ample time to bring his playing into the 21st century).

e4forme

Actually there is a lot of Similarities in the way they play... Both have unbelievable vision on the Chess Board!

Ray_Brooks
tonydal wrote:

Fischer didn't even know what time of the day it was (most of the time).


I can think of only one game Fischer defaulted through non-attendance, he was usually at the board at the correct time. Wink

 

I wonder if Fischer and Morphy play in Heaven? InnocentLaughing