Super Grand Master vs Cocky 1700 Player

Can any super GM, with high probability,  mate a  <=1700 player in the first 20-25 moves or less? 

Reason I ask, a friend who is about 1700 says there's no one alive or dead (he says not Fischer, Morphy, Kasparov or Tal)  that could with 90% likelihood, mate him in under 25 moves, and definitely not in 20 or less.   

So is it no one ,or is it 90% likelihood?

Depends on the opening he plays

Might take someone who is over 2600 to answer this intelligently.  Garry Kasparov? 

Depends on how that 1700 plays...

AND that Super GM plays lol

Around here, a 1700 player is quite rare and top of the heap...thus his cockiness I suppose.

   He usually plays 2 Knights as white and sometimes goes for Fried Liver, which he knows perfect book moves for 10 moves WHEN Black plays into it, going for Knight to the rim to attack White's Bishop.  Or he goes for the Italian Opening.  

I would love to see the ghost of Morphy play him and mate in 19 moves. 

I found a Capablanca simul with details of how long he took to move as the simul progressed and at move 40 most of the 65 boards were still in play.

So your friend's boast may be justified - but also is not very impressive.

There's no prize for how fast you achieve mate so equally there's no kudos for surviving 25 moves either if you are in a lost position or go on to lose anyway.

the obvious answer is to take a computer engine, setup the ELO to be 2600, and see how it turns out.

The 1700 player should probably know proper piece play in opening book and would therefore avoid a quick mate. That hardly says anything about his chess abilities other than he's learned the basic instructions of proper play in the opening. Further in the game the tactical advantage of a GM would outshine the 1700's play every game.

Or he wouldn't be 1700 he'd be 2000.

You mean 2400 right? 2000 is nowhere near GM level, nor is it even particularly spectacular. 2200 is a strong player but still doesn't hold a candle to a 2500 rated grandmaster

The claims of the 1700 is true. He played with Stockfish and played unmated passed the 25 move. If one survived Stockfish and other super engines, he can stand SGMs attack in 25 moves.

The answer is no. Many titled players would be content to get into the middle game (or even the end game) with a slight positional or material advantage knowing perfectly that they will be able to outmanoeuvre the lower-rated player.

If the GM *had to* win by mating the 1700 player within 25 moves, he or she would have to go all out, which could backfire. It all depends on the style of the GM; some would, perhaps, relish the challenge but I would guess that most GMs would not since they would have to adapt a style that does not suit them.

Maybe Morphy could mate the 1700 in less than 25. 

Just answered the question.  I'm about a 1600 USCF and just now played StockFish10 on level 10, playing Black.  It took the computer 36 moves to mate me.  :-)  I played the Hippo against it. It'd make a good bar bet against GMs.   

i could do it just kdding

If that cocky player knows loads and loads of theory, his bet is probably safe.