Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian question

Any other players that play like them?

Capablanca was similar in some ways to Karpov.

Does Vladimir Kramnik play like Anatoly Karpov?

What about Aron Nimzowitsch?

Who plays like Petrosian? I've played through only about a few of his games, yet those few games have really influenced me!

Very, very few players could play like Petrosian and become a world champion.

@knowthyself

Petrosian was vastly influenced by Nimzowitsch. He studied Nimzo's writings as a lad.

Someone influenced by Petrosian, and also a great fan of Nimzo, is retired British GM Ray Keene. Keene has written a recently published book about Petrosian and his book on Nimzowitsch is a classic.

Believe it or not I really think that Kasparov plays more like Karpov than anyone is willing to admit. The difference in style is really that Kasparov is a bit more ambitious at the board than Karpov, but if you look at games where Karpov goes on the attack, you'd have a hard time telling the difference between them.

I know this wasn't directed towards me, Simon, but thanks! I think I'm due to buy a chess book

hehe, no worries trysts. I think you'll enjoy the Keene book on Nimzowitsch if you haven't read it. IMO, definitely the best book he has written. I have several books on Petrosian already so I haven't bought the latest Keene book on Petrosian; Vik Vasiliev's book on Petrosian for Batsford from 1974 is highly recommended if you can pick up a copy, as is the collection of essays published as "Petrosian's Legacy".

Something I didn't realise was how important Petrosian's advice was for a young Garry Kasparov. They played in several tournaments together and the Iron Tiger acted as a mentor to Garry! He speaks about his mentor in the video about his life and games.

Thanks again, Simon!

@ciljettu

when you see the game Carlsen-Gashimov, Wijk aan Zee 2012, it's like watching Karpov (or perhaps Ulf Andersson!).

Then you see Carlsen plays the Dragon against Anand, the Chigorin against Kramnik or the North Sea Defence against Adams....Karpov never had that, for want of a word, " daring do" about his openings!

Just wondering, shouldn't one say: Karpov is in some ways similar to Capablanca ? 

True. Karpov's play is similar to Capablanca, and not the other way around. Karpov had Capablanca's influence. Petrosian however had Nimzowitsch's influence, although in some games Petrosian did play like Capablanca.

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian

This name is like music to my ears. The boss of the Kings Indian 

Accdg. to modern GM's today and computer analysis, Capablanca always plays perfect, flawless and never seen a single weakness on his games. On the contrary to Karpov and kasparov admitted that they'd made a lot of errors during their match. 

I like them. I like their style, the way they grind their opponents slowly.

My admiration of Tigran Petrosian was marred by this:

I am not kidding you. I did not misclick. He actually undeveloped his bishop. Karpov played quite a few inaccurate moves in his lifetime but nothing as big as this, I think. 

Capablanca was a very strong player but if he always played perfect and flawless chess he wouldn't have lost any games, and as it is he didn't only lose the match against Alekhine but had rather "human" results against some other Masters, for example 2 wins, 2 losses and 8 draws against Spielmann. Some GM's are much more critical of Capa than I ever would be though, GM Gormally writes:

"But what about Capa? How would he compare strength-wise to the players of today? I think he would come off rather badly. The difference in terms of knowledge and understanding between the players of today and the players of the 1920s and 30s is enormous."

http://www.pogonina.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1183&Itemid=1

Carlsen can't have lost focus all that much though, he has performed 2815+ in all his nine latest tournaments. No other active player has ever been close to such a performance sequence.

I was wondering if Helltank could provide a reference. Petrosian often adopted ...Bb4-f8 in the Winawer. Notably 4. e5 b6 5. Qg4/5. a3 Bf8. The positions led to typical Nimzowitsch positions from 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5, where black erects a cramped but solid game, with the intention of castling long and eventually preparing ...c7-c5 perhaps combined with ...f7-f5 and Ng8-h6-f7. Bronstein also utilised that build up on occasion.