Emmanuel Lasker
Best chess player ever
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scottk74 wrote:
Kasparov all the way
Second that!
Stiepan Prishka Jr.
Paul Morphy
Seing as how chess has evolved tremendously the last 150 years, one of the strongest is probably a modern, or a decently modern player, so I'd put my money on Kasparov.
If we are talking relative to his co-existant players and the level of that time, then there's suddenly alot more to chose from.
Morphy.
Iluvburpees, to tell you how many times this question has been asked would require far more fingers and toes than I currently possess. If you want to know the number of days that pass before this or a similar question appears, on the other hand, I think I may have enough...
Kasparov had the highest rating, but that's only comparitive to his peers.
I do believe that he is the best ever, and the next "great" will be even better. As time goes on, theory and previous games pile up. Each generation has more knowledge than the last.
G
but i believe that there is a raw underlying talent that supersedes the accumulated knowledge of generations past. i believe Emanuel Lasker was the strongest to ever play, he was more proud of his bridge playing skills than his chess playing skills! he trained for a world championship match by playing GO! Capablanca was years ahead of his rivals (except Lasker who just got old) and only lost 34 games in his career i believe...those are my top 2 with kasparov close 3rd
true (i wish we could give lasker or capa a computer and countless resourses to even the playing field)...but we have CHESS 960!!!!
Jul 17, 2009
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#11
if raw talent is the key, then possibly Karpov or Capablanca or Spassky.
Jul 17, 2009
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#12
capa,, I wonder if a computer program has been developed to match these players
i was incorrect with capa's record earlier, he lost more than 34 games. actually his record was +322 -46 =253 or a 72.2% win ratio (chessgames.com) and he falls in 3rd place of the world champs in win ratios!
Alekhine is 1st with 72.6%, then Fischer 72.5% then Capa 72.2%
the %'s drop down with Kasparov 69.3%, Steinits 69.3%, Euwe (!!!) 66.8%, Botvinik 66.4%, Lasker 65.5%, Tal 65.0%, Karpov 64.6%, Petrosian 64.0%, Kramnik and Anand tied at 62.7%, Spassky 61.5%, and Smyslov 61.3%
morphy blows everyone out of the water with an 85.3%!!
so if by strongest you mean someone who is ahead of his contemporaries, it looks like Morphy comes in clear first!
Jul 17, 2009
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#14
You got the morphy blows part right.
Today he would not even win a single tournament. The best player of all time is Fischer or Kasparov at their strongest.
However of the 2, I have to go with Kasparov as the strongest, only becuase his mind was free and healthy. Fishcer suffered from ghosts and goblins or what ever was wrong with him. I think Kasparov also had some advantage in knowledge of openings.
I am not saying its clearly Kasparov, it could actually be Fisher, if only we could match them at the height of the talents. We may never know which, and soon someone will come that could clearly be better then either.
Fischer (despite the fact that he was a nutcase) blew everyone out of the water. Nobody could compete with him when he was at his peak and he decided to play. His qualifying run to challenge Boris Spassky is the greatest display of chess domination we have ever seen. Winning all of his matches without a SINGLE draw at that level, is like knocking out mohammed ali with one arm behind your back, it just cant be done!
Morphy was brilliant and probably the most 'gifted' player ever, but his oponents were no were CLOSE to what fischer or kasparov played.
If we could have a tournament between those three at their peak, Kasparov would probably barely win and morphy would be blown away.
If all of those three were born 30 years ago and received top training, morphy would win followed by fischer then kasparov respectively. Thats just my opinion anyways.
Jul 17, 2009
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#16
Well the reason I hesitated to pick Kasparov outright is becuase during the qualifying run up to the match with Spassky Fischer was in a zone like no other.
My greatest chess players would be:
1.) my girlfriend - her moves on the board dont make a lot of sense, but i still love her a lot more than kasparov, capa, fischer etc.
2.)Shelly (SuperKnight42), her enthusiasm kinda influences me to keep spending a lot of time at this site.
3.)Paul Keres - his wide selection of well-annotated games, along with different other chess publications was the only material i could find when i was making my first steps on improving my chess knowledge from the beginner level. I am convinced that his works have probably made the biggest impact on getting me interested in this game and helping me reach my current level of play that quite a lot of people could consider strong.
I guess my definition for the word "great" is somewhat different from the rest, but I do think it is impossible to find the strongest chess player of all time. That title probably belongs to any of the engines - rybka, fritz, shredder or whichever of them is at top.
I have to go with Kasporov
I'm new here, and I'm not sure how many times this has been asked (I'm sure a lot)...but who do you personally think is the greatest chess player of all time? I'd go with Capablanca, mostly because of his endgame strength and his phenomenal 8-year winning streak.
Just looking for opinions.