Is Tal Better than Fischer?
Herceg Novi 1970 Blitz tournament
Final standings:
Rk
Player
Rtg
Pts
1
Bobby Fischer (USA)
2720
19
2
Mikhail Tal (URS)
2590
14½
3
Viktor Kortschnoj (URS)
2670
14
4
Tigran Petrosian (URS)
2650
13½
5
David Bronstein (URS)
2570
13
6
Vlastimil Hort (CSR)
2610
12
7
Milan Matulović (YUG)
2560
10½
8
Vasily Smyslov (URS)
2620
9½
9
Samuel Reshevsky (USA)
2590
8½
10
Wolfgang Uhlmann (GDR)
2570
8
Recently, I have heard that Bobby Fischer is overrated in terms of rating. When I say this, I do not by any means say that Bobby Fischer isn't one of the greatest players of all time, because that is simply not true. People say that Bobby's rating is higher than it should have been. Mikhail Tal had a winning record against Fischer and beat him 4-0 in the 1959 Candidates Tournament. Tal is also considered one of the best attacking players to ever live, while Fischer is more of a positional player. However, these factors may be out of date, as the gap between the 1959 Candidates and his 1972 peak chess rating of "2785"is quite large.