Who is the greatest chess player of all time ?? Bobby Fischer ??

Kippers

another bad day at the office ? cheer up, tomorrow might improve.

On the other hand, I could just agree with you and say Fischer was a dick, would that make you happy ?

Accurate? What does that mean? Accurate?

AS stated from the start it is a series of lists to have fun with, one persons biased, subjective opinion.

Lists? Hogwash.

My arguement is a player can not even be mentioned in the same breath as the real "Greats" that performed for such a short time, and then quit the game. Quitters are not Great PLAYERS.

Well, since chess.com has only been around for a few years, this theory would eliminate anyone who played before 1995 as even being a contender.   :/

Tal, Kasparov and Fischer are well known to be the 3 of the best attackers of all-time.  I liked his list and thought it was pretty accurate.  I might have added Karpov to the greatest defenders list though and possibly the endgame list.   Capablanca should be added to the middlegame list, as well.  He was well-known for his boa constrictor-like style of gaining a space advantage in the middlegame.  Magnus Carlsen should also be on the middlegame and endgame list.

If that question was directed towards me, I'm not sure exactly where to rank them.  I haven't studied enough of their games to try to rank them precisely.  

Hmm. Indeed. I would put Kasparov ahead of Fischer as far as attacking goes.

Despite his sometimes bold moves, to me, Fischer is not an attacker. He doesn't go in for wild play when the position becomes messy. He is alert to tactics, mating positions (as most elite players are) but he is not a fearless, attacking player like a Spassky, Alekhine.

For me, it's either Magnus Carlsen or Garry Kasparov. that being said, my favorite chess player is still Mikhail Botvinnik, given how much he developed the theory and principles of approaching the game.

Probably Philidor, for he was able to grasp the vast importance of pawns and pawn play at a time when pawns were gambited away liberally, "to allow for smoother piece-play". Even the great Morphy, the supreme master of the open game and piece play, seems less impressive in the -admittedly very few- closed games that he played.

Silk94 wrote:

mdinnerspace1  Magnus Carlsen , Kasparov,Botvinnik,Tal, Karpov,Korchnoi,Bronstein,Anand,Spassky, Kramnik,and many,many others thought Fischer was great!Whose right them or you?.

I am

So are they to the extent Fischer was a great pusher of wood. His skills remain unsurpassed. His potential most likely as great as anyones.

When I think of a "player" however, Fischer doesn't measure up to greatness. His prime lasted a few short years. His retirement in reality was quitting public play out of fear of losing. He continued to play in seclusion, but only if paid enough money.

Chess is a board game to be played for enjoyment imo. Sorry, but Fischer let everybody down. It was about his ego for him, not the game. He was not a great "player".

I think Carlsen is the best middlegamer ever. He is also very good at endgame, defence and attack, I estimate top 5. In openings he might be outside top 200, but still very good.

I think Carlsen is the best middlegamer ever. He is also very good at endgame, defence and attack, I estimate top 5. In openings he might be outside top 200, but still very good.

This off the wall speculation you're all making is hilarious.

Case in point, Carlson outside top 200 in knowledge of openings! Ok, working on a list of 199, I'll get back to ya all.

Fischer brought real money to the game of chess , thanks to him the top players can make a good living from chess . He also brought better playing conditions to the top players in chess .  Fischer also won 20 games in a row against all GM competition , this streak includes shutting out 2 top GMs  by a score of 12-0 ! Nothing like this has ever been seen since nor before Fischer . He also won a major championship with a 100% score , another feat not equaled .  Even the Fischer haters cannot deny these facts nor take away his accomplishments .  Anyone who doesnt put Fischer in , at least , the top 10 of all time cant be taken seriously . That person is either ignorant of chess or full of hate/bias against Fischer .  

I am not a hater Reb. All the facts you listed for his accomplishmen's are accurate. His skill was as good as any. The position I take is 1 of longevity. He was at the top a few short years. (I'm sure you're aware of his losing record vs quite a few players).

I'm being single minded I'm aware of my definition of "player". I invision great players to be those who are around for sometime, take on all comers anyplace, anytime.

There are so many openingspecialists. I guess all top ten today are more openingfocused than Magnus. There are more than 1500 grandmasters in the world. Many of them are professionals, and many have researched very deep in openings.  Magnus is not known for the openings, but maybe he is better at it than I think.  He did a huge job with Hammer and Heine Nielsen preparing for the 2013  Anand WC match, and took himself to a higher openinglevel.

Magnus is playing openings slightly unconventional, and sliding away from the mainlines makes him very difficult to prepare against. Maybe I was completely wrong when I wrote that he might be below 200 (i thougt about all time 200). Maybe his sidestepping actually makes him the best openingplayer ever, not in the meaning of playing most correctly, but in the meaning of playing in a way that most efficient makes his opponents unadvantageous out of the openings. 

20 GM winningstrike is absolutely impressive, but none of those were Carlsen or Kasparov.

True, but since he was undefeated and un-tied during that streak, who is to say that he wouldn't have also beaten Carlsen, Kasparov, Morphy, Lasker, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Karpov or anyone else during that streak, if he had played them?   We'll never know.   

In Reb's mind, anyone who does not make Fischer God and declare him the greatest player of all time must be a Fischer hater. 

I agree with all the points Reb made about Fischer. Fischer's accomplishments on the chess board inspired generations of chess players. I still rate Kasparov as greater than Fischer, mostly due to what he accomplished as world champion. Kasparov's biggest gaffe was creating the PCA. Even he admits that now.

But Kasparov dominated a much more competitive era than Fischer did. After Fischer left the scene, there was Karpov, Korchnoi, and just about nobody else. Petrosian, Keres, Tal, and Spassky were all getting long in the teeth and Mecking, Ljubojevic and others of the next generation weren't of the same quality. 

Kasparov's domination spanned two or three generations of great players. Fischer dominated for about five years. 

I recognise Lasker's greatness. He was a tremendous fighter, except in his match against Capa. But as many have pointed out, he cherry picked his opponents and didn't play enough World Championship matches. 

Capablanca's chess is still used by chess teachers around the world. His technique was brilliant, until he got punched in the mouth by Alekhine. Alekhine showed how to defeat Capa. 

Botvinnik deserves more praise than most Americans are willing to credit him. 

My tentative list of the 10 greatest chess players (which could change tomorrow) is

1.Kasparov

2. Philidor

3. Morphy

4. Steinitz (the guy who created the World Championship)

5. Lasker

6. Karpov

7. Fischer

8. Carlsen (the best player ever, but needs to do more as champion)

9. Capablanca

10. Botvinnik

Others who deserve special mention include: Kramnik, Anand, Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Tal, Alekhine, Petrosian, and of course Smyslov.

You're obviously a Fischer hater if you put him 7th on the top ten list.  Philidor second?   Are you kidding?   Fischer could have beaten Philidor blindfolded.  lol   Fischer, Carlsen and Capablanca should ranked be MUCH higher and Karpov should be MUCH lower on the list.   Philidor doesn't even make the top 100.  Chess was still in it's infancy in the 1700's and the best players of that era were only equal to 2200 players of today.  Karpov might never even have become WC, if Fischer didn't retire early.   Possibly in 1981-82, for one cycle, but that's it.   Kasparov might have eventually had to take the crown from Fischer, once he was too old to compete with him, in 1985.  Philidor???