The everlasting rivalry between the older generation and the younger generation will supercede all else.
In a literal sense, probably Kasparov-Karpov was the most intense.
The funniest was probably Alekhine-Bogoljubov, with Alekhine making fun of his opponent at any opportunity. Poor Effie...
But when Bogoljubow wins with black, he wins because he is Bogoljubow! (I can't get enough of that quote).
If we look at matchups other than single players against each other, what about USSR vs. The World? The match of the century was absolutely remarkable (later ones less so, though still very good)
Well you can look at it in terms of games or you can look at it in terms of sets or matches. For instance in tennis you can go 7-6 0-6 7-6 and officially loose more games while winning the match. In terms of Matches the record between Kasparov and Karpov is officially 3-1-1 and like tennis, you don't get extra points by only loosing by 1 game.
If you look at Botvinnik vs. Smyslov 1954 was a 12-12 tie and 1957 was 12.5-9.5 in favor of Smyslov. So out of 46 games they were separated by 3.
However Botvinnik won the rematch in 1958.I forget the exact score but in the 3 World Title Matches Smyslov was +1.I still think Smyslov was the best player during the 1950's.He is the only one with a + score in World championship Matches. He is the only one to win 2 Candidates Tournaments.- Ernie
Alekhine-Capablanca should have been the Greatest Rivalry...
Alekhine-Capablanca should have been the Greatest Rivalry...
Shoulda been. Also in the Shoulda-Been bin, Fischer Karpov--but everyone has been lamenting that one for decades.
On a different tangent but also interesting:
Which Player had the best peers by which he proved himself?
Capa had Lasker and Alekhine, and to a lesser degree Nimzovich, Bogo, and Euwe.
Fischer won his WC title killing basically one great player: Spassky. The rest were past their prime, but he really did demolish them!
Sometimes the chess generations just roll that way. Fischer was the youngest/greatest for quite awhile, so no surprise that when he peaked there was "just Spassky." Mecking was very good but that was slightly later (he's probably underappreciated by the younger chess fans).
Now, had Fischer stuck around, Karpov could have claimed to have sharpened his rep on Fischer, Korchnoi, and Kasparov. Not a bad honor roll.
how about Keres vs world champions? he played and beat every champion from Capa to Fischer. he had plus scores against Capa (how many people have plus scores against Capa?), Euwe and Tal, and equal scores with Smyslov, Petrosian and Karpov. and one can speculate about what his score should have been vs Botvinik if you removed the KGB's influence.
white pieces(no pawns) vs 32 pawns
Somehow, Keres was always deeply respected but never accorded the honor as top player--except perhaps briefly as winner on tie breaks of AVRO 1938, and official challenger to Alekhine even though he never had a shot.
I find it odd that both Reshevsky and Botvinnik would agree that Keres played an old fashioned style of chess, and that he was thus behind the curve of chess evolution and had few chances for the #1 spot. Yet they did agree on this and I ought to accede to their views on this.
Like Tal, he was always a fan favorite for his attractive style. He has his fans and always will. I guess what I'm saying is that he was indeed great but not in the greatest category.
I love to be contrary, so there it is lol.
Definitely me and my mate Nic.
In the history of chess, what can go down as the best rivalry ever?
White vs. Black.