I have to memorize my textbooks is that cheating?
Who is better Paul Morphy or Magnus Carlsen
The science will progress of course, but the genius of the past can not be over looked. The great players of the last 50 years have certainly pushed the game further, but no one pushed it as far from his predecessors as Paul Morphy.
Another remarkable thing about Morphy is he progressed so far with very limited opposition when he went to Europe he played dramatically superior opponents, and often lost an early game or 2, he then adjusted his play (without computers or any quality books, and presumably without a second) figured it out and destroyed them. This is just incredible. My guess is he is the greatest talent that ever sat for a game of chess! If he played a current GM I suspect he would lose a game or 3 but would eventually win a match. To win against a Magnus, Kasparov, or Fischer he would need time and resources. We will never know in this life, but maybe these questions will be answered in heaven. Maybe God will tell us there was someone who never saw a chessboard who would have wiped the floor with all of them. If Einstein or Newton loved Chess would they have been as good?
Carlsen studied the games of Morphy and became better. He cheated by memorizing.
That’s not a cheat