I heard once that Einstein said Lasker was the smartest guy he knew. Not sure if it was true or not. A modern example of GM that has gone to have notable expertise in another area is Kenneth Rogoff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rogoff
Smartest GM
Sort:
Max Euwe was not only WCC, but also a renowned mathematician. I guess he quallifies.
Rogoff is amazing. A Summa Cum Laude! GM title is difficult enough to achieve.
I remember GM Taimanov is also a concert pianist. Both profession needs long hours of study and practice and how Taimanov manage it was genius.
In terms of computer science and statistics, there are a pleathora of people I can point out:
According to wikipedia:
GM Mikhail Botvinik: Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few professional chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He was also a pioneer of computer chess.
Botvinik was the highest rated of the computer chess theorists, however the others are no less significant in the field.
This list is one I copied off wikipedia.
- Alexander Brudno
- Alexander Kronrod
- Georgy Adelson-Velsky
- Danny Kopec, International Master and Computer Science professor
- Mikhail Botvinnik, three-time World Chess Champion
- D. F. Beal (Donald Francis Beal)
- David Levy
- Robert Hyatt,[29] author of open source chess program Crafty
- Hans Berliner
- Claude Elwood Shannon
IM Ken Regan also should be thrown in here.
Very impressive work they have done here. Botvinik was very much a savant given his expertise in these 3 domains.
GM John Nunn is a mathematician and astronomy enthusiast. Carlsen himself recognized Nunn is very highly intelligent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nunn
I'm not talking of GOAT. GMs including World champion are smart, but who is the smartest as if like a polymath? Botvinik and Lasker are the only ones I knew. I want to hear names of GMs who excel in other profession.