Ok forgive me I imagine this has been debated countless times and obviously there'e really no way to tell but I'm just curious who gets the most votes from here.
I'm not exactly a scholar of players. I know the most famous ones (Fischer, Kasparov, Karpov, Capablanca, Morphy, Kramnik, etc.) but I'm sure there are a plethora of 17th-19th century guys I've never heard of who are worth mentioning.
It's interesting that so few people seem to like Botvinnik these days - okay, he wasn't exactly a likeable person, but then again neither were Fischer or Alekhine. It can't be the rumours of fixed games, either, because his longevity alone makes that charge pretty irrelevant - when you look at his games with Tal, it's easy to forget which is which, their play is not so very different to a lay observer like myself.
Originally posted by st00p1dfac3In 2000 or 2001(can't remember) Kasparov held the record of 2851, the highest to date.
"In 1992, Gary Kasparov held an “elo” of 2790, the highest rating ever achieved." - http://www.sizes.com/sports/chess_ratings.htm
I'd say Kasparov.
I haven't read through the thread, so this may have been said
Originally posted by chesskid001I knew he had held the highest rating ever, but when I googled it, that's what I got... I was sure I had seen a higher one, so you're probably right.
In 2000 or 2001(can't remember) Kasparov held the record of 2851, the highest to date.
I haven't read through the thread, so this may have been said
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Originally posted by chesskid001Yeah, but ELOs have a tendency to go up over time, so that doesn't necessarily mean that he was better than any before him, only that he was the best in a better researched era.
In 2000 or 2001(can't remember) Kasparov held the record of 2851, the highest to date.
Based on how far he was above the rest of his own time, I'd say that Emmanuel Lasker was the best player ever. But we won't know for sure until we raise him from the dead, mind-feed him the chess knowledge gained over the last half century and a bit, and pitch him against Kramnik, Kasparov, and Fritz.
Richard
Originally posted by Shallow BlueRight. I remember when they coined the term "Super GM" for players rated over 2600. And strong Int'l Tmts were rare so the old generation players did not play as many games as they do today.
Yeah, but ELOs have a tendency to go up over time, so that doesn't necessarily mean that he was better than any before him, only that he was the best in a better researched era.
Richard
Underrated: Reshvesky. Fischer put him on his top 10 all time greats. Euwe never got much respect as a world champion.