There's no doubt that Bobby Fischer is the greatest match player of all time. The greatest grandmaster? I'd have to say these are the ONLY ten who could claim that status throughout the entire history of the game: Alekhine, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Morphy, Lasker, Steinitz, Philidor, Tal, Botvinnik, Euwe and Smyslov. I'd have to say that all of them at some time in their lives were the best grandmasters in the history of the game. But, talking about chess players is like talking about famous musical composers. Mozart was better than Bach? Babe Ruth was better than Barry Bonds? Me personally, I'm a Babe Ruth-Capablanca/Morphy type of guy. I like the good old days when they didn't get paid crap but played for the love of the game. 🙂
Originally posted by seraphimvulture Which brings upon the question... could there be such a thing as a illiterate, mentally-handicapped GM? Rain Man anyone?
Lasker gets my vote
In 1894 he became the second World Chess Champion by defeating Steinitz with 10 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses. He maintained this title for 27 years, the longest unbroken tenure of any officially recognised World Champion of chess.