I think one of the signs of a really strong player who outdistances his contemporaries by far is the ease and speed in which they analyze a position and formulate their plan. From that standpoint I think Kasparov doesn't belong up there. To me he always seemed to struggle with time, even in matches like with Short when he should have easily produced a winning move. That's why I lean toward players like Fischer, Morphy, Capablanca--by their uncanny ability to pick out the natural and strong moves without much thinking. I don't know whether this was because of natural ability (Fischer didn't consider himself a genius) or pattern recognition or a combination of both but it was enough to intimidate most opponents.
My favourite player is without a doubt mister Vladimir Kramnik...what a positionnal killer! At his best, which is not very often these days😞, he is UNBEATABLE!!! Especially with white, he makes very strong grandmasters look like patzers. Serious, give him a minimal edge, he will convert it no sweat. A great player to study for those who love squeezing their opponents to death or outclassing them on the whole board. Sadly, he sometimes chokes won positions in tactical fireworks a.k.a. Shirov!!! Anyways, all in all, he is my favourite, followed closely by Topalov, Ivanchuk (what a chess genuis!), Alekhin and also Petrossian for his prowesses with the French defence and Botvinnik for the Dutch and last but not least in my list of seconds Karpov for his incredible comprehension of the opponents threats and nipping them at the bud (also known as "prophylactic thinking" for the real chess affacionados!) That's all gents, take care😉
Originally posted by NicotineMan Also I am more surprised that nobody even mentioned, Karpov and Botvinnik who clearly are stronger than Lasker, Euwe, Capabalanca and many champions or Gms in my opeinion.
The question wasn't: " who do you think is the strongest chess player ever."
Thats Kasparov of course.
Exactly. That was not the question. But people still seem to like strong players Fischer even though he is not well-liked, also same with Nazi sypathizer Alekhine (who happens to be my favorite) was a drunk and nobody liked him. They are maybe the strongest players of their time.
I still can argue that Alekhine is the strongest ever (that's why I like him). If Alekhine lived now, with the aid of the technology he would get much better, he would still beat anybody including Kasparov. I like Alekhine, not because he is a favorite man but because he played such great chess and respected chess as a form of art.
Ok. That is from me about the favorite player. I am starting to talk nonsense
😀😀😀😀😀
Originally posted by buddy2 I think one of the signs of a really strong player who outdistances his contemporaries by far is the ease and speed in which they analyze a position and formulate their plan. From that standpoint I think Kasparov doesn't belong up there. To me he always seemed to struggle with time, even in matches like with Short when he should have easily produced a winn ...[text shortened]... or pattern recognition or a combination of both but it was enough to intimidate most opponents.
chess has evolved, capablanca and morphy would not even be in the same league with Kasparov; they would be maybe a 2650. With the possible exception of Fischer, Kasparov is with out a doubt the strongest player ever.
One of the few grandmasters whose annotations of his losses celebrate the victor. See Lasker's Manual of Chess and his annotations of Pillsbury - Lasker Nuremburg, 1896.
Actually, Timman and Euwe are my heroes. Because they did a lot for the dutch chess-sport. But the masterplayers, I often can't understand their moves, that's why they're masters and I ain't. I'm the type of player that discovers an opening by playing it, I don't like to study in books. But when I first played Sicillian defence I heard that I had done 15 moves pure from the theory, while I only had heard/read about the first one. I'm creative, I'm writing stories and songs and I like to play chess on my own creative way.
Who is your favorite chess player?
17 Oct '05 14:06
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