Who is the greatest chess player in the history of chess? It's an eternal topic that has been discussed for generations, and there has never been a consistent answer.
A few days ago, two assistants of world champion Carlson, Grandmaster Gustavson and Nelson tried to complete this difficult task. Based on the statistics of chess statistician Jeff Sonas, the two of them conducted comprehensive consideration and discussion, and began to reveal the rankings in the form of a video program on the chess24 website in September. Yesterday this ranking was all released.
The top ten are as follows:
In first place is former world champion Kasparov. Current world champion Carlson is second. The late former world champion Fischer was in third place. Several chess champions Lasker, Alyohin, Karpov, Kapa blanca, Bautvnik and Anand are ranked 4-9 respectively. Morphy ranked 10th.
Why do you put Kasparov first?
Grandmaster Nelson explains: "There's really nothing to say, for the simple reason. The first is Kasparov's world championship record: five wins, one cancelled, one drawn, one defeated. Basically six world champions. Then there's the world rankings: he rose to number one in the world at the age of 21 and 11 months, which is unbelievable! And for nearly 22 years, the grade has remained the first in the world. He has always been the ruler, sometimes with a considerable advantage. Bareyev famously said. Someone asked 'How is it possible for Kasparov to lead by 90 points over second place?' Bareyev said, 'Yes, this must be problematic, he should be ahead of the curve!' ’。 Without a doubt, he is the most powerful player in the history of chess. ”
Many chess fans believe that Fischer, who defeated Spaski to ascend to the throne in the 1972 Reykjavik World Championship, is the greatest chess player in chess history. Gustavson and Nelson disagree. They explain:
"Fischer is an amazing chess player. Put him in third place because he has won only one World Championship. He ascended to the throne in an incredible way. For many years before that, he was the most powerful chess player in the world. These achievements are enough to surpass many other world champions, but we think they are not superior to Carlson and Kasparov. ”
In August, Kasparov made a remark that sparked widespread discussion among chess fans. He believes he faced stronger competition in the 1990s.
Kasparov said: "I don't want to denigrate Carlson's opponents, but as far as the top players are concerned, it's hard for me to see the same competition I've experienced, especially in the '90s. Not to mention that I have to compete with Karpov and Karpov's contemporaries, we must also compete with the next generation of chess players, including Anand, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, and the younger Kramnik, Polgar Jr. and Sveidler. I also won a lot of competitions with them, many of them were very strong, And Anand and Kramnik became world champions. Today, I don't see Carlson facing such competition. Although I think about it, maybe Ding Liren or Karuana are strong opponents, but they don't have the same level and stability as Anand or Kramnik did 20 or 25 years ago. ”
In response to Kasparov's remarks, Carlson said in an interview: "I don't think I'm the right person to answer this question." Making this kind of judgment is usually easier after the end of your chess career. At present, there are many chess players whose chess careers have just begun. So, from a historical point of view, it is not an easy task to judge them. ”
The full ranking of the top 100 is as follows:
It is worth noting that among the players, the current world runner-up Caruana ranks 19th, and Aronian ranks 33rd. Karyakin is in 49th place. In addition, former world champion Topalov (21st), former world runner-up Tyman (41st), Guervander (39th), Reko (44th) and Kamski (46th). The leaderboard is full of male players, and no female players are shortlisted. in Chaturranka