Who was the best chess player in the world? was it Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov or Karpov? do you know? I don't so I'd be happy to learn information from you cos I'm only ten.

In what way? Anand is World Champion, so he can be considered the best and he is the highest rated.

who was? I guess best would not only include rating and performance, but also fame, reputation, and consideration among chess fans.  The obvious choice is then Bobby Fischer, as you can not say chess without Fischer.

Garry Kasparov

Kasparov......

Because of the beauty of his game.

Hi Derek,

I will provide some clues about who I think it might be. You see, there are higher rated players today who learned much more from his games than they personally have contributed to chess. In effect, modern players owe their deep understanding of chess to guys like the one I am thinking of.

He was a prodigy who worked out how the pieces moved by observing just one game [at the age of 4] & became a master about age 12.. To my knowledge he had no coach nor did he study...in fact he didn't even like chess that much, and yet was so far above the players of his time that he remain undefeated for 10 years! At this time his 10 main rivals were either past World Champions or incredibly gifted players. He eventually lost to a genius who was completely devoted to chess...and worked at least as hard or harder at chess than anyone who ever lived! [and this lost match was very very close!]

So...even though I love the games of Alekhine or Tal far more than the guy above - I am afraid that he is the undisputed King of Chess. The Greatest who ever lived! But who will be the 1st to name him?

wizard, you are writing about Capablanca, however whilst I've read that he learned aged four  by watching his father play, I never read he learned by watching his father play a single game! He was certainly streets ahead of his rivals at the time and I understand at speed chess he was even more outstanding and could give 5-1 odds and still win.  He was recognised by his rivals Alekhine, Lasker as superior also. 

ok i dont know that as well...........but i

Well, I'd say Fischer was the best (I seem to remember that his rating was 95 points higher than anyone else at his peak), but his reputation off the board probably ruins it for him.

Kasparov definitely does not have a poor reputation (except maybe in the Kremlin), and I seem to remember that he once had a string of tournament successes that have only been matched by Karpov and Capablanca. Add it to the highest rating ever, and you've got my #1 pick.

Kasparov or Fischer OR Lasker or Alekhine :-))))

Paul Morphy -  

In Europe Morphy was generally hailed as world chess champion. In Paris, at a banquet held in his honor on April 4, 1859, a laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne. At a similar gathering in London, where he returned in the spring of 1859, Morphy was again proclaimed "the Champion of the World". He was also invited to a private audience with Queen Victoria. So dominant was Morphy that even masters could not seriously challenge him in play without some kind of handicap. At a simultaneous match against five masters (Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden, Thomas Barnes, Johann Löwenthal, and Henry Bird), Morphy won two games, drew two games, and lost one.

Upon his return to America, the accolades continued as Morphy toured the major cities on his way home. At the University of the City of New York, on May 29, 1859, John Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren, ended a testimonial presentation by proclaiming, "Paul Morphy, Chess Champion of the World". In Boston, at a banquet attended by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louis Agassiz, the mayor of Boston, the President of Harvard, and other luminaries, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes toasted "Paul Morphy, the World Chess Champion". In short, Morphy was a celebrity. Manufacturers sought his endorsements, newspapers asked him to write chess columns, and a baseball club was named after him.

Having vanquished virtually all serious opposition, Morphy reportedly declared that he would play no more matches without giving odds of pawn and move.^[5] After returning home he declared himself retired from the game and, with a few exceptions, gave up public competition for good.

capa alkenine lasker fischer morphy tal petrosian kaprov kasparov are all great

I'll bet Kasparov beats all of your other greats! pinapplebrainDerek, it's Kasparov - the Best of the Best. Even the current World Champion, Anand is -30 or something against Kasparov. You see Kasparov learned just about everything from every other great before him plus he has the aid also of computer databases and to top that off at his prime he could beat anybody. I don't know this- but is their any present GM whose got a plus score against Kasparov? I think only Karpov comes close even he has a minus record vs Kas. He's not my favorite player, he's the player I wish my favorite players could beat.

It's too hard to compare players of different eras. Was Lasker better than Karpov? Was Capablanca better than Anand? We'll probably never know. All the world champions were great players in their time. Many great players never even won the world championship. Picking the one who was the best is impossible.

Many people say that either Kasparov or Fischer was the best. Fischer said that Paul Morphy was the best. Alekhine, Tal, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Karpov, Petrosian, Steinitz, etc, etc, were really great too.

ITs between Bobby Fischer,Kasparov,and Capablanca

Me

Kasparov.

Darkcloudy wrote:

ITs between Bobby Fischer,Kasparov,and Capablanca

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 what about alkhine and lasker and deep blue

I don't think deep blue qualifies as a chess "player"

allowing a computer to enter a chess contest is similar to letting a forklift truck enter a weight lifting contest :-)