Originally posted by TiwakingI believe our very own David Tebb has a + score on him as well.
I stand corrected!
Konstantin Lerner (U16) (+1-0=1) Total score: +1!
I will always be convinced that both Gary Kasparov and Paul McCartney were killed in 1966 and replaced by robots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_is_dead
Edit: I blame Gary's driving (since he was about 3 years old at the time). This post is getting off topic so I shall be quiet now
1. Alekhine Drinking, drinking during championship matches, womanizing, etc. And still managing to play some of the most brilliant games ever. Took 'creative liberties' with some of his scoresheets. 😉
2. Nimzovich Got his kicks by taunting Nazi officers. Gotta love someone who yells out "Why must I lose to this idiot!" right after a game. Every chess player has felt that; he just was brazen enough to say it out loud.
3. Fischer Brilliant and bat-shyte crazy. Watch as people are irresistably drawn into the same discussions about him over and over again - certainly one of the most fascinating characters ever.
4. Tal Damn the Torpedoes! attacking style, and a helluva a sense of humor - "I drink, I go with women, but [correspondence chess] is one vice I don't have."
I don't feel like adding any filler names so this will be just a Top-4.
That's the spirit SG the real Chess players.
Blackburne for drinking even heavier than Alekhine and for throwing
Steinitz through a pair of French Windows. (not a bad player as well).
Miles for the a6 game and the Schiller book 'Utter Crap' review.
Fischer For that picture of him coming down the gangplank at Iceland '72
carrying his own chessboard ready to take on the whole world.
Tarrasch "I will have only two words to say to you Herr Lasker, check
and checkmate."
Fischer Again 'cos he was so bloody brilliant.
Is that 10?
Yeah the story runs.
"During the Paris Tournament in 1867, he blew up over a trivial remark made by
his British opponent, Joseph Blackburne. In a rage, Steinitz spat in his face.
Blackburne, who was no white knight himself, promptly picked up the short, squat
megalomaniac and threw him right out the window.’
Blackburne apparently was not in Paris at the time. However the tale is
well documented and it was possibly French windows.
Everyone agress it happend but where and what type of windows is still
under debate.
1)Fischer- Light years ahead of everyone in his era. There's no one else who has ever lived who could have done what he did. He beat an entire country...by himself... and not just any country but a superpower that had devoted enourmous resources to winning at chess and had dominated for half a century. The perfect combination of natural talent and hard work.
2) Morphy- Probably 50 years ahead of his time. Lasker would have been the first player that could have challenged him. His tactical accuracy was unmatched, his positional play was over a century ahead of his time and his endgame play was surprisingly strong for his era even when he was a child. And oh yeah...He was probably the greatest attacking player that ever lived. I always laugh when I'm flipping through MCO and see one of his games. 150 years have passed and no one has been able to improve on his play even though Morphy himself probably only thought about 90 seconds on the line.
3)Capablanca- His record speaks for itself. Not on Fischer's/Morphy's level because he lacked the same drive and competitiveness.
4)Alekhine- Spent too much time trying to convince everyone how great he was and too little time actually being great.
5)Kasparov- see above
6) Tal- Had the talent but not the desire.
I'll stop there for now.
Some who are NOT in the top 10:
Karpov- The product of Soviet propaganda and opening prep/analysis. Would be a pretty mediocre player if he had to do everything by himself. Never legitimately won a WC match so its hard to put him in the same class as guys like Euwe or Steinitz let alone the top players.
Lasker- Stayed world champion by not ever playing anyone who was even remotely near one of the top players in the world. When he finally did he got crushed.
Kramnik- I cant honestly say I know of a time when he was the best player in the world during his own era let alone all-time.
My Faves are:
1.Deschapelles - brilliant character. And some impressive games when your crap like me.
2.Capablanca - the 'Alpha Male' of chess, the 'Dude'.
3.Nimzowitch(sp?) - Great book, nice games, bit of attitude.
4.Rubinstein - beautiful games and a complete nutjob.(Ivanchuk comes a close second for this role).
5.Miles - who plays 1...a6 against Karpov??
6.Tal - The James Dean of Chess.
7.Short - Some nice games, and attitude.
8.Kramnik - simply because I don't like Topolov or Kasparov much.(great players that they are).
9.Euwe - Seemed to do alot of good for chess, apparently was an 'amatuer' and he WAS world Champion.(plus I like his books.)
10.Najdorf(sp?) - seemed a dude.