Your Greatest Chess Grandmasters Ever

Chess Grandmasters - Ruy Lopez de Segura

Chess Grandmasters are the successors of a long tradition throughout the world. Anyone who could play this game well has won admiration from the general public and high society alike. This is true no matter how far back you go or what country you think of.

Great chess players have played in front of Sultans, Kings and Presidents the world over for many centuries. People would gather in chess cafes and clubs to watch them weave magic over the board. They even played against computers for a while but after Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997 it was downhill all the way for the humans and they don't play them anymore.

People will never agree on who is the greatest player of all. It's very subjective and we all tend to have our favorites. For some reason or other some player or another will capture your imagination and that's that. Who do you think is the greatest?

What Makes a Master?

Chess Grandmasters - Francois-Andre Danican Philidor

Throughout history so many players have wowed the world of chess. Great games have been played, enriched with incredible combinations. Remarkable genius has also on occasion been witnessed through the prism of flawless positional strategy.

Some games are also remembered for brilliant individual moves. Others for sustained and incredible, violent attacks. Still more for unbelievable defense from a player in the face of all out assault before taking victory themselves. These masters become immortal through their brilliancies.

Many players have variations or entire opening systems named after them in recognition of their contribution to chess. There are so many criteria on which you can judge a player's greatness. The greats leave their mark in so many different ways. We all probably have a player whose style we admire the most. Who is your favorite chess player?

How Do Different Eras Compare?

Chess Masters: Paul Morphy — Chess Grandmasters - Paul Morphy

We know that players have got better as the years roll on. This was due to learning from previous generations as the secrets of the chess board fell one by one. This accelerated with technology advances in the last 50 years that have helped us figure out chess at a faster rate than ever.

But for all of that the evidence is that the great players of the past had just as much powers of invention, the only thing they lacked was discovered theory to hand.

It's fair to say that if the great masters of today lived in earlier times and only had access to the same information as masters back then it would probably be an even contest. Likewise if the earlier masters had lived in this time with all of the technology and knowledge modern masters enjoy, they would likely be just as good. All in all it's not easy to compare masters of different times because of the advance of time but it's always fun to try.

What Style Do You Enjoy the Most?

We have seen many playing styles move in and out of vogue. The tactical thrillers up to and including the 19th Century. The slow burning intrigue of the succeeding positionally based encounters that sometimes exploded into fury in the late middlegame.

The Hypermodern players had their say showing there are many ways to play. Players like Philidor and Morphy always seemed to have more time than their opponents. Capablanca or Fischer both for a time had an aura of invincibility about them.

Lasker, Alekhine and Botvinnik enjoyed longevity at the top and not for no reason. There was only one Tal. Today boasts talents like Carlsen, Nakamura and Caruana. Could one of them be the greatest?

An Obvious Candidate or a Dark Horse?

Chess Grandmasters - Jose Raul Capablanca

Of course these are all the usual suspects, the name you always hear. The chess world has also seen incredibly talented players that haven't quite gained the notoriety of those players. And yet they may have played many exceptional games.

What about Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Marshall, Schlechter, Pillsbury, Keres, Korchnoi or Ivanchuk? Maybe one of these could take on Kasparov on a certain day.

It's okay to be subjective. It's a subjective question. Perhaps the player that has impressed you the most, inspired you the most, hasn't the same reputation but has a collection of games that can rival any other player. Talk about it.

Open to Persuasion or Mind Made Up?

If you're relatively new to chess you may still be open on this question. If you've been on the chess thing for a long time now you may have already settled on one player as the ultimate master.

Or maybe you can't quite decide between two or more. No one had everything but they all had something. Who do you see the toss up being between? Which players for you have one hand on the cup?

Or if you have settled on your final answer and won't be moved from your position, tell us what decided it for you. Unbelievable tactics, the knack game after game of building unbearable pressure until the opponent cracked, unique creativity as a signature throughout the years or something else? Lend us your thoughts.

Who Was The Greatest Chess Player Of All?

There have been many great players down through the years, decades and centuries. There does not seem to be an undisputed greatest. Different people have different opinions. Who do you consider the greatest? Why not write a piece on the top chess player of all time. Tell us what sets him apart from the rest. Or even do an article on one of the greatest who you think deserves a mention for his services to chess. Your player doesn't necessarily have to be the greatest all rounder. He can be the greatest tactician or greatest endgame specialist or have some unique and interesting style. Can you think of a player who should be talked about? Put forward the case for Your Greatest Chess Player Ever.

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Greatest Player Ever Articles left by other Contributors

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Garry Kasparov - Undisputed Monarch
Chess, at the top level is a game played among those guys who have approximately 300,000 position patterns stored in their memory. Since it is a mental …

Paul Morphy - Chess Master
Arguably one of the greatest chess players in the history of the game was Mr. Paul Morphy, a self-taught American chess master who lived from 1837 - 1884. …

Alexander Alekhine - Magician of Moscow Not rated yet
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was a Russian chess player. He was the fourth World chess champion. He was born on October 31st, 1892 in Moscow, in the …

Jose Raul Capablanca - Human Chess Machine Not rated yet
The origin of geniuses takes place in the world and they became wonders. Jose Raul Capablanca is such a genius who specialized in chess. He was a Cuban …

Viswanathan Anand - Tiger of Madras Not rated yet
Anand the chess master lovingly called "Vishy". The tiger of Madras, he started his play at the age of 6. Anand the thinking master being to play chess …

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Moving On

With all that talk of great GMs it's time to continue the journey through the greats of chess history. An official World Chess Championship was finally organized in the 1880s and the first World Championship match was played from January - March of 1886.

The match was contested by the two clearly best players of that time, Wilhelm Steinitz playing for Austria-Hungary and Johannes Zukertort competing for Britain. The match was played in 3 American cities and it began a rich history of World Championship chess.

Twenty games were played and in the end Wilhelm Steinitz emerged as the 1st Official World Chess Champion, winning +10-5=5.

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