Hikaru's Hot Takes on the Ten Best Chess Players of All Time

um wait i'm sorry who wrote this  article one second let me scroll the top   all right i'll reserve judgment  until i see the whole list but i   would say that already this this  articles is not not going well the 10 best chess players of all time our  beloved game of chess is many legends world   champions challengers world class players and  grand masters the games of these masters delight   inspire and teach us the way it's the royal game  it is common to discuss the greatest player of   all time in chess circles but these discussions  always beg the singular question who was the best   of all time here are the 10 best chess players all  right okay let's start with the honorable mentions   honorable mentions the following players are all  chess legends and are in the conversation for   the best players of all time but for one reason  or another ended up just outside of the top ten   paul morphy okay paul morphy was the or sorry  let me just leave it right here paul morphy   was the embodiment of romantic attacking chess  the strongest player of the 1850s and the best   player of the entire 19th century there was no  official world championship title during his era   but he was light years ahead of his competition  and is recognized as an unofficial world champion   morphe won the 1857 american chess congress  and then traveled to europe in 1858   winning every match he played  versus the world's leading players   morphy taught the chess world about sacrifices  development attacking accuracy and more his   legendary opera game is considered one of the  most famous chess games of all time and is   still studied today bobby fischer listed morphy  as one of the 10 greatest players of all time   all right um so to me i don't know i don't  know where you put morphy i think it really   depends on a couple of things it depends  i think on how you contextualize chess   the arc it depends how you how you  contextualize chess so to me for example   the way that i view chess i feel like a lot of  a lot of what makes chess a great game is the   intuition the pure ability the pure skill set that  you have um in the game of chess and i feel like   when i when i look at like the eras you kind  of have to take into account how far ahead of   someone was versus the others and to me the pure  intuition the pure intellect of morphe is really   i mean in many ways unparalleled i think there  are probably players in 1700s who maybe were   just as far ahead of their ahead of the other  competitors but if you look at it within the   context of all the players having the same having  the the uh the knowledge having access the same   same knowledge and the fact that paul morphy  was probably about three to four hundred   points stronger than every other player to  me i think what that says is he probably he   probably would be in a top ten list that i would  do objectively because everybody had access to the   same information like what made morphe better than  his opponents there were no computers everyone sat   down with their wooden chessboard they tried to  make their notes and they tried to try to know   some basic openings but a lot of was the pure  ability to to find good moves and and so to me   the fact that they put more of it is an honorable  mention i think it's kind of um kind of kind of   questionable that's that's what i would say and he  was way ahead of his contemporaries further ahead   of his contemporaries than anybody else was uh  and yeah morphy morphy versus his contemporaries   was uh was like 400 points better i think whereas  magnus at his peak is not more than 100 which   mind you is still very impressive but uh i think  i think morphy if you're morphy should be in a top   10 list uh based up based on the way that i would  read it um so and like to put that in context what   what i would say is so that's like saying if paul  morphy was around or let's just say magnus say if   magnus was playing today and his rating was  like 3100 that would be like the comparison   like 3100 he's 3100 the next best players are  like 2800 like that's how good morphy was um so   to me i think maybe he should make it i didn't see  exactly what those 10 names were so i'll hold off   judgment completely but i i think putting him as  an honorable mention is a little bit questionable   okay next up is tigran petrossian um okay gm  t grand patroner iron tigran was the world   champion during 1963-69 and a four-time soviet  champion undefeated the entire years leading to   this world championship title 1962 he was known  for his defensive prowess and his famous exchange   sacrifices according to gm daniel neroditsky  is one of the first elite players with a truly   universal style petrossian defeated the legendary  gm mikhail bought vinick to become world champion   in 1963 defended his title against boris baskey in  1966 and then lost the rematch to spassky in 1969.   in 1971 petrosian was gm bobby fischer's last  stepping stone to face spassky for the world   championship in 1972. his victory over fisher in  the second game of their candidates match stopped   fisher's historical and unprecedented 20-game  winning streak although fischer did win the match   all right so petrosian i don't know i mean i  have to see the top ten i think i mean he was   a great world champion he's probably one of the  few world champions where when i've looked at   his games there have been very few things that  stand out if i'm if i'm being objective um but   i i would say that like i i don't know i don't  really consider tigran patron in the same category   as paul morphy so it's it's already this article  is already off to a very poor start all right next   up is vichy anand um wait i'm sorry who wrote  this article one second let me scroll the top   colin stapnisky wrote this article okay um   all right uh v vicia non gm bishwanathan anand  was the feeding world champion from 2000 to 2002   and the 15th undisputed champion from 2007 to  2013. he lost the professional chess association   pca world championship match against gm gary  casparov in 1995 and lost to gm anatoly karpov   in the video world championship match in 1998  on tire breaks before winning the defeated world   championship in 2000. in 2007 anon won the double  round robin world championship tournament ahead of   jim vladimir kramnik and other world class players  and was crowned world champion in 2008 he defeated   kramnik in a match to become the 15th undisputed  world champion he defended his title by defeating   gm vessel and topalov in 2010 and in 2012 against  jim boris gelfant in 2013 anand was defeated by   reigning world champion magnus carlson anand is  the strongest indian grand master of all time   and has inspired multiple generations of chess  players in india and around the world all right um   so what i'm going to say is since i can actually  already see who number 10 is uh anand i think   without a doubt is in the top 10 of all time if  you look at his achievements he's a five-time   world champion he won the tournament in the  knockout he won he won it in the matches um i mean   like he's won he's one in all the formats he he  under 100 should be in the top 10 without a doubt   so i think uh i think for anon to be on honorable  mentions just also forget about forget about the   fact that anon at his at the age of 50 is still  competing against the best in the world so anand   100 should not be an honorable mention morphe  i'll reserve i'll reserve judgment until i see   the whole list but i would say that already  this this articles is not not going well   okay number 10 alex number 10 alexander aliyekin  alexander aliyekin was the fourth official world   champion and held the title from 1927 to 1946 was  an exception during 1935-37 he was a brilliant and   well-rounded player with a special ability for  combinational play and complex position he also   taught the chess world that rules and principles  can be broken based on concrete analysis of the   specific and unique situation alyakin became world  champion by defeating jose raul capoblanca in 1927   despite being a large underdog he had never won  a single game against capablanca before the match   aliyakin's reign as world champion was long but  he successfully defended his title only twice   both times against gm fm bogo yubot in 1929  and 1934. kappa blanc and eliak had never had a   rematch for the world championship due to various  reasons aliyah can face gmax oyva for the world   championship in 1935 and surprisingly lost two  years later aliakin won the rematch against oyva   to earn the crown back but he would never defend  it again he passed away in 1946 as the world   champion the only champion ever to do so although  he was finalizing the details to play a match with   bob finnick um okay i i see nothing wrong with ali  eckham being in the top 10. definitely change the   game of chess makes sense okay number nine mikhail  tao okay okay so number nine is mckell towel   uh gm mckell towel also known as the magician  from regal was the eighth official world   champion he defeated bob vinick in 1960 to  earn the crown at the age of 23 and a half   becoming the youngest world champion in  history at the time although this record   was broken by both kasparov and carlson known  for his brilliant unique attacking style taos   approach the game has been an inspiration for  attacking players for decades one of his most   famous chilling bone chilling quotes is  you must take your opponent into a deep   dark force where two plus two equals five the  path leading out is only wide enough for one   his game's collection the life and games of  mikhail tile is a chess classic and considered   one of the greatest chess books of all time um  so what i would say is based on what i've seen   so far i actually don't i don't think that tal is  in my top 10. i mean he was a great chess player   but i have looked at quite a few of his games and  to be frank i've seen some games that are really   the quality is really quite bad i have like the  quality is not good and i do not in any world   think that you can put tal in the top ten ahead  of someone like vishyanand who um who first of   all has been world champion more times secondly  has played for a much longer period of time so as   much as i respect mikhail towel as a chess player  and how all the great contributions he made he is   not a top ten player of all time so he should not  be number nine um well yeah he shouldn't even be   ahead of ali i can you know let alone in the top  10. um all right number eight emmanuel alaska emmanuel lasker was the second official world  champion and held the title for 27 years his reign   from 1894 to 1921 is the longest of any world  chess champion and his planned career lasted five   decades lasker defeated the first official world  champion wilhelm steinitz in 1894 and he defended   his title five times against a host of world-class  contenders including frank marshall siebert   terrace david janovski and carl schlechter in 1921  lasker lost the title to capoblanca but continued   to play at the highest level he placed third  in the 1935 moscow tournament at the age of 66   half a point behind bob winnick and salvo floor  but ahead of cappa blanca the first women's world   champion vera magic and 15 others um alright so  lasker should be in the top ten i think that's   very reasonable to put him there um i i have no  issue with number eight number seven whoa whoa   whoa oh okay before i get into number seven  uh uh i'm gonna i have to stop for a second   um how in any world do you put kramnik on the  top ten and you don't put a non in the top ten   there is no way there there is no way in a million  years that you can put kramnik in the top ten and   not putting on in the top ten when it on has a  vastly superior career that's just a big mistake   um i know he beat caspara but so what so  what that's actually that's very dubious   um num number seven uh vladimir kramnik gm  vladimir kramnik was world champion from 2000   to 2007. he became the classical world champion  by dethroning the legendary kasparov in 2000   defended his title in 2004 against champion alecko  and a 2006 face defeated world champion topalov in   a title unification match kramnik defeated topelop  to become the first undisputed world champion   since kasparov in 1993. at his peak kramnik's game  had absolutely no weak points he could do it all   he was known for his fantastic end game play and  his clean tenacious on positional style kramnik   is considered one of the most difficult players  to defeat in the history of the game kramnik was   a top player for over 25 years before retiring in  january 2019. all right um i mean caspar was not   his absolute peak in 99 2000 but of course he was  still extremely strong my only issue was kramnik   i don't have any issue with kramnik in the top 10  my only issue is that there's no way that you can   put kramnik in the top 10 and not put a non in the  top 10. that's that that's my only issue with it   i think he is i think you can definitely make an  argument he's in the top 10 but definitely a non   should be in the top 10 as well i need a snake  asses for the nine as well i appreciate it um   so let's let's keep going number  six mikhail about vinnick all right all right gm mikhail bought vinegar is known as  the father of the soviet chess school the sixth   world champion reigned from 1948 to 1963  with two brief intermissions and was a top   player for over 30 years but vinik's style  was dictated by iron logic and flexibility   although he was extremely talented with  methodical and strategical planning   his flexible style allowed him to adapt to all  different types of playing styles he became world   champion in 1948 defended his title against gm  david bronstein in 1951 and defeated gm vasily   smithslav in 1954. in 1957 smithslav defeated bob  finnick who won their rematch the following year   at the time the world champion had the right to  rematch if they lost the title in 1960 bot vinic   was defeated by tal but history repeated itself as  bot vinic won their rematch in 1961 although his   reign as world champion was brought to an end by  petrossian in 1963 bob bennett continued to play   at a high level until his retirement in 1970. bob  vinick started his chess school in 1963 and he was   the teacher of three future world champions karpov  kasparov and kramnik all right again no big issue   with with uh with bob vinick being being being up  there um it's completely fine number five anatoly   karpov interesting okay i won't spoil it of course  you guys so i'll try to go as slow as i can um i'm gonna i'm gonna try not to spoil okay gm  anatoly karpov was a 12th world chess champion   and reigned from 1975 to 1985 while also being  the fiji world champion from 1983 from 1993 to   1999. harbaugh was an exceptionally well-rounded  player but his specialty was positional binds   prophylactic play and wonderful end game technique  karpov became world champion by default when   fischer withdrew from their 1975 match because his  demands weren't met karpov defended his crown by   defeating gm victor korshnoi in 1978 and again in  1981. in 1984 karpov would have his first meeting   with kasparov and the chess world was changed  forever in the first of five matches between two   legendary titans the match was called early with  karpov leading five wins three losses and 40 draws   in 1985 kasparov defeated karpov and claimed  the chess crown they played again in 1986   1987 and 1990. in 1990 and when and when  their matches were concluded their lifetime   record in world championship matches was 19  wins for karpov 21 wins for kasparov and 104   draws in 1993 kasparov broke away from fide  creating the pca and karpov became defeated   world champion karpov defended his feeding world  championship title by defeating jim yon timmon in   1993 gm got a kamsky in 1996 and anon in 1998 on  tie briggs karpov refused to play in the 1999 fita   world championship tournament after fiat changed  their rules alright karpov's legendary games   continue to continue to be a source of inspiration  for all positional and end-game players to date   deep tibor carolee's two-volume work titled karpov  strategic wins is considered one of the best chess   books ever written all right makes sense okay  uh he definitely should be in the top 10 for   sure number four is jose araul capablanca  all right let's scroll down or whoops okay   jose raul capoblanca was the third official world  champion and possibly the most talented chess   player ever to play the game from 1916 through  1924 he amassed a tournament record of 40 wins   and 23 draws an unprecedented feat at the time  and still a historically significant achievement   papa blanca's talent and skill were unmatched  during his eight-year period papa blanca became   world champion by defeating the legendary lasker  in 1921. many believe that capoblanca would have   defeated lasker had he been given the chance  before 1921 and many believe that he would   have reclaimed that title had he been given  an opportunity for a rematch with ali yekin   unfortunately for cappa blanca his peak playing  time happened both during and between world war   1 and world war ii every world champion content  every world champion and contender is well-rounded   but kappa block had a special gift for the  end game even now in the engine of era chess   it is difficult to poke holes in his endgame play  earning chernov's book kappa blocka's best chess   endings is a classic going eight years without  a single loss and becoming world champion are   something or something that chess world won't  ever see again and kappa block only capablanca   achieved this feat so pretty standard um he should  be in the top five okay number three bobby fischer   now this one i need to be careful because  this is where all the suspense is right okay   gm bobby fischer was the 11th official world  chess champion as well as the first and only   american world champion he is considered by many  to be the most famous chess player ever from 1970   to 71 fisher won 20 consecutive games against  world-class opposition an unprecedented and   mind-boggling achievement that will most likely  never be equal this feat is countered among the   seven most amazing chess records in 1972 fisher  defeated spassky in the match of the century and   was crowned world champion despite starting the  match with an 0-2 score after throwing away game   1 in a completely equal end game and not even  showing up for game 2. fisher's dismantling of   the soviet chess empire from 1970 to 1972 during  the midst of the cold war is considered one of the   greatest individual performances of all time is  style his style was unique original and creative   he could attack and defend with the best of them  but he also showed a very deep and almost scary   positional understanding fisher inspired multiple  generations of chess players in the u.s and around   the world all right obviously should be number  three okay who's number two is it gary or magnus what do you guys think who's number two i'm i'm betting number two is  magnus let's see okay let's scroll   oh yeah anyway we got it fisher's game  fisher's game of the century is one of   the most famous chess games of all time and his  book titled my 16 memorable games is considered   one of the best chess books in history all  right number two magnus carlson all right gm magnus carlson oops gm magnus carlson is  the reigning world champion for all three   time control standard rapid and blitz in 2009 he  became the youngest player in history to reach   the 28 rating threshold on april 21st 2014 he  reaches peak rating and the highest chess rating   ever at 28.89 carlsen had been the number one  ranked player since 2011 and has been dominating   the game ever since as of february 2020 carlson  had been has been on a 120 game undefeated streak   in standard time controls another record for  the world champion his resume is already more   than enough to be considered number two on  this list of the best players of all time   but carlson is only 29 years old and may not  have even reached his peak playing strength   carlson became the world champion by defeating  anand in 2013 just before turning 23 years old   the second youngest world champion ever behind  only kasparov he has successfully defended his   title three times in 2014 carlson won the rematch  against the nod in 2016 he defeated gm sergey   karjakin and 2018 he defeated gm fabiano caruana  carlson himself does not believe he has earned the   number one spot on this list according to an  interview in january 2020 carlson states that   kasparov had 20 years uninterrupted as the world  number one uh he must be considered as the best   in history but i feel that time is on my side i'm  not yet 30 yet if i if i were to become if i were   to be considered the best in his best in history  at 30 i would have had to start dominating at 10.   all right um that's uh that's that's a good point  i think that's the only thing that separates is   the amount of time that um that gary was gary  was uh was number one was 20 years that's why   he i think remains number one and of course number  one on the list the one and only the legend mr   gary chess himself the the uh the creator of the  game of chess all right number one gary kasparov   all right okay gm gary casparov is a 13th world  champion and held the title from 1985 to 2000.   he first reached number one ranking in 1984  with a few minor exceptions remain the number   one player in the world until 2006 gaspar have  dominated the chess world for over 20 years   kasparov reached his peak rate his uh his peak  rating of 2856 on march 3rd 2000 at the time   an unprecedented number and a record that wasn't  broken until carlson surpassed it in 1985 casparov   defeated karpov to become the youngest world  champion ever at the age of roughly 22 and a half   he defended the world championship title  against karpov on three consecutive occasions   in 1986-1987 and 1990. in 1993 he broke  away from feeding and started the pca   this break would create two different world  championships until the reunification match   between between kramnik and topalov in 2006.  kasparov defended his title by defeating gm   nigel short in 1993 and successfully defended his  title again by defeating anon in 1995. kasparov   and laska are the only two world champions to  defend their title successfully five times in   2000 kramnik defeated kasparov ending the reign  of the best player of all time as world champion   however caspar would continue playing in  and winning tournaments until his retirement   in 2005. he left the game as the number one rated  player in the world kasparov has remained active   in the chess world and chess world after his  effective retirement he has played exhibit   exhibition matches and even trained carlson and gm  hikaru nakamura his five volume series titled my   great predecessors is considered one of the best  books ever alright so overall i would say a pretty   pretty respectable list i would say that um the  following is what i would change what i would   change as i go through this list are the following  the top three are pretty normal capablanca karpov   top five i can live with um i would say that  after the top five i think probably i would i   would put um i would put a non-six i would put a  non-six kramnik seven maybe then bought vinnick   eight last or nine and actually you know as i look  this list i think number 10 for me would be morphe   so my list would be uh you know kasparov sparrow  carlson is fine um fisher obviously those are   the top three by a country mile fourth  place capablanca fifth place would be um   this place is karpov that's reasonable  sixth place for me though would be a non   seven would be um seven would be kramnik eight  would be um eight maybe you could put bot vinnick   nine i can see last car and ten would be morphy  although then again if you're gonna put lasker   there morphy probably ranks higher than lasker  so i don't know but but i would say yeah i think   i think i think morphy morphe morphe and not  100 have to be in the top 10 uh especially   when i look at this top ten list i think tal  definitely does not belong in the top ten um   yeah tal doesn't belong and i think you can make  some argument that um some argument that aliekan   also kind of doesn't belong in the top ten either  because alia can dodge playing against the best   player of his time as as we covered in recent  articles where he played against bowie yuba   two times instead of playing as the second best  player in the world so i would probably get rid   of uh ali atkin um and talon i would put in an on  and morphe for sure but otherwise it's fine you

Channel: GMHikaru

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Keywords: Hikaru Nakamura, master chess, chess instruction, magnus carlsen, chess commentary for beginners, hikaru chess commentary, chess tournament, twitch streamers, chess game play, chess tricks, TSM, garry kasparov, best chess players of all time, best chess players in the world, best chess players over time, best chess players in history, best chess players ranked, best chess players 2021, best chess player ever, Paul Morphy, Vishy Anand, Kramnik, mikhail tal, bobby fischer

Id: bffwNThqDQc

Length: 24min 53sec (1493 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 24 2021