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https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-gl...f-the-elo-list for those who love numbers and chess trivia
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This early paragraph...
Clear Number 1
"Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Topalov, Anand and currently Carlsen: Since the introduction of the official FIDE Elo rating more than half a century ago, only six players have managed to become clear number 1!"
Probably the list would be trimmed to four, if Kasparov had not retired early.
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Surely Kramnik was a better player than Anand And Topalov?Comment
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Why include Anand and Topalov together? Vishy Anand stands foremost. Even the pecking order is Anand beat Kramnik and Kramnik beat Topalov (but then Kramnik crunched Kasparov and on and on and so forth) They are all superstar players. I remember being in St. Louis and commenting on a game with another master and over my shoulder I hear a completely different analysis of the position with several lines. I turn around and it was Topalov. I had to take the position to a board and look at it for half an hour and I still wasnt sure I got it. Those guys understand on a level way beyond the average grandmaster.Comment
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Also in the article they were talking about clear number one at the time.Comment
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right. and Duran beat Leonard, who beat Benitez, Hearns, and Hagler, all of whom were beaten by Leonard. Duran gets the credit.
In my book, Kramnik's title victory over Kasparov bears more weight than Anand's title victories and Topalov's title victories. imo of course, we can't prove this. And I stand by what I am saying, that Topalov and Anand would never have become champion or topped the rating list, "at that time", if Kasparov had not retired early.
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Humans advance over time, we get faster, bigger and so on. Thus, normally the best of today is the best that has ever lived. There are, of course, exceptions. There is also a difference between "the best who ever lived", and "the greatest of all time". Consider golf. Jack Nicklaus is the greatest of all time because he won the most Majors. But Tiger Woods is clearly the best who ever lived because he won all four in a row, a stretch which included winning the US Open by 15 shots, and Nicklaus never came close to this level of dominance over a shorter period of time.
When it comes to chess, it seems to me that the player who was farther ahead of whomever was second best deserves to be considered as the greatest of all time/who ever lived. And clearly this is Fischer. No one else lapped the field with such dominance.
With respect to Marvin Hagler, who died from the COVID vaccination, he easily won the fight against Leonard, it was not even close, it was one of the worst decisions of all time. Anyone who says Gretzky is the best hockey player of all time is not old enough to remember Bobby Orr. The Rolling Stones are the worst rock band of all time if keeping time and playing in tune are to be considered as factors in judging.Comment
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How about Paul Morphy. At the time he was playing, he was head and shoulders above the rest of the world. True chess was not as advanced as it is now but if you want to talk about total domination, Morphy is the man.Comment
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Right Tony. Exactly. Total domination by Paul Morphy - the chess played by Morphy was so far ahead of the rest it was like a god amongst mere mortals.Comment
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Bobby Fischers feats are incredible and will never be matched but I wouldnt want to predict a match between him and Efim Geller.Comment
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If you want to know about Topalov's domination just take a look at the games of San Luis 2007.Comment
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Apparently his wife says he did NOT die from a covid vaccination.Originally posted by Brad Thomson View Post
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/03/sc...t-how-he-died/"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
"If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De QuinceyComment
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For chess: Paul Morphy was further ahead of his generation than anyone has been since, in my view. His play advanced chess by more, than any other leading player.
For golf: The peak carved by Tiger Woods is higher than anyone else's. But he also had some very dry years, after the big scandal in 2009, and had only sporadic excellence after 2013, when he was only 37 during that season, still comparatively young by golf standards. Others, including Jack Nicklaus, played world-class golf after turning age 38. And legends such as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead lost important years to World War II, when competitive golf was virtually shut down for several years. Bobby Jones retired in 1930 at age 28, with no more important events to win; he won the four most important for which he was eligible in that year; all as an amateur.
It depends a great deal on how one defines greatness, how one measures it, and the available data. The context of one's times is vitally important, in an evolving world. Bobby Fischer defeated the top echelon of Soviet chess, which was colluding against him. No one else has done that.
In basketball, LeBron James is now the top scorer in both regular season and playoffs. But he did not play in college; the player he passed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, did, and set exceptional performance marks while at UCLA for four years. Kareem, then known as Lew Alcindor, could certainly have played in the NBA at age 18, as James did. And Wilt Chamberlain had to do without a key statistic -- blocks -- which were not measured until very late in his career. By many accounts, Wilt blocked half a dozen shots per game, minimum.
Many people are anointing Serena Williams as the greatest athlete of all time, certainly the greatest female tennis player. Martina Navratilova has at least an equal claim; while she has fewer singles Grand Slams, she has many more doubles Grand Slams, and far more tournament victories than Serena, who was quite selective in her schedule. In Grand Slams, players get a day off between matches; Martina was using that time to play doubles!Comment
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Yes, but Hagler called his friend Thomas Hearns and told him that he just got the vaccine and that he was now sick as a dog, and then he died. I believe Hearns.Originally posted by Peter McKillop View PostComment
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I got bit by a cat named Hearns ... I survived.Originally posted by Fred Henderson View PostComment
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