Who is the greatest chess player?
Hello; This is actually a very tough question! Instead of spouting off about playing styles, I am going to put up some stats and explain why the question might have more than one answer! Special thanks to http://www.chessgames.com Many people will say Bobby Fischer — Number of games in database: 958 Years covered: 1953 to 1992 Current FIDE rating: 2780 Highest rating achieved in database: 2785 Overall record: +450 -88 =249 (73.0%)* I think Gary Kasperov is a good choice — Number of games in database: 2,320 Years covered: 1973 to 2008 Current FIDE rating: 2812 Highest rating achieved in database: 2851 Overall record: +922 -160 =871 (69.5%) Fischer has fewer games only 958 but he won a very high percentage 73% Kasperov plays many more games but his win percentage is lower. Paul Keres was one of those players who probably should have been a World Champion — note that his number of games is very high and his win percentage is better
