Kasparov-Kramnik, Botvinnik Memorial 2001

Fakeee

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And that's why Vladimir Kramnik gets the better chair. You can see at the end of this video that he has two queens.

Heres the thing I think with the older players like Capablanca and Fischer to an extent is that they had great chess minds. So if you put them in modern chess right now they would still rise to the top. And there is the whole Rating inflation thing so maybe a 2800 player today is really a 2750 player 30 years ago. Or it could be even worse.

it is true that the ELO rating system is subject to a slight inflation.

one reason that it is so hard to call a "Who's best" between say Fischer and Kasparov, is that the ladder has learned from the former. Kasparov would not be the player he is today if Fischer hadn't shown brilliancies on the board. Still, Kaspy has brought his own ideas and unique brilliancy to the board. Of course the 2000 Kasparov would eat the 1972 Fischer alive - but to really compare we must imagine a 1972 Kasparov - which would simply not be the Gazza that we know today.

I disagree. Fischer was a winner. He would have beaten anyone you put in front of him period. Not that Kasparov isn't a champion, but hes not on the same level as Fischer by a long shot. The ratings may say their similar strength players but Fischer just knew how to win games no matter what. Kind of like a great athlete who may not have all the prototypical gifts but still wins the competitions.

Fischer was a god among his contemporaries (at least until Karpov entered the stage) but you have to factor in that everything Fischer demonstrated on the board has been thoroughly analysed be Gazza and everybody else. At that point, talent and sheer genius simply is not enough. If we somehow revived Fischer at his peak and reinstalled him on the chess scene to face the 2000 Gazza (and if we gave him, say, 2 years to learn the new theory) - it might be a different story.

Kasparov was better in the openings because of his hard work on this part of the game. This would prove to be a long term adavantage during the couse of a game against Fischer.

Kasparov sitting on a moderate chair and Kramnik on the kings chair. Interesting!