Question by Mr.what: Did Garry Kasparov ever have an equal on the chess board?
I know Garry Kasparov retired, but is there anybody that was his equal throughout his career?
The only one I can think of is his long time rival Anatoly Karpov, when he was young, but is there anybody else?
I thought possibly Kramnik, since Kasparov lost to him in a title match, but I know Kasparov wanted to retire, so I don’t know how much he really prepared for it.
Answers and Views:
Answer by OmarCayenne
Well, clearly Kramnik demonstrated that he was superior to Kasparov in their match. But for the previous 15 years Garri was the best player in the world, and would’ve been in a class by himself if it weren’t for Karpov. Consider the following FIDE rating list from the late 80s: “1 Kasparov 2775 2 Karpov 2750 3 Speelman 2650…” lol
One more interesting facet: Kramnik could beat Kasparov, yet other players could beat Kramnik (but nobody else besides him could touch Kasparov). Things like that happen in chess, even amongst the world’s elite.
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King Slayer says
In a long aborted match, at that specific time during Garry Kasparov's career,
long time rival Anatoly Karpov had demonstrated that he was at least his equal.
Fiona S says
I don't think so. He's the best player ever. Check this website:
http://www.chessgames.com/chessstats.html
Especially this:
What are the highest Elo ratings achieved in the database?
Please note that these statistics are computed from the database; it may be incomplete, or contain errors. The displayed ratings refer to the highest rating ever achieved–not the current rating. Consult the FIDE Chess Ratings Page for official information.
1. Garry Kasparov (2851)
2. Magnus Carlsen (2826)
3. Viswanathan Anand (2817)
4. Veselin Topalov (2813)
5. Vladimir Kramnik (2811)
6. Levon Aronian (2808)
7. Alexander Morozevich (2788)
8. Vassily Ivanchuk (2787)
9. Robert James Fischer (2785)
10. Anatoli Karpov (2780)
(there are 40 players listed there but I don't want to take up too much space).
The closest to Kasparov might be Carlsen in the future, but let's see what happens and track Magnus's progress if you want to see who is better.
Or maybe Anand, the current world champion.
But I'm not sure and all this is the only stuff I can give.
-Fiona