Final Results of WCA/KC Member Poll #3:
Best of the Best: Kasparov takes 2 out of 3; Morphy dominates as greatest ever !!!

Who was the greatest player of all times?
(1) Alexander Alekhine 5.5%   
(2) Mikhail Botvinnik 1.3% 
(3) Jose Capablanca 7.5% 
(4) Bobby Fischer 34%   
(5) Anatoly Karpov 2.5% 
(6) Garry Kasparov 42.6% 
(7) Emanuel Lasker 4%   
(8) Mikhail Tal 2.7% 

  We may only see them in the same tournament on April Fools' Day, but Garry 
Kasparov and Bobby Fischer will battle forever in the land of might have been.  
Kasparov has dominated the chess world for over 15 years, and despite losing   
his title to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000, he showed no signs of relaxing his grip   
for the next 5 years, when he retired. The competition he has faced from players 
like Anand and Kramnik, and earlier, from Karpov, has driven him to the highest 
level of chess play ever achieved. (In tournaments that is)
Robert J Fischer towered above his contemporaries 
like no one before or since (except, perhaps, Morphy and Philidor, 
but more on them later), and, according to Kasparov himself, 
"By this measure, I consider him the greatest world champion." 
Fischer ruled the chess world for a short time, but he rose   
so high that his shadow will reach into the next century as well.

2. Who will be remembered as the greatest player of 2001-2015?
(1) Viswanathan Anand 8.8% 
(2) Alexander Grischuk 15.1%   
(3) Pentyala Harikrishna 1.3% 
(4) Garry Kasparov 40%   
(5) Vladimir Kramnik 23.3% 
(6) Peter Leko 2.2%   
(7) Alexander Morozevich 3.7% 
(8) Teimour Radjabov 5.6%

  Like all the questions, this one was a two-horse race. Kasparov   
started the new millennium with three straight tournament wins and KC members   
don't seem to care about the gray in his hair. Kramnik was clear number two,   
and at only 25 years of age it was clear he had a lot of room to improve. 
Young Alexander Grischuk's solid third place is worth a mention, but a vote 
for him over a proven performer like Anand is surely optimism from his fans! 
Many others could have been listed here (Bu Xiangzhi, Ponomariov, Bacrot, 
et al.), and it's possible that we have yet to hear the name of the next big star.

3. Who was the greatest player of the past?
(1) Adolf Anderssen 4.2%   
(2) Alexandre Deschapelles 0.5%   
(3) Louis de la Bourdonnais 0.3%   
(4) Paul Morphy 60.6%   
(5) Francois Andre Philidor 5%  
(6) Howard Staunton 1.2%   
(7) Wilhelm Steinitz 19.8%  
(8) Other 8.5% 
 
  American Paul Morphy ceased to play serious chess well before his 30th   
birthday, and yet in our poll he easily outpaced players who dominated for 
almost their entire lives. Philidor pushed chess in an entirely new direction 
with his games and his writing. Anderssen suffers from having lost convincingly 
to Morphy, but had a long career as one of the top players in the world. 
Steinitz, who managed a distant but clear second place in the poll, 
reengineered the game almost single-handedly over the board and in 
his prolific writings while creating the first world championship match 
tradition. Morphy's games served as guiding lights for 
Steinitz and others who were keen enough to see that Morphy's wins came 
from more than just flashy tactics and poor defense by his opponents. 
Kasparov writes, "Alas, Morphy did not bother to explain the superiority 
of his method. Only the powerful mind of another chess giant, 
Wilhelm Steinitz, could systematize the profound positional rules that created 
a new outlook in chess progress." Morphy was way ahead in his times in his play.
Both he and Fischer (Cold War Hero) deserve a First Class U.S. postal stamp.

By: Jan Lary Lubek, PHD