Chess Champions

The chess world was totally dominated by the Russians between 1948 and 1972. FIDE took over in 1924, however Soviet Union had not wanted to be part of it. After Alekhine’s death though, since the title went under their control, Russia registered as a member. The first tournament after this event was held n 1948 where Mikhail Botvinnik won after playing against five best world chess players. FIDE enjoyed the role of the organizer so much, that it continued to do so thereafter as a natural outcome.

As the past system was quite informal, FIDE had laid new rules to formalize the title. Now, there was a pre-qualifying game, followed by inter-zonal tournaments, and then the last ‘knock-out matches’. The winner of this series of games would challenge the chess champion. If the champion was defeated, he could ask for a re-match after a minimum gap of one year. FIDE then set the game period to a cycle of three years.

Botvinnik was a tireless worker and an admirable engineer while playing the game.. He has defended his title brilliantly against David Bronstein and Vasily Smyslov in 1951 and 1954 only to be defeated in 1957 by Smyslov. True to the rules of re-match after a year, Botvinnik won his title back in 1958, making Smyslov the shortest time world champion of chess. Botvinnik repeated this feat against Mikhail Tal in 1960, after being defeated by him in 1959. Botvinnik lost for the third time to Tigran Petrosian and this time could not play a re-match because FIDE abolished the rule.

Tigran lost his title in 1968 to Spassky after defending it successfully against the same challenger in 1966. The Russian chess had been at its peak during this time. In 1972, the title went to an American by the name of Bobby Fischer. Fischer defeated his opponents with such grace and effortlessness that he was invariably compared to another world class champion and co-countryman, Paul Morphy.
In 1975 in a very peculiar turn of events, Fischer refused to defend his title from the challenger Anatoly Karpov. He had acted in this manner saying that his demands were not met. What the demands were is not very clear. He relinquished his membership of FIDE but remained chess champion, until 1992, when he rematched with Spassky. FIDE or the world did not really take heed to this match.
On the other hand, Karpov shot to fame in 1970 by winning a series of exceptional chess games and for the next ten years the Russian chess again reigned supreme. Karpov proved repeatedly his excellent grasp of the game when he played against some of the best chess players and came out of its unscathed. When he lost the title, he did so against one of his own compatriot, Garry Kasparov. Kasparov had remained on the top as the best ever chess player in the world.

Chess Players

The top chess players have become the top chess players because of chess tournaments. The individuals in our list are individuals who have gone to live chess tournaments and been on top for years because of their brilliance and strategy.

Bobby Fischer is the first name that comes to mind when comparing top chess players. Bobby Fischer was recently highlighted in a film to tell of his life and how he learned to be one of the top chess players. Bobby Fischer didn’t start out at top of the line chess tournaments. Instead he would play chess tournaments with others in a park to learn about the game and have a little fun. Still, he was the youngest of the top chess players that made it to official chess tournaments and still managed to be more brilliant than other players.
Now the system for picking the top chess players is based on the ELO system. This is how to rate the players. It was created in 1978 by Arpad Elo. Many of the top chess players on the list have not had training. Jose Raul Capablanca would be one of them. Capablanca has been in chess tournaments, but he didn’t have a private lesson teacher to help him learn the game. Currently his standings are the point system as the top chess players.

Mikhail Botvinnik and Emanuel Lasker are second on the list of top chess players as defined by the chess tournaments points and the Elo rating system. They have been in chess tournaments several times over the years, so only their top scores are listed. Bobby Fischer beat out the system with a 2780, but this record has since been beaten.

The last chess tournaments that Bobby Fischer was rated for was in 2004 with a 2785. Garry Kasparov of Russia is the current of the top chess players. Kasparov has a 2851 as of 2007. To become one of the top players you must play in the chess tournaments.
These tournaments are available every year and you can be a top qualifier once you learn the game and practice a great deal. The live tournaments are different than online tournaments which can change who the top players are if you are only concerned with online play. Kasparov and Bobby Fischer among others have played in live tournaments to be national and world champions.
When you look for the top ten best players in chess you have a list, which is shown below.
1. Garry Kasparov
2. Anatoly Karpov
3. Bobby Fischer
4. Mikhail Botvinnik
5. Jose Raul Capablanca
6. Emanuel Lasker
7. Viktor Korchnoi
8. Boris Spassky
9. Vasily Smyslov
10. Tigran Petrosian
These are the top ten chess players in the world throughout the history of the Elo system. They are more than just the best players because of their scores though. They are also the best because of their strategy and ability to play the game without becoming phased by the things around them.