Best Chess Players by Decade
At the beginning of the year, I posted a blog in which I ranked countries according to chess strength. Later in the midsummer, I posted a similar blog ranking all seventeen classical World Champions. Now I'll be completing the trilogy with a compilation of the best chess players from each decade. Of course, I'd have to draw a line somewhere. I simply couldn't cover every decade since chess's speculated origination in 600 AD Gupta Empire. I'd need a starting point. I eventually decided to go with the 1830s as the beginning of my article. This was for two main reasons. 1: The 1830s was the first decade in which prominent chess players began to rise to prominence and master level; before then professional chess was practically unheard of. 2: The 1830s seemed to be the cutoff period for archived games. Searching for surviving games from before this period was virtually impossible.
As always, I'll be using four primary criteria to aid in my selection of each decade's best player. These criteria are pretty similar to those used in my "Who's the Greatest World Champion of All Time?" with a few minor tweaks:
- Overall Win Rate: The first category I'll be judging off of is pretty straightforward. Player strength generally correlates with their respective amount of wins for obvious reasons.
- Overall Impact on Chess: This might be the most important out of the four criteria. Not only does it show the influence a player has had on the overall development and history of chess, it can also be a tiebreaker for decades that had multiple strong frontrunners.
- Peak Rating/Highest World Ranking: Pretty self-explanatory. This criterion experiences the most bias, tending to favor whoever the World Champion was at the time.
- Most Wins in Major Tournaments/Most Competitive Versus High Rated Players: This fourth and final criterion combines two aspects of professional play; how many prominent tournament victories a player has, as well as how they fared against the highest level of competition in their time.
Below I've included a table of contents just for reference or in case anyone wants to skip through the decades.
- 1830s-Louis de La Bourdonnais
- 1840s-Howard Staunton
- 1850s-Paul Morphy
- 1860s-Ignatz Kolisch
- 1870s-Wilhelm Steinitz
- 1880s-Johannes Zukertort
- 1890s-GM Emanuel Lasker
- 1900s-GM Emanuel Lasker
- 1910s-GM Akiba Rubinstein
- 1920s-GM Jose Raul Capablanca
- 1930s-GM Alexander Alekhine
- 1940s-GM Mikhail Botvinnik
- 1950s-GM David Bronstein
- 1960s-GM Bobby Fischer
- 1970s-GM Bobby Fischer
- 1980s-GM Garry Kasparov
- 1990s-GM Garry Kasparov
- 2000s-GM Viswanathan Anand
- 2010s-GM Magnus Carlsen
- 2020s-GM Magnus Carlsen
1830s: Louis de La Bourdonnais
To be fair, there weren't too many prominent chess players from the 1830s, but French chess master Louis de La Bourdonnais certainly stood out. He flourished in an era that preceded the World Championship and where organized chess was almost nonexistent. He was considered the best player of the early 19th century as well as the strongest chess player in Europe. His famous 1834 match against Great Britain's legend Alexander McDonnell to determine the world's best player ended in a complete rout of 45-13-27 for La Bourdonnais. Besides making fashion statements with his Civil War sideburns, La Bourdonnais was a pioneer of the dawn of professional chess.
1840s: Howard Staunton
This selection was another no brainer. Hailing from England, Howard Staunton was the world's leading player for most of the 1840s. Staunton defeated John Cochrane in a series of matches, and Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, a player previously dubbed the unofficial world champion. Along with his notable chess victories, Staunton also made several contributions to the chess world. He launched the first English chess magazine, hosted the first modern international chess tournament in London in 1851, and most prominently, endorsed the chess set that would subsequently bear his name and become contemporary tournament standard.
1850s: Paul Morphy
America's all-time best chess player, Paul Morphy, is considered by many aficionados of the game to be the first unofficial World Champion, and one of the greatest players to ever grace the 64 squares. Although he was a prodigy, his breakthrough didn't occur until the 1st American Chess Congress in 1857, in which he went undefeated and upset Adolf Anderssen, another giant of the 1850s, in the final. Morphy also won matches against several strong players at the time like Henry Bird, Johann Lowenthal, and Daniel Harrwitz, to name a few. Morphy demonstrated exceptional fortitude in his play, capable of escaping the most hopeless of possibilities. His playstyle was harmonious; not only was he hailed as one of the best positional players by his contemporaries, but he was also a brilliant tactician. His games are still studied today and their impact on chess is undeniable.
1860s: Ignatz Kolisch
It's a shame that Kolisch's legacy has been all but forgotten in modern times. He was an absolute titan of the 19th century, experiencing his prime in the 1860s. His estimated peak rating surpassed 2750, not only the highest rating achieved in the 19th century, but also a feat of incredible magnitude considering the absence of chess engines. Kolisch dominated major tournaments like the one in Paris in 1867 in which he finished in first place above Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion. He was the #1 player in the world in 1867, #2 in 1862, #3 in 1860 and 1863, and #4 in 1861. Outside of chess, he was a successful banking mogul, acquiring millions of dollars in wealth.
1870s: Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official World Champion, reigning from 1886-1894. Steinitz was one of the most dominant players of his century, boasting an unbeaten record in match play between 1862-1894. He entered the chess scene during an era of romantic-style, aggressive gambit-related play, and while he initially mirrored this play style, he eventually altered the entire landscape of chess with a new style of play. While his opponents described the newfound techniques as "cowardly," it soon became widespread and is extremely crucial to the game today. Steinitz is now considered the father of positional chess.
1880s: Johannes Zukertort
A lot of people would probably find this choice controversial, especially since this decade was arguably stronger for Steinitz than the 1870s. After all, it was the decade when he became world champion. However, I stand by my selection of this legendary German chess master. Zukertort was the polar opposite of his adversary Wilhelm Steinitz in terms of chess style. He was an attacking player, although he preferred the hypermodern approach to chess. He pioneered 1. Nf3, which was formerly known as Zukertort's Opening. The Colle-Zukertort System is also associated with his name. Zukertort was also the #1 player in the world from 1878-1886. His crowning achievement was steamrolling the elite competition in the 1883 London tournament.
1890s & 1900s: GM Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker monopolized the chess scene of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He served the longest tenure as world champion with 27 years between 1894-1921, and successfully defended his title five times. Lasker's contributions to opening theory were plentiful and are still used today. Lasker authored five books and several magazine editions. He was an easy choice for best player of the 1890s and 1900s.
1910s: GM Akiba Rubinstein
1912 was a record year for Rubinstein, and a monumental one for the chess world. He won a string of five consecutive tournaments: San Sebastian, Postyen, Breslau, Warsaw, and Vilna. With much of the world's strongest players across the other side of the Atlantic and not much competition from his fellow Europeans, Rubinstein dominated this era and established himself as one of the strongest players to never win a world championship. However, a world championship match between him and Lasker was scheduled in 1914 before being canceled when World War I broke out. Rubinstein was presumed to be stronger than Lasker at this time, and was the top player in the world from 1912-1914.
1920s: GM Jose Raul Capablanca
Jose Raul Capablanca was undefeated between 1916-1924. During this time he defeated Lasker for the world championship title in 1924. Amid his innumerable accolades during this decade, Capablanca won the 1922 London tournament with no losses, setting a record for the winningest simul of all-time in 1922 with a lofty record of 102-1-0, and winning the 1927 New York Invitational, a round-robin event for six of the world's best players. He had zero defeats.
1930s: GM Alexander Alekhine
To me, chess is not a game; it is art.
Alexander Alekhine was world champion for most of the 1930s, minus a minor slip-up to Max Euwe in 1935. In 1933, Alexander Alekhine broke the record for most blindfolded chess games played simultaneously with 32, a record previously held by him. He successfully defended the champion title twice against Efim Bogoljubov, winning both matches by a colossal margin. Alekhine also dominated the 1930s tournament scene. His ample win list was headlined by 1st place finishes in 1930 San Remo and 1931 Bled.
1940s: GM Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik crushed the competition in 1940s tournament play before capturing his first world champion title in 1948. He won the 1946 Groningen tournament, as well as the 1940, 1944, and 1945 Soviet Championship. He was an analytical, logical player and had a deep knowledge of the precepts of chess strategy. But perhaps his most valuable contribution to the chess world was jumpstarting the Russian "chess revolution." His students included future legends like Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. He also taught the outspoken Vladimir Kramnik.
1950s: GM David Bronstein
David Bronstein contributed his fair share of opening theory, devising new variations in the Ruy Lopez, King's Indian Defense, and Caro-Kann. However, his most impressive career attribute was the large number of international tournaments he won in the 1950s which earned him his spot above Botvinnik as the decade's signature player. He won World Student's Championship 1952, Olympiad 1952, 1954, 1956, and 1958; Hasting 1953-1954, Belgrade 1954, Gotha 1957, and Moscow 1959.
1960s & 1970s: GM Bobby Fischer
American legend Bobby Fischer has one of the more extensive legacies on this list. In fact, Bobby Fischer was arguably the greatest player of the 20th century, and is in contention for the GOAT spot. Fischer was a true chess savant, and his games are still studied today for their significance and insight. Fischer introduced a new chess variant which carried his name and is now known as Chess 960, and patented the chess increment, which grants a player extra time after each move they play. A young prodigy, Fischer won the U.S. Championship all eight times he played and achieved the only perfect score of 11-0 in history in 1963/34. Fischer's triumph over Boris Spaasky in the Match of the Century sealed his place as the greatest player spanning these two decades.
1980s & 1990s: GM Garry Kasparov
Who better to pick to represent the 1990s than the man who was World Champion for the entire decade? Kasparov won the title from his Russian predecessor Anatoly Karpov in 1985 and held it for the next fifteen years. In 1999, Kasparov achieved a peak rating of 2851, a record which he maintained for the next thirteen years. Garry also holds the record for the longest time being the #1 player, from 1984-2005. In the latter half of the 1990s, Kasparov was involved in the advent of chess computers. He easily defeated IBM's Deep Blue model in 1994 before it the did the unthinkable in 1997—beat Kasparov.
2000s: GM Viswanathan Anand
In the year 2000, Anand won the FIDE Championship after it split from the classical world championship in 1993. Ultimately the two championships were unified in 2006 and a year later, Anand became the 15th classical world champion. Anand became the FIDE #1 in 2007 and since has not dropped out of the Top 25, a sign of incredible talent and longevity. Anand's biggest legacy is being a trailblazer. The first Asian world champion, strongest Indian player, one of the best rapid players, and one of the strongest non-Soviet players of the 20th century are a few titles bestowed upon him.
2010s & 2020s: GM Magnus Carlsen
These two decades encompass nearly all of Magnus Carlsen's adult career. Thus, it comes as no surprise that his list of accolades are numerous. In 2011, he became the #1 player in the world, a status he has clung to ever since. He became world champion in 2013 and successfully defended his title four times before relinquishing his crown earlier this year. He achieved the highest rating in history, had the highest win streak ever with 125 wins, won 7 Tata Steels, and has won several blitz and rapid championship titles. Many people would deem Magnus the best chess player ever, and his career sure has the evidence to support that claim.
Conclusion:
As always, thanks so much for reading. This will be my final blog of 2023 and I want to thank everyone who followed my blog this year. I was able to completely transform my blogging game over the course of this year and I look forward to what will hopefully be a great year of blogging in 2024. Sadly, I'll most likely be taking a hiatus from my blog for a while so I can focus on some college-related matters, but I'll be competing in the Alabama High School Championship in March, hoping to win the Denker nomination in my last eligible year. That'll be my next OTB recap and most likely my next blog. Thanks again for reading, consider leaving a comment if you enjoyed. Until next time,
-Nimzo
