The Top 20 Best Chess Players of All Time Part 1
Hello, in this blog post I will be giving my opinion on who the top 20 best chess players or all time are. Please note that the thumbnail for this blog does not show all the chess players in order from best to worst. It only shows who will be on this list. Also, this is part 1 which will consist of only honorable mentions, then, part 2 will be the top 20th-11th best chess players of all time and part 3 will be the top 10 best chess players of all time.
NOTE: All peak ratings are measured by peak FIDE rating, not USCF or any other chess rating system.
PART 1: HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These honorable mentions are the people who are #25, #24, #23, #22, and #21 on my list who almost made it to the top 20.
Honorable Mention #5: Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was one of the best players during the early 19th century and has many beautiful games. He was nicknamed "The Anaconda" because of how he can suppress his opponent's movement. He has many beautiful attacking games however, I will only show one extremely famous one. Aron Nimzowitsch was born on November 7, 1886, in Riga, Latvia, and died on March 16, 1935, in Copenhagen, Denmark, making him 48 years old when he died. Peak Rating: FIDE did not exist yet.
"The Immortal Zugzwang Chess Game"
Honorable Mention #4: Paul Keres
Paul Keres is an Estonian chess player who is considered by most people to be one of the best players who never became a world champion. Keres' playing style is very aggressive however when he needs to, he can be very solid and defend very well. I put Paul Keres as an honorable mention because although he is an extremely good chess player, he just didn't seem to fit in the crowd of the other people in the top 20 and would probably get mauled by people such as Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, and others. Even though he could give some people a very good fight, I just don't think he should belong there. Paul Keres was born on January 7, 1916, in Narva, Estonia, and died on June 5, 1975, in Helsinki, Finland from a heart attack making him 59 years old at the time of death. His peak rating was 2615 (July 1971).
A Beautiful Attacking Chess Game by Paul Keres
Honorable Mention #3: Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-Argentinian chess grandmaster who was originally from Poland. He was an amazing attacking player and has many famous games, however, I will only show 1. One of the most popular openings in chess is the Najdorf Variation of the Open Sicilian which was named after him. The Najdorf is one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic opening there is and it is played by many people such as Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and more! I put Najdorf as an honorable mention because although he is an extremely creative and amazing attacking player, he lost to many people that nowadays, most grandmasters can beat. Miguel Najdorf was born on April 15, 1910, in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland, and died on July 4, 1997, in Málaga, Spain thus making him 87 years old at the time of death. Peak rating: 2540 (July 1972).
"The Polish Immortal Chess Game"
David Bronstein was born on February 19, 1924, in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, And died on December 5, 2006, in Minsk, Belarus making him 82 years old at the time of death. His peak rating was 2595 (May 1974).
Thank you for reading part 1 of this blog! I hope you liked it!
