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Immanuel

Capablanca for me, too.

     If I remember correctly, Kasparov only managed to draw his last match with Karpov -- and that in the last round.  He thereby kept his world title, but a draw is an equal result -- and that against an aging Karpov.

     There is one more thing to be said about Kasparov.  He had -- what? -- four? super-GMs working as his seconds for matches?  That has got to be a factor.

     (I remember when Eugene Torre gained equal first in the Toluca interzonals [with Portisch], and earned the right to play in the candidates'.  His first round opponent was Ribli.  I remember the newspaper articles in those days.  Ribli could afford some topnotch seconds, but the Philippines was so poor we could only afford to send one lone Filipino NM to be his second.)

drumdaddy

I met Kasparov and I played against Fischer in a simul. In comparisons Fischer's early exit (at his prime) hurts his overall record. Kasparov's long strong record scores the most points for him.

If longevity is not the prime vector of greatness, however, I will say that as a prodigy and at the top of his game Fischer reigns supreme. He mowed down the best of the best, almost offhandedly. He was scary good. Later in life he just got scary.