Carlsen, especially when you factor in his future accomplishments. He's the highest rated person in the world for a reason after all.
who do you think is the best chess player of all time?
You can't factor in somebody's future accomplishments - they haven't taken place yet and may never do so, whatever they may be. As for the question, it has been posed many times before in these forums, presumably in order to cause argument and annoyance. It has not been satisfactorily resolved previously and will not be this time.
Philidor, no one could touch him, even when he was blindfolded. A forgotten genius. And you gotta like the curls!
I am a great fan of Fischer............but I've got to nominate Gary Kasparov as being the best player ever. His record is phenomenal especially so considering the strength of the competition that he faced (Karpov, Kramnik, Topolov, Anand)
I like Tal and Fisher, but Alekhine is number one for sure. Hi has his own long lasting epoch of domination having no help from anywhere and standing alone. Colossus!
NO WAY PAL FISCHER WOULD OF BEATEN KARPOV IF FIDE WOULD GIVEN HIS ALL HIS CONDITIONS TO PLAY KARPOV WHICH MEANS KASPAROV WOULD OF PLAYED FISCHER IN 1985
FISCHER WOULD ONLY PLAY KARPOV IF HE WAS GIVEN A 9:0 LEAD IN A MATCH UP TO 10. HE IS NO MATCH FOR THE GREAT COMMUNIST CHAMPIONS KASPAROV AND KARPOV
Yawn !!
In terms of performance, consistency and someone able to stand up to pressure I would rate Anatoly Karpov as the best.At the height of the cold war Karpov was made of steel. I agree Paul Morphy was the chess player of innovation and creativity, but with so many people wishing for him to fail Karpov for me stands out.
GARRY KASPAROV