GM Ben Finegold's Ranking of the Best Chess Players of All Time

I was shocked to discover my name absent from the list.

1. Ben Finegold 2. bonerici 3. Karen Boyd 4. tryingtolearn123 5. Fen Binegold

Morphy was my gut choice due to his total dominance of his contemporaries. Like Ben says, “How did he do it? How did he get so good?” Morphy was a chess giant in a time of midgets. His dominance was otherworldly.

Called his #1, but that just proves I watch a lot of Ben Finegold videos. Go Ben!

Loved this Ben, you are ridiculously entertaining!!

Thanks for the lecture. Great list! I believe you were right in saying Morphy had two mate in 1s. Qe6 being the other one. (42:15)

Big thank you to Robert Venerus for sponsoring this wonderful lecture! Mind Blowing!

Kaprov being underrated that men was a undisputed world champion for over ten years and then was a fide champion until he was nearly 50. Had the greatest tournament of all time and competed with the goat h2h for multiple matches

Most people don't realize that Morphy pretty much retired from chess at 22...

I think a lot of the arguments about these kinds of rankings come down to the difference between "best" and "greatest". (In the lecture Ben always says "greatest", but the video title has "best".) Magnus is almost certainly the most accurate (human) chess player of all time. In the age of engines it's likely impossible for anyone to dominate like Morphy, Fischer and Kasparov did in their prime. It's still damned impressive that Magnus has managed to maintain a healthy 2800+ rating for as long as he has, given the level of competition.

Great vid Ben, keep churning out the bangers!

The only surprise to me is that Carlsen even made Bens top 10.

I believe I've never come across a more convincing argument for Paul Murphy's top-ranking. The analogy of a player consistently engaging with 1000 ELO opponents, how could he ever markedly distinguish himself from them; it appears to be an impossible task!

19:52 I think Bh6+ is even more accurate, winning the exchange and completely simplifying after Kxh6 Rxf2

I wonder why Alekhine never appears on such lists. He was so ingenious.

36:54 I was checking Letelier-Fischer in book fifteen minutes before watching the video (lol), so for those interested, the final analysis of Fischer was, after Qxf4 : « On 24. Kxf4, Bh6 mate ! Or 24. Kf2 Ng4+ 25. Kg2 Ne3+ 26. Kf2 Nd4 27. Qh1 Ng4+ 28. Kf1 Nxf3, with a winning attack. » (So yeah it's Nd4)

Hi Ben, excellent list and really enjoyed the video.

Retko je da je neko tako pametan i duhovit. 🎉❤

Actually, there are 2 mates in 1 in Morphy's game in the end. You showed that game in one of the videos from 2017. when you did a Morphy lecture. I think moving the queen to e6 is also mate, but I believe you said in that video that moving the queen to e6 requires moving it 2 squares, while moving to d7 requires only 1 square, so it's quicker :-) With that said, good list. I would most likely agree with the players you put there although I would probably put Anand a bit higher and most likely Kasparov on number 1. All lists are subjective in the end, they were all amazing players who had tons of amazing games. Thank you for the video!

My list: 1. Paul Morphy 2. Magnus Carlsen 3. Robert J. Fischer 4. Garri Kasparov 5. Anatoli Karpov 6. Vishwanathan Anand 7. Mikhail Tal 8. Tigran Petrosian 9. José Raúl Capablanca 10. Howard Staunton ( no, I don't really know much of any of these chess players, just big chess names I've heard of at various times :))