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Topic: Best non-world champion of all time
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Philidor
| relative to time period Pillsbury finished tournaments ahead of even Lasker, and don't forget that he was young and probably would have defeated Lasker for the world title if it wasnt for his premature death |
Yes, Pillsbury was very strong, I think we've debated about that somewhere before, the problem is his career at the top was very short, while Korchnoi, Bronstein and Keres were top contenders for 30+ years. Korchnoi played in 2 finals (plus the one in 1974), Keres finished the candidates tournament in 2nd place 3 or 4 times (and if it hadn't been for WW2, he might have had a shot with Alekhine), Bronstein played in the 1951 final and was close a few times in the candidates.
| There's also the question of whether the winners of the FIDE knockout competition were world champions in any meaningful sense. |
I was also wondering that myself, of the FIDE World Champions, only Anand and Topalov are really on WC level, with all due respect for Khalifman, Ponomariov and Kasimdzhanov.
Kamsky is also interesting, he also had a very short period on top, but he did win both the FIDE and the PCA candidates in 1995 (I think), pity about the collapse he had later.
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| Richerby wrote: There's also the question of whether the winners of the FIDE knockout competition were world champions in any meaningful sense. |
TheAlchemist wrote: I was also wondering that myself, of the FIDE World Champions, only Anand and Topalov are really on WC level, with all due respect for Khalifman, Ponomariov and Kasimdzhanov. |
Agreed. (Well, speaking of the FIDE champions since 1999, anyway -- you can't complain too much about Karpov.) Kasimdzhanov was declared `World Champion' just three years ago; he's currently 27th in the FIDE rating list, coincidentally with the same rating as Nigel Short. Ponomariov's doing a little better, in 20th and Khalifman is back in 90th, though it's eight years since he won the knockout in Las Vegas and he is in his forties. On the other hand, Karpov is in his mid-fifties and has a somewhat higher rating than Khalifman (around thirty points).
| Kamsky is also interesting, he also had a very short period on top, but he did win both the FIDE and the PCA candidates in 1995 (I think), pity about the collapse he had later. |
Kamsky didn't collapse -- he withdrew from professional chess to qualify as a doctor. And then as a lawyer, instead, after dropping out of medical school. He won the 1995 FIDE candidates' cycle and then lost the match for the championship against Karpov by a clear margin (10.5-7.5); he got to the final of the PCA candidates' cycle that year but lost to Anand.
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Of course, thanks, I don't know what got that nonsense in my mind at the time. Though, I thought his withdrawal was partly motivated by his "overbearing" father?
BTW, I found this chessbase article about him: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1539
There's also a funny caption (I wonder if it was intentional, probably not) below the photo: A recent picture of Gata Kamsky, provided by Peter Aravena Sloan (son of Sam)
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There are lots of stories about Kamsky and his father; I've no idea which of them are true. But, frankly, shame on ChessBase for printing Sam Sloan's garbage story about Kamsky running for the FIDE presidency.
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I vote for Akiba Rubinstein.
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