And nor did Lasker btw. No-one fancy a guess at my four plus scores against Botters?

Spassky.

woofwoof wrote on 11/10/06 at 08:01:26:

Euwe beat Fischer in 1956, their overall score is 1-1-1.
Or to put it in his own words. In our first game he was just a boy and in our last my WC was more than 20 years past.

Well, shame on me for more reasons than one (assuming you're right, MNb, and I expect you are: colour me very surprised) - how could I possibly have posted that Botvinnik had ever beaten Fischer?! Such ignorance. Although actually not as ignorant in a way as a poster  read on a US blog recently recounting the heart-warming story of how Fischer toiled all night alone while Botvinnik and his army of slaves back in Moscow tried to find the win, only for Fischer heroically to hold the draw in the morning (more or less the reverse of the truth, as far as events on the board are concerned).

I find that the date when Capa had only two minus scores outstanding was 'a few weeks after' 13th June 1936, when as I had half-recalled he equalised the score with Reshesvky (at Nottingham, I think?). He only played three tournaments after that, and I expect various others crept on to the list. For example, he lost two games at his last tournament of Margate 1939, presumably not to players he'd played often before if at all.

I do know that Botvinnik had only four minus scores outstanding at the end of his career. They wouldn't be easy to list either; one is fairly well-known, one obvious, another gettable if you know Botvinnik's oeuvre well, but anyone getting the last in under twenty guesses would be doing well.

However - Fischer and Capa - I had thought of Fine, but I rather thought he'd retired before Fischer came along. And I was pretty sure Euwe hadn't played tournaments games with Fischer. Maybe Uberdeker would tell us the rules - are we counting offhand games? On any view though we are short of one. Did Eliskases ever beat Fischer? It seems a bit unlikely. Or this Panov chap? Ossip Bernstein probably played both of them - not to mention Steinitz and Kasparov, one sometimes thinks - but I can't remember him beating either. Flohr surely never played Fischer, did he? I expect Edward Lasker probably played Fischer at least offhand games, but then he never beat Capa, I don't think, anyway.

Botvinnik never beat Fischer. Drawn game 1961 or 62 iirc.

Reshevsky, Fine & Keres - definitely.  2 others come to mind - Najdorf (not sure if he beat Capa, but has beaten Fischer), Euwe (beat Capa before but only won informal games against Fischer).

Panno beat Fischer definitely. I doubt if he ever played Capa. Pachman??.....Dont think so. For the same reason as Panno.

[quote author=IMJohnCox link=1153198747/90#101 date=1163092074]
I guess another question is which player had plus scores against eight world champions (Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Tal, Fischer, Spassky and Karpov, I think) but never played for the crown, but first of all the answer is fairly known and secondly I'm not sure I've actually stated the question correctly.[/quote]

Here's an interesting one that Yaacov Murey asked me recently : Name the five players who beat both Capablanca and Fischer at least once.

I am fairly certain Panov won a game against Capablance as well and havent been able to dig up a loss.