Shiver me timbers! Ol' cutthroat OSTAPBENDER still is the greatest player to NOT even win a world championship of barmy bootleggers. So make him walk the plank, me hearties....... lest he crowns himself soon with the riches & gold of 'dead man's chest'. Haar haar haar!!!

I don't really think the poll is worth doing without mention a certain Vishy Anand. Even Leko is worth a mention - is he any different to Bronstein by drawing a match or even Schlechter ?

And at the risk of opening up a hornets nest, depending on your views of World Champions, what about Topalov ? 

Quote:


I raised this problem, but a thread like this doesn’t bother me. But a Caro-cann repetition or a Steinitz French repetition would bother me a lot.

It’s simply a matter of searching. When ever I want to throw up something new (more to clear my doubt) I almost always find the answers in one of the threads! This is a very rich site and shallow newer threads will only make it poorer. 

I didn't realize this had been done before (although its a common question for chess enthusiasts).

The "been done" comment came up in the Greatest Player survey and I just wanted ot address that a bit:

For one thing, its been almost exactly one year.  Newer people might want to contribute or perhaps people's ideas have changed.
Kasparov's latest "Great Predecessors" books including a lot about Korchnoi and other non-Champions
Marin's book "Learn from the Legends" which won book of the year, was about 'Champions at their best', yet opens with Rubinstein.  Showing great respect for Rubinstein's strength and perhaps convincing people to look at his games again.

Anyway, I hope people aren't too bothered by the fact that this topic was discussed previously.
I, for one, was not aware of it and obviously didn't take part in it (I wasn't involved with ChessPublishing at the time).   
But I would still like to know what people think about it and why some people choose who they do.
I honestly think that everyone on this list was a great player and deserves consideration.

Perhaps in 2007, someone will ask again and I'll probably vote for Korchnoi again. 
But, again, sorry if the repetition bothers anyone.   

Cheers,
Nietzsche

Yes, its been done before:

http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1122930191/0#0

First of all, I apologize for all the great players left out (Marshall, Spielmann, Maroczy, Timman, Shirov, etc) but I had to draw a line somewhere.   Besides, that's why I left an option for "other...."

With all the talk about greatest player or greatest book, I thought it might be time for a greatest non-champion.
When I was first learning chess I read many times that Keres was considered the strongest by several great soviet champions.  There seems to be a feeling that Keres was of equal strength but just never had a good run when he needed it.
 
Some, of course, argue Rubinstein was the best player in world for several years (before the war) and would have given Lasker a good run for his money (which is saying something...).  Personally, I think Korchnoi, who was a hair away from beating Karpov and has played strong chess for 40 years, is an excellent candidate and my personal choice.

Nimzowitsch and Tarrasch had a huge influence on the game and Ivanchuk would probably have been champion several times over had it not been for the K's of the 80's and 90's.   

Anyway, I'm curious what other people think about these great players.