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Poll closed Question: Who is the Smallest?
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Anatoly Karpov    
  1 (6.7%)
Paul Morphy    
  6 (40.0%)
Napoleon Bonaparte    
  8 (53.3%)




Total votes: 15
« Created by: Stefan Buecker on: 06/17/11 at 14:17:40 »
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Very Hot Topic (More than 25 Replies) Who is the Smallest? (Read 23650 times)
kylemeister
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #12 - 06/17/11 at 20:37:19
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In a tournament book I have from 1996, Van Wely gave his height as 1.90 meters (about 6 feet 3 inches).
  
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Seth_Xoma
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #11 - 06/17/11 at 20:22:54
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Of all the Grandmasters I've seen in person, Van Wely is by far the tallest.
  
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rukh
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #10 - 06/17/11 at 20:15:09
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How tall is Nigel Short?
  
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Stefan Buecker
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #9 - 06/17/11 at 20:05:12
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TalJechin wrote on 06/17/11 at 19:32:54:
According to google both Karpov and Napoleon stood 5 feet 7 inches tall, while Morphy was only 5 feet 4 inches.

My contemporary source on Morphy says something different, but thanks for the hint. Google finds http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/morphy.htm (Bill Wall) with the following: 

"Morphy stood 5 feet, 4 inches in height and was slim.  He never married.  He wore a cloak, kid gloves, a monocle (he was nearsighted at an early age), and always had a walking stick.  He was always particular about how he dressed.  He was a dandy."

Sounds like a description of an older Morphy. There is a list of sources, but no hint where the quote above comes from.
  
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kylemeister
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #8 - 06/17/11 at 19:45:17
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I'm thinking Filip.  Maybe Sebastian Siebrecht among the living.
  
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TalJechin
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #7 - 06/17/11 at 19:32:54
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According to google both Karpov and Napoleon stood 5 feet 7 inches tall, while Morphy was only 5 feet 4 inches.

Most GMs seem to be rather short, so who was/is the tallest GM? Donner? Kramnik? Euwe?
  
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kylemeister
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #6 - 06/17/11 at 18:47:49
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I seem to recall that an article on Karpov in Current Biography circa 1978 said he was 5 feet 7 inches and weighed 120 lbs.
  
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Smyslov_Fan
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #5 - 06/17/11 at 18:40:53
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Karpov is the shortest World Champion, but Morphy must have been shorter. 

I'm guessing the difference would be 2-3 inches, with Morphy being the shortest. Weren't Karpov and Bonaparte the same height?  I remember some cartoon about that in the 1980s. (It may have just been that they were both short.)
  
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Göran
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #4 - 06/17/11 at 15:20:15
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What kind of proof is that?
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Keano
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #3 - 06/17/11 at 15:11:37
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good question, would've thought Bonoparte but remember seeing a photo of Morphy and he looked quite short. Karpov wasn't really a shortie was he? To sum up, I havn't got a clue.
  
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Stefan Buecker
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #2 - 06/17/11 at 15:09:59
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Height (in feet, inches, cm, whatever), when standing - not sitting at the chess board.
  
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Göran
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Re: Who is the Smallest?
Reply #1 - 06/17/11 at 15:05:24
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Smallest to mind or body?
  

What kind of proof is that?
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Stefan Buecker
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Who is the Smallest?
06/17/11 at 14:17:40
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Anatoly Karpov probably would have beaten the other two in chess, but who is/was the smallest?
  
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