Boris Spassky From Russia With Love
Spassky won the world chess championship in 1969 by winning his match against Tigran Petrosian. Unfortunately, he is best known for losing his title to American Bobby Fisher in 1972. That match dubbed “Match...
Author: Willy Simons
Tigran Petrosian the Master of Prophylaxis
Tigran Petrosian, a Soviet Armenian grandmaster, defeated Botvinnik to become the 9th world chess champion. Petrosian focused on safety and prophylactic play, happy to pounce on any mistake. His defensive prowess earned him the...
Mikhail Tal the Magician from Riga
Mikhail Tal was a creative genius and one of the best attacking players of all time. In 1960 he defeated Botvinnik to become the youngest world chess champion at 23. Tal lost the rematch...
Vasily Smyslov a Chess Legend
Vasily Smyslov defeated Botvinnik to become the 7th world chess champion (1957-58). His reign was short since he lost the rematch the following year. Nonetheless, Smyslov remained a top chess player until he retired...
Mikhail Botvinnik the Patriarch of World Chess Champions
Mikhail Botvinnik succeeded Alekhine as world champion in 1948 by winning a FIDE invitational tournament. He finished 3 points ahead of the field which included Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, and Euwe. It was the first...
Max Euwe the Amateur World Chess Champion
Max Euwe was the 5th world chess champion (1935-1937). He stunned the world by beating Alekhine who was considered invincible at that time. Alekhine won the return match in 1937 but Euwe remained among...
Alexander Alekhine the Complete Chess Player
Alexander Alekhine is one of the most brilliant chess players of all time. He excelled in every aspect of the game, but his tactical prowess was certainly unrivaled. Yet Alekhine was superior in quiet...
Capablanca the Human Chess Machine
Many chess players considered Capablanca one of the best chess players of all time. He is famous for his fabulous endgame technique and great defensive skills. As an adult, Capablanca only lost 34 serious...
Emanuel Lasker the Longest World Chess Champion
Emanuel Lasker. a German chess player, is one of the strongest chess players of all time. His career lasted 5 decades, and he was World Chess Champion from 1894 to 1921. Lasker won the...
Wilhelm Steinitz Founder of Modern Chess
Wilhelm Steinitz, an Austrian and later American chess master, was the first official World Chess Champion from 1886 to 1894. More impressively, he was unbeaten in match play for 32 years, from 1862 to...
