Bobby Fischer – The Greatest? by Max Euwe –

Was Bobby Fischer the greatest chess player who ever lived? In this book, Max Euwe, himself a past world champion who also acted as referee at the famous Iceland matches in 1972, here compares Fischer with

previous holders of the world chess championship titles.

Here are analyses of games that Fischer actually played against Botvinnik, Petrosian, Smyslov, Spassky, Tal, and Euwe. More importantly, Grandmaster Euwe compares certain aspects of Fischer's play with the best games of Capablanca, Alekhine, and Lasker, the most highly regarded world champions of recent times, who were deceased by the time Fischer was playing in tournaments. There can never be an absolute comparison, but this is as close to the real thing as possible. Although it's impossible to say definitely whether Fischer is the greatest all-around player, all tournament results are quantified according to a rating system which has been adopted by the World Chess Federation. This system was developed by Professor Arpad Elo of the Physics Department at the University of Milwaukee. He gives Fischer the highest marks.