In sports, the outcome is often decided in the last second or the last play. In chess, it usually comes down to the last round. It can mean the difference of winning the Gold or nothing, 1st place to out of the money, GM norm or better luck next time, World Championship crown or what if.
So if you have a choice to pick the biggest clutch player to play one game for all the marbles, who would it be?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I pick Fischer
Kasparov
Susan Polgar for sure!!
Topalov! Topalov! Topalov!
Does anything compare with the last game of Kasparov-Karpov, Sevilla 1987?
Kasparov, even though Karpov is my fav.
Lennox Lewis is clutch at Chess as well as Boxing. Happy 60th Birthday to Donald Trump and 37th Birthday to Steffi Graf.
Emmanuel Lasker certainly knew how to perform when the chips were down. His win in the final game of his match with Schlecter in 1910 let him keep the World Championship Title. His derailment of Capablanca at St. Petersburg in 1914 was also an example of stepping up to the challenge.
Judit!
I was always impressed by Kramnik’s clutch win over Leko in their match – all Peter needed was a draw, so he played a Caro; Vlad mated him in the middle of the board to retain the title.
That was one of the most exciting games in MY lifetime!
Dan G.
I’ll say Paul Morphy, just to be different..
Definitely Kasparov. In his 1994 title match, he spotted Karpov a 5-0 lead. One more loss, and Karpov would have kept the title. Instead, he reeled off 21 straight games without losing.
In their 1985 match, Kasparov took a 1-game lead into the final game. A win by Karpov, and he would have kept the title. Instead, Kasparov won.
In their 1986 match, the title was again on the line until the final game. Kasparov held the draw to keep the title.
In their 1987 match, Karpov took a 1-point lead into the final game. Kasparov needed the victory to retain his title, and got it.
No world champion was in so many matches where the title was in doubt up to the final game. I don’t think anyone can match that.
Kramnik’s 14th game vs Leko was certainly in the same category, but he only did it once, and that doesn’t compare to Kasparov’s achievement.
Chess can come down to the last second also. I won a game on time once but it did not feel right since I did not believe that is the way I wanted to win.
Sorry…that first Karpov-Kasparov title match was of course 1984, not ’94.
I would choose Alekhine because of his ability to find attack in any position and his fighting spirit.
George Bush. Who would dare refuse a draw offer?
tal