As a fan, I miss some of the most incredible battles between two of the greatest World Champions of our time, Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.
They were undisputed Heavy Weight Champions of the World! They were men among boys! They would never back down from any fight and they gave every ounce of their energies battling each other. They elevated each other to new heights in chess. Win, lose or draw, they gave their all!
Anatoly and Garry, thanks for the memories! 
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
I read somewhere (I don’t recall where) that Karpov is quoted as saying if he played Fischer he would have been a stronger player. I’m wondering if this is true and if others agree.
Would Karpov have beaten Fisher? Futile question really since we will never know. It does not help anything to assert that one was stronger than the other. It only wastes ink (or bytes these days).
The only thing we know for sure is that Karpov was willing to play Fisher but Fisher was not for whatever reasons. Also, after becoming world champion, Karpov went on playing a lot and won many tournaments proving that he was a great world champion. And so he was, no doubt about it. Kasparov was later another great world champion for 20 years or so.
Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov are without a doubt true Champions and true Fighters!
Bobby Fischer was without a doubt one of the greatest chess players in the world but he never showed himself to be a true champion.
A true champion of chess not only plays great chess but also goes out of their way to promote chess!
Unfortunately we will never know what kind of a Champion Bobby Fischer would’ve been since he chose to become a legend instead by disappearing from the chess seen.
By the way:
Susan Polgar is both a great Champion and Fighter!!!
She also never runs from a fight and is always promoting chess!!!
Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov redefined a “chess Match” with sublime strategic moves intertwined with a miniscule “win of a tempo”, and finally the double-edged position with the element of limited time for a masterpiece. Exquisite planning; subtle tactical shots, and end-games that will continue to amaze for many years to come! Picturing Susan as a Titan also — SHE IS!!!
I remember when Fischer, shortly after winning the World chess title, and after being snubbed by the FIDE about his proposed rules changes, claimed in an interview, perhaps rightly so, that there are many other important things in life besides chess, whereupon he left to go bowling.
Hindsight being 20/20, and noting Fischer’s unaided 24/7 year(s)-round commitment to win the title in spite of the FIDE’s draconian title defense rules and the team play of the Soviets, it isn’t surprising that Fischer ultimately quit professional chess and sought other outlets for his creative abilities.
Hanon Russell interviewed Garry Kasparov about his recently published My Great Predecessors series in chesscafe. In the interview, Garry expressed his belief that Karpov would have become an even stronger chess player/champion if he had played Fischer for the World chess title in 1975:
HR: I assume, although you don’t really say so in the book, if you believe Karpov was perhaps a favorite to win in ’75, after ’75 he beats Fischer then in ’77…
GK: I think what actually happened that Fischer was out of the game of chess, which was very tragic, and Karpov couldn’t actually realize his potential. What’s interesting is that Karpov’s real, and I will deal with it in volume five, when you look at Karpov’s heights, the peaks, one was ’74-’75, just before he was playing Fischer, next one was after he lost to me in ’86, ’85-’86. When you see Karpov ascending, again that was probably period of ’86-’87, quality-wise and then another one was, the last one was ’94-’95. But it’s amazing that he didn’t make any progress because he didn’t play Fischer. So he had no opposition to realize his potential.
wikipedia offers third-hand support for draw in three’s assertion:
“Karpov is on record saying that had he had the opportunity to fight Fischer for the crown like Kasparov had the opportunity to fight him, he (Karpov) could have been a much better player as a result.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Karpov
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More background:
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Boris Spassky:
“Boris also said he pleaded with Karpov to make sure there was a match in 1975.He felt for the good of the game that chess needed the continuity in the World Championship cycle and he felt if a match had taken place that Fischer would have won because Karpov did not have the experience necessary to compete at that level. Since Karpov was a loyal communist party member, and Boris never was, Karpov took the party line which was that the Soviets wanted the title back very seriously and therefore could not agree to all the terms that Fischer wanted for the match. What a loss to chess history that was.”
http://chess-now.com/clashofthetitans.htm
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Matt Traynor in Hangin’s take:
“In a Karpov video with Ron Henley about Fischer’s games, Karpov estimated his chances of beating Fischer in 1975 at 40%. Karpov raised that percentage to 50% for a 1977 match. I recall reading a letter from Fischer to Larry Evans in chess life. Fischer did not seem too impressed with Karpov’s play. Fischer goes over a missed opportunity by Karpov in one of his games.”
“I think that Kasparov doesn’t want to consider that Karpov might not have been good enough to beat Fischer in 1975 or 1978 or 1981. Karpov was quoted as saying he had only a 40% chance of beating Fischer in 1975. Karpov also concedes that he had only a 50% chance to beat Fischer in 1977.”
“I think we are ready to discuss the hypothetical Fischer vs. Karpov match. Garry Kasparov is making the case that 32-year-old Bobby Fischer would have lost his 1975 match with 24-year-old Anatoly Karpov. Garry says that Fischer would have trouble with Karpov because he wasn’t the gentleman that Spassky was. With the backing of the soviet machine, Karpov’s will to win would have decided the match. Kasparov seems to believe that Spassky’s gentleman manners led to his defeat. I am not so sure that’s the reason Spassky lost in 1972.”
“The soviet machine was in full force prior to the 1972 match. All top Soviet grandmasters had to prepare a report on Bobby Fischer. There is no question the soviet chess machine was geared up to defeat Fischer. Bobby defeated the soviet machine, once. I don’t see why he couldn’t do it again. However, having the soviet chess machine behind you can be both a blessing and a curse. Sure it can help you prepare for a match and it can help you become a stronger player. However it can be a giant albatross around your neck. It can weigh you down during a match.”
“Lets not forget the 1975 match would been decided by the first to win 10 games. Not sure if Karpov would be able to hold out in a long match. Karpov seems to tire in the later stages. He allowed Kortchnoi to close in during the 1974 final candidate match. This also occurred in the 1978 match against Kortchnoi. We already discussed that Kortchnoi after trailing 4-1 was able to tie the match 5-5 in the 31st game. Karpov faded in the 1984 match against Kasparov. After 27 games and a 5-0 lead, Karpov allowed the match to drag on for another 21 games. Karpov would not win another game and would collapse by losing games 32, 47, and 48. FIDE step in and stopped the match with Karpov leading 5-3. So I think no question, an unlimited match did not favor Karpov.”
http://www.chessreporter.com/hangin_weighs_in__on_the_fischervskarpov75.htm
http://www.chessreporter.com/is_kasparov_afraid_of_bobby_fischer.htm
Anatoly Karpov – Linares 1994, Greatest Tournament Performance Ever
Karpov in Linares 1994: The Greatest Tounament Performance in Chess History – scored 11 out 13 with 9 wins and 4 draws
Karpov vs. Topalov, Linares; 1994.
Karpov won this game, and it was easily the best and the most brilliant game of the whole event and maybe the most brilliant game of the whole year.
Karpov won the tournament, which was quite possibly one of the very strongest events of the entire twentieth century! His score, an undefeated 11-out-of-a-possible-13, is possibly the greatest tournament performance of all time! (His PR was an impossible 2985!)
This, in the highest category tournament {18} ever held up until that time! The field had nearly a 2700 average rating. Kasparov and Shirov were an unbelievable TWO-AND-A-HALF-POINTS behind Anatoly Karpov. {The rest of the stellar field was comprised, in the order of their finish, of: A. Bareev, V. Kramnik, J. Lautier, V. Anand, G. Kamsky, V. Topalov, V. Ivanchuk, B. Gelfand, M. Illescas, J. Polgar, A. Beliavsky.} (Kasparov, just before this event, said the winner could be considered the WORLD CHAMPION of Tournament Chess!!) Former U.S. Champion, GM Arnold Denker said in the pages of Chess Life, that: “Karpov had outdone even the mighty Capablanca!” The pundits went on almost endlessly. Certainly Karpov had earned the praise, virtually all of his wins were very, very good games. Some games, like the game with Topolov, were exceptional ones of the very highest order. Several games from this event are recounted in Karpov’s collection of his best games.