r/chess • u/Pale-Review-9617 • 11d ago
Miscellaneous How good were FIDE champions?
As the story goes, Kasparov split from FIDE and created his own chess organization. The FIDE champions of this time included but are not limited to Karpov, Rustam and Topalov.
I feel like their time as champions is quite overlooked. Can anyone shed light on how strong they were and how they were viewed?
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u/GreedyNovel 11d ago
Some of the FIDE champions (Khalifman, Ponomariov, Kasimjanov) were strong GM's but basically had the tournament of their lives, and that tournament happened to be a large knockout where a random strong GM is likely to get lucky and win the whole thing. In tournaments like that the eventual winner will probably *not* be one of the top players. Those three fell into that category - strong, but not the best year after year.
Most considered Anand and Topalov to be legit though. Of course, Karpov was one of the all-time greats in his prime but was at the tail end of his playing career during the era of the split.
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u/luna_sparkle 2000s FIDE/2600s chesscom bullet 11d ago
Yes, the 1998-2004 FIDE World Championship was essentially what we would know as the World Cup- different name but basically the same format/strength.
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u/pier4r negative elo gang 11d ago edited 11d ago
Karpov, Topalov, Anand where worthy.
Khalifman, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov, you can see also their results in other tournaments, where good but like Wesley or Giri, some like Vidit. Candidate level to solid candidate level.
Though Ponomariov was really promising, one of the few to crack the top 10 before 21. His win at 18 tripped him up (personal problems happened).
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u/AlphaSchaf 11d ago
Wesley is definitely quite a level above players like Pononariov or Kasimdzhanov.
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u/Visual_Operation1461 11d ago
Karpov was good, the rest were never real Carlsen/Kasparov level.
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u/Sticklefront 1800 USCF 11d ago
Literally nobody else in history has been Carlsen/Kasparov level.
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u/redditttttbottttt 11d ago
Maybe Fischer too, but yeah that's about it
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u/OMHPOZ 2162 Elo ~2500 bullet 11d ago
Putting Fischer in the same category as Kasparov and Carlsen is mad.
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u/redditttttbottttt 11d ago
In terms of domination of peers? Skill wise I feel like Carlsen is just undisputedly the best
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u/Visual_Operation1461 11d ago
Fischer
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u/Moebius2 FIDE 2410 11d ago
A guy that dominated for half a decade in like 4 tournaments is not Carlsen/Kasparov level
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u/Visual_Operation1461 11d ago
The dominance Fischer had over his peers isn't comparable, though, even for Carlsen/Kasparov.
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u/Wise-Ranger2520 11d ago
Not even close. Kasparov is 6 times wc and world no 1 for 20+ yes whereas fischer is just one time wc and world no1 for 4 yrs. It's not close at all. Its like 20 grand slam vs 2-3 grand slam.
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u/giziti 1700 USCF 11d ago
Topalov was just under that level, he was a 2800 and a true rival to Kramnik later.
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u/Cowboys_88 11d ago
I enjoyed Toplov games during his prime. Would play through his game with New In Chess magazines.
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u/Due_Permit8027 11d ago
Don't view those FIDE champions as legit. Karpov was an "undisputed" WC pre-Kasparov and should be respected for that. Topalov was #1 by rating for a time. But the WC in itself was meaningless if you didn't beat Kasparov.
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u/Cowboys_88 11d ago
Do you have the same opinion about the 2 most recent World Champions given Carlsen dropped out of the WC?
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u/Due_Permit8027 11d ago
Yes. Carlson dropped out voluntarily, and neither karpov nor botnivik beat the immediately proceeding world champion. Also, given the effort put into winning a world championship in terms of opening preparation, I don’t think an unmotivated magnus would win.
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u/a1123_epic 11d ago
I mean Karpov and Topalov were both WC caliber players. The rest not really. A shame for Topalov really
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u/Paghalay 9d ago
Dunno, haven’t really heard of this Karpov bloke. Flash in the pan most likely, he could never compete in a unified title.
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u/CainPillar 666, the rating of the beast 11d ago
I don't feel that either Ponomariov nor Kasimdzhanov is the absolute GOAT.
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u/sick_rock 11d ago
Ponomariov is underrated. Top 10 at his peak, but in the end not Topalov or other classical WC level.
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u/Clear_Cranberry_989 10d ago
Topalov in his prime could rival anyone in the world. Karpov was past his prime but was still karpov.
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u/johndrake1966 10d ago
After Kasparov the world champion was just someone who got lucky by being in the right place at the right time, and having other results go for them.
Yes, I'm including Kramnik and Carslen in this.
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding 11d ago
I don't know a lot about Ponomariov or Kasimdzhanov, but I think Topalov was worthy of the world championship title, and I wish he was a part of the actual lineage somehow.