7 ms·
> Chess is one of the few fields where dominance can easily stretch into several decades Easily? No. The only player to have the top rating longer than 10 year
by dntbnmpls 7y ago
> Chess is one of the few fields where dominance can easily stretch into several decades
Easily? No. The only player to have the top rating longer than 10 years is kasparov.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FIDE_chess_world_number_ones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FIDE_chess_world_numbe...
> if you're a young prodigy you may breach into top level in your teenage years and last well until your 50s or 60s. Of course you won't be #1 this whole time (check out Lasker's longevity though) but you will always remain a top contender.
No. There is nobody 50 or older in the fide ranking ( top 100 ).
https://ratings.fide.com/ https://ratings.fide.com/
Chess is a mentally and physically draining sport. Top players tend to drop off considerably in their late 30s and 40s as younger talent takes over.
- thom 7y agoAnand, Gelfand, Dreev and Ivanchuck are all 50 or older, unless you just mean blitz, in which case it's just Anand and Dreev.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y agoAnand is about 100 Elo points weaker than Carlsen at all time controls. It's impressive that Anand is still #15 at his age (50 years), but he's the only 50-year-old at that elite level (2700+ Elo). The age distribution of the top 100 Classical players is: 16-19: 5 20-29: 39 30-39: 40 40-49: 12 50-51: 4 The 20s and 30s are really the peak ages for chess.
- thom 7y agoWasn't disputing that, just the inaccuracy of the previous comment.
- V-2 7y agoKorchnoi was still in the top 100 at the age of 76. Of course "easily" is a vast exaggeration.
- microtherion 7y agoAnd Samuel Reshevsky was an elite player from age 11 into his 70s.
- brmgb 7y ago> Easily? No. The only player to have the top rating longer than 10 years is kasparov. That's because you are looking at a FIDE list which starts in 1971. Mikhail Botvinnik was the world champion from a nearly uninterrupted period from 1948 to 1963 (he lost to Tal once). Capablanca was undefeated from 10 February 1916 to 21 March 1924 and remained a contender for best player in the world until his retirement in 1931.