Chess legends: playing styles and games
Twelve world champions and chess legends, each with a style profile measured from their own games: how aggressive, how risk-taking, how solid, and which openings they chose.
- Paul Morphy
1837–1884 · Rapid development & open lines
Attacker · 211 games - Wilhelm Steinitz
1836–1900 · Positional theory & tenacious defense
Attacker · 582 games - Emanuel Lasker
1868–1941 · Pragmatic fighting chess
Universal · 894 games - José Raúl Capablanca
1888–1942 · Simplicity & endgame technique
Positional player · 596 games - Alexander Alekhine
1892–1946 · Combinational attacks
Universal · 1,652 games - Mikhail Botvinnik
1911–1995 · Scientific preparation
Solid / prophylactic · 891 games - Mikhail Tal
1936–1992 · Sacrificial attacks
Solid / prophylactic · 2,429 games - Tigran Petrosian
1929–1984 · Prophylaxis
Solid / prophylactic · 1,892 games - Bobby Fischer
1943–2008 · Clarity & precision
Solid / prophylactic · 825 games - Anatoly Karpov
b. 1951 · Positional squeeze
Solid / prophylactic · 3,517 games - Garry Kasparov
b. 1963 · Dynamic initiative
Solid / prophylactic · 2,117 games - Magnus Carlsen
b. 1990 · Universal endgame grinding
Positional player · 7,818 games