Magnus Carlsen vs Bobby Fischer: Who Was Better?

Did Magnus Carlsen ever play Bobby Fischer?

No. Bobby Fischer won the world title in 1972 and then stopped playing serious chess. He played one more match, against Boris Spassky in 1992, and died in Iceland in 2008. Magnus Carlsen was a 17-year-old grandmaster then. So there is no game between them, and any answer to "who is better, Magnus or Fischer?" is a comparison, not a result.

The fair way to compare is to ask: how far ahead of the other players of his time was each one, and for how long?

Watch: Bobby Fischer's opening skills

Before the numbers, see how Fischer played. On our channel we go through one of his games and the opening ideas behind it.

Bobby Fischer vs Magnus Carlsen: the numbers

Here is the short version, from the official records.

Ratings from FIDE lists. Rating points from different decades are not exactly the same "money" (see below).

Bobby Fischer vs Magnus Carlsen rating

Carlsen's peak of 2882 (May 2014) is the highest rating in history. Fischer's peak was 2785 on the July 1972 list. On paper that is almost 100 points for Carlsen.

But rating numbers are not the same in every decade. In July 1972 the world number two, Spassky, was rated 2660. Today dozens of players are above 2700. Many people call this rating inflation. A rating also only measures you against the players of your own time.

That is why the gap to the world number two is more interesting. In July 1972 Fischer was 125 points above Spassky, the world champion. Carlsen has led the list for many years, but never by that much. So by peak number Carlsen is ahead; by the gap over his rivals at his very best, Fischer is ahead.

Dominance: 20 wins in a row vs 125 games unbeaten

Fischer: in 1970-71 he won 20 games in a row against the world's best. It started with the last seven rounds of the 1970 Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca. Then, in the 1971 Candidates matches, he beat Mark Taimanov 6-0 and Bent Larsen 6-0. Grandmasters almost never lose 6-0 to anyone. He then beat Tigran Petrosian 6.5-2.5 and won the world title against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972 (12.5-8.5).

Carlsen: he was world champion for ten years and won five title matches. From 2018 to 2020 he played 125 classical games in a row without a loss. He also won the world rapid and blitz titles many times, and he has been number one on the FIDE list since July 2011.

So Fischer had the most explosive peak. Carlsen had the longest time at the top.

Fischer's Game of the Century (1956)

Fischer was 13 when he beat Donald Byrne at the Rosenwald tournament in New York. The game became famous as "The Game of the Century". Replay it and stop at move 17.

1. Nf3 { New York, October 1956. Donald Byrne, one of the best players in the USA, has White. Bobby Fischer is 13 years old. } 1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4 Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 Na4 $1 { The first shock: Fischer puts his knight where it can be taken. If 12.Nxa4 Nxe4 and the white queen and the e7 pawn are in trouble. } 12. Qa3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bxe7 Qb6 15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 { The white king has to walk. Now comes the famous move. } 17... Be6 $3 { The queen sacrifice. Fischer leaves his queen on b6 to be taken. Stockfish already gives Black -2.1. } 18. Bxb6 { Byrne takes the queen. } ( { If White takes the bishop instead: } 18. Bxe6 Qb5+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Ng3+ 21. Kg1 Qf1+ { The queen gives herself up... } 22. Rxf1 Ne2# { ...for a smothered mate. } ) 18... Bxc4+ { Now a 'windmill' of checks starts: the black knight picks up pieces while the white king is stuck. } 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4 Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 { Count the material: Black has a rook, two bishops and a knight for the queen. More than enough. } 26. h3 Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 b5 33. h4 h5 34. Ne5 Kg7 { Black's king is safe. Now the black pieces hunt the white king. } 35. Kg1 Bc5+ 36. Kf1 Ng3+ 37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Rc2# { Checkmate. A 13-year-old beat a top American master with a queen sacrifice. } 0-1

Carlsen's queen sacrifice that kept his crown (2016)

In 2016 Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin drew the 12 classical games 6-6. The match went to rapid tiebreaks in New York. In the last game Carlsen finished with a queen sacrifice that people still show in every chess club.

1. e4 { New York, 30 November 2016, the last rapid tiebreak game of the World Championship. Carlsen has White and leads 2.5-1.5. } 1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 { Carlsen avoids the main lines and plays a quiet setup with f3 and c4. } 5... e5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. c4 a5 8. Be3 a4 9. Nc1 O-O 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Qd2 Na6 12. Be2 Nc5 13. O-O Bd7 14. Rb1 Rfc8 15. b4 axb3 16. axb3 Qd8 17. Nd3 Ne6 18. Nb4 Bc6 19. Rfd1 h5 20. Bf1 h4 21. Qf2 Nd7 22. g3 Ra3 23. Bh3 Rca8 24. Nc2 R3a6 25. Nb4 Ra5 26. Nc2 b6 27. Rd2 Qc7 28. Rbd1 Bf8 29. gxh4 { White wins a pawn on the kingside. Carlsen now presses slowly. } 29... Nf4 30. Bxf4 exf4 31. Bxd7 Qxd7 32. Nb4 Ra3 33. Nxc6 Qxc6 34. Nb5 Rxb3 35. Nd4 Qxc4 36. Nxb3 Qxb3 37. Qe2 Be7 38. Kg2 Qe6 39. h5 Ra3 40. Rd3 Ra2 41. R3d2 Ra3 42. Rd3 Ra7 43. Rd5 Rc7 44. Qd2 Qf6 45. Rf5 Qh4 46. Rc1 Ra7 47. Qxf4 { Another pawn falls. Karjakin answers with a counter-attack against the white king. } 47... Ra2+ 48. Kh1 Qf2 { Black threatens mate on g2 or g1. It looks scary, but White moves first. } 49. Rc8+ { The first check. 49...Bf8 50.Rxf8+ also loses for Black. } 49... Kh7 50. Qh6+ $3 { The queen sacrifice that ended the match. Karjakin resigned: 50...Kxh6 51.Rh8# or 50...gxh6 51.Rxf7#. } 1-0

Style and openings

Fischer played very clear, direct chess. With White he almost always opened 1.e4 and called it "best by test". He loved the Ruy Lopez, and with Black he played the Najdorf Sicilian and the King's Indian. His preparation was famous, and he played every game to win.

Carlsen plays almost every opening with both colours. He often chooses a quiet line, takes a small edge into the middlegame or endgame and then outplays the opponent for hours. His endgame technique is the best of his time. See which openings Magnus plays.

Fischer Random and Freestyle Chess: where the two meet

Fischer did not like how much top chess depended on memorised openings. In 1996 he presented Fischer Random chess (also called Chess960): the back-rank pieces start in a random order, so opening preparation is useless.

Carlsen agrees with him on this. He has often said that classical chess is too much about preparation, and he co-founded the Freestyle Chess events that started in 2024. Freestyle Chess is Fischer's idea, played by today's best players. In a way this is the only place where Fischer and Carlsen "meet".

So who is better, Magnus or Fischer?

A fair answer has two parts. If the question is "who played better chess?", Carlsen does: chess knowledge has grown for 50 years, and Carlsen trained with engines and databases Fischer never had. If the question is "who was more dominant over his own rivals?", Fischer's 1970-72 run is one of the strongest peaks anyone has had. Over a whole career, Carlsen's ten years as champion and many more as number one are hard to match.

Is anyone better than Magnus Carlsen? Today, no human player is rated higher. Chess engines like Stockfish are far stronger than any human, Carlsen included. You can play them on our site: play Stockfish. For every number one in history see world number 1 chess players.

Carlsen vs Fischer FAQ