The so-called prime cannot be acquired by only practicing more, it is being in the right frame at the right time. Every player in every competition will have a so-called “prime” where they peak on their set of skills. If Kasparov played with Magnus right now, Magnus would easily win because of Kasparov’s old age. The best Kasparov can achieve is around a top 10-20 player if he had continued playing. Kasparov being out of form would stand no chance against Carlsen if he ever challenged him coming out of retirement. Would Carlsen beat Kasparov if he comes out of retirement? My goal is to just lay out the facts (although I can’t deny I might be a little biased) but in the end you’re going to decide for yourself, let’s begin. There have been fair arguments for both sides expressing how one has the edge over the other. Kasparov on the other hand is better in terms of longevity being dominant for over 20 years. Magnus Carlsen is better in terms of how fast he got his achievements being GM at the young age of 13, reaching the 2800 mark at 18, and getting his peak rating 1 year after becoming world champion. This after all is a very significant topic in the head of chess players so we want that side-by-side comparison. I have seen a lot of people discuss this so I will lay out all the facts here and let you know the details. That is which one is actually better? This question essentially asked who is the greatest player of all time. There has been a large debate between the two greatest chess players of all time, Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov.

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Kasparov chess set