Are there currently any websites that will calculate a person’s Fischer number, Kasparov number, etc.? There used to be ibeatgarry.com but that seems to be down now.
Does one have to beat the necessary players in order to have a “Fischer” number, or does one just have to play a game against the players (I’ve heard both ways).
Ex: A has beaten X, X has beaten Y and has played (but never beat) Z. Y has beaten Z. Z has beaten Fischer. Is A’s Fischer number 3 (A–>X–>Z–>Fischer) or 4 (A–>X–>Y–>Z–>Fischer)?
The definition I’ve seen is that “you” must defeat the player, the player must defeat someone else, etc. with the idea of creating a transitive chain of the “you” beating Fischer.
Under that rule, my Kasparov number is 4.
My Fischer number is at most 4 (through Bisguier), although a 3 is possible if I can find a short route to one of Fischer’s opponents in the mid 1950s before he got amazingly strong.
A pair of 2’s:
I’ve beaten Mednis (Reno, 1997) who has beaten Fischer
I’ve beaten Yermolinsky (Stillwater, 2009) who has beaten Kasparov
Michael Langer
Must the game be a tournament game? Do exhibition games count? If so, then I defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1976 just after he had won the USSR ch and Lone Pine. He was rated 2640 at the time. Petrosian had defeated Fischer in earlier years, as well as Spassky and the young Kasparov. Petrosian also defeated Mikhail Botvinnik who defeated Euwe, who defeated Alekhine. Alekhine defeated Capablanca, who defeated Lasker. Lasker defeated Steinitz, who defeated Bird, who won a number of games from Paul Morphy. Pretty much covers most of the world champions. Can I claim the World Champion title? 
Works for me :mrgreen:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_number discussed the concept of a “chess number”.
You can actually get to Morphy in fewer steps (5): Petrosian–>Reshevsky–>Lasker–>Bird–>Morphy
For this article’s definition, you only have to play someone to form a chain of the link, you don’t have to beat them.
Nods;
some of the other articles out there on Fischer number or Kasparov number require defeating the person.
I played Viktors Pupols, who beat Fischer, so 2 by that standard. If you had to win, I’ve beaten several people who beat Pupols. Generally before said people got good, of course.
For Kasparov, Seirawan is my link
Yeah, Onkel Vik is also my link to Fischer – while I’ve lost quite a few to him, I’ve also won a couple. And I beat Seirawan a couple times back in '73. So, my number are 2/2. The Morphy number is actually more interesting, but I can’t remember what mine is.
Thanks to having had the pleasure of playing Kazim Gulamali at the Atlanta Chess Center when he was beginning serious study of the game, and taking a win from him before he took off, my Fischer number is five (Gulamali, Becerra, Quinteros, Bisguier, Fischer). Not bad for a lifetime C player, but entirely due to Kazim’s hard work and my lucky timing.
If simuls count my Fischer number is 2: I beat Harold Dondis at the 1985 Central New England Open in Fitchburg, Mass. and Dondis beat Fischer at a simul in 1964, also in Fitchburg.
If simuls don’t count my Fischer number might be 4: I beat David Griego at the 1984 Rhode Island State Championship, Griego beat Lawyer Times at the Waltham (Mass.) Chess Club in 1997, Times beat Arthur Bisguier at the 2006 Foxwoods Open, Bisguier beat Fischer at the 1956 Rosenwald tournament. A little more fair to Bisguier, considering his age in 2006, is a Fischer number of 5: I beat Griego, Griego beat John Curdo at the 1992 Southeast New England Open, Curdo beat Aki Kanamori at the 1987 New England Open, Kanamori beat Bisguier at the 1984 New England Open, and Bisguier beat Fischer.
I found a couple of 1980s-and-earlier paths giving me a Fischer number of 4: I beat Griego in 1984, Griego beat Joe Shipman at the 1986 Cambridge Open, Shipman beat Bisguier at the 1986 Central New England Open, Bisguier beat Fischer in 1956. Alternatively: I beat Griego, Griego beat Alex Cherniack at the 1987 Greater Boston Open, Cherniack beat Bisguier at the 1986 Newton Open, Bisguier beat Fischer.
I was sort of hoping to find that Bisguier had lost a game at the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, Mass. to someone I’d beaten, which would give me a Fischer number of 3 not counting simuls, but I’m not sure that should count. I’m glad that GM Bisguier is still playing chess (or was up to last August) even though his playing strength is obviously much less than it was when he was in his prime.
Once more pressing matters are addressed, purely fun things like this could be added to the website to create more traffic to USCF.
If you take the viewpoint that you only need to play—not defeat—an opponent to join the number game, it’s amazing how few steps most veteran tournament players take to get to Morphy. The standard route is:
Morphy/Bird/Lasker/Reshevsky/someone/maybe someone else/you. For me “someone” was Michael Rohde. The most common someone is likely Bisguier.
Time can be a funny thing. Morphy retired from chess more than 150 years ago.
Even with needing a victory from a tournament/match game, there’s a lot of 6s and 7s in the US through Bsiguier. Bird beat Morphy, Lasker beat Bird, Reshevsky beat Lasker, and Bisguier beat Reshevsky
So if you beat someone who has beat Bisguier, your number is 6.
My Morphy number (so far) is 7.
Bird’s career was about 60 years long.
Lasker’s career was about 50-55 years long.
Reshevsky’s career was about 74 years long.
Bisguier’s career has been about 69 years long.
Those things help!