Walter White vs Gus Fring: who is smarter?

Six ratings out of ten for each, from the profiles. Walter White takes 3 of the rounds, Gus Fring takes 3, and the higher overall estimate is Gus Fring by 8.

Gus is the longest-range thinker in the series. He builds a respectable business as cover, cultivates the local authorities and plays a slow game against a cartel for years without a visible slip. His skill is patience and structure, and it puts him ahead on strategy.

Walter is smarter at the moment of crisis. His chemistry is real invention, which gives him a product that Gus needs, and when the plan breaks he adapts faster than anyone around him. His planning is also better than it looks, and in the end he sets a trap that uses Gus's own hatred against him.

That trap is why the two are close. Gus's one weakness is a grudge he cannot put down, and Walter finds it. A perfect planner would have covered that hole, so Gus loses some ground for it. We rate Gus slightly higher on intellect and Walter as the more dangerous player once the plan has broken.