The recent economic crisis of 2008/2009 boosted a discussion about effectiveness of popular methods of controlling risk in financial markets, with value-at-risk approach being a topical issue. The paper contrasted a GARCH model for 1% VaR estimation for WIG20 with five basic approaches: variance-covariance, historical simulation, Risk Metrics™, Monte Carlo simulation and bootstrap method. A comprehensive study was supplied, with the focus on sample choice, to emphasize the influence of extraordinary price movements during the crisis. The study showed that nonparametric methods prevail over other models in the sense that the probability of exceeding the assumed loss level is the lowest. Further enquiry supported the view that GARCH model outperforms all techniques based on the assumption of a specific probability distribution of log returns. The problem of attaining the required level of tolerance in conditions of high instability of prices was evident from Kupiec tests results. A complementary analysis of capital requirements in relation to VaR estimation technique, gave the additional argument for GARCH model superiority over other risk valuation methods.