Most underrated player ever?

No, I am afraid we don't. I am so sorry.

That doesn't sound like he was underrated. Of course, Viktor Korchnoi and Magnus Carlsen would probably dispute your claim anyway.

Among world champions, Max Euwe is underrated. He was still probably the weakest of those chess gods who became match-play champions, but he was definitely deserving. 

Aron Nimzovich is often overlooked as a great player in his own right, yet he was probably one of the top three players in the world in the decade after World War One.

@SmyslofFan: every serious chess player knows his MySystem and appreciates it. He is not underrated.

You mentioned Carl Schlechter though in another thread as the best attacking player. (Proving it by beating my man for the best attacking player, which I perceived almost as a proof say to the least corroboration of my choice.) I don't think a lot of people will follow you in that choice, so he might be and the (second) best attacking player and the most underrated player ever. :-)

Loek, people recognise Nimzovich's writing skills, but few think of him as one of the great players of his generation. Just as Grooten or Watson are respected writers, but not considered great chess players.

Regarding my comments about Schlechter being a great attacker... I wasn't serious. He was known as the Drawing Master for a reason. I was pointing out that every master has attacking games. That doesn't make them great attackers. Btw, I still like Schlechter. He invented some interesting openings and deserved to be world champion.

lol, when I saw that game I already thought about the reply 'one example does not make one having that feature', because I was surprised to see Carl Schlechter mentioned as an attacking player. :-) Will have to read your posts more carefully. :-)

It surprises me that people would not recognize his talent for chess, because when someone is explaining chess that good like Nimzowitsch did, then it is obvious that you must be a very good chess player. I am a fan of Nimzowitsch, so I can not understand it when people would not see how good he is. I have played with the idea to use a nickname referring to him or his most famous book, but alas, I decided to use my own name.

At least to me it's Mr. Reshevsky, because he was an accountant working full time with a big family to support & didn't have time (like most players had plenty) to study current opening theory because he once promised to his family: "Never again will I permit chess to interfere with the more important business of caring for my family." So, he always took a too much time over his opening moves & almost always got into time pressure.

well i think grob could make it on the list of most underrated.

anyway thanks again for posting  the mikhailnishin game, im not saying its amazingly strong or crazy complicated but i somehow like the style and the look of it. I dont even know if its correct but its really nice on the eyes.

he was travelling on the bridle beyond 3000 Elo.

probably figured there'd be no decent players for ages so got bored and starting going more regularly to the flicks.

the rest, as they say, is history (probabaly after some ww flick or a vampire one).

Actually, i started a thread on whether i should buy Yusupov, or Silman.  There are other good suggestions if you would like to read here is the link:  http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/yusupov-vs-silman

Samual Reshevsky

I think the top 3 underrated players are Spassky Karpov and Topalov. The latter two were overshadowed by their predecessors and were easily the number two ater very strong players (and this is more true for Boris because there were unbelievable players during his time) but Topalov is often looked at as Tal in modern day which he isn't. From what I understand he isn't exactly the most charismatic person but he was a very strong positional player which is sometimes overlooked because he is one of the only really successful attacking players of today (although he has been dormant lately). I think my vote goes to Karpov though because when you think of top players he is always overshadowed by Kasparov, had Kasparov not existed Karpov would have been the most dominant player to date most likely and he does not get that recognition.

Aaron Nimzowitch

yesterday i saw a tactic on  convekta from 1977 were Taimanov has beaten Karpov. I would believe the most underrated player is Taimanov.

good one lol

How about Euwe?

Nobody ever talks about him on these forums. And he was World Champion. He beat Alekhine, for crying out loud!

ok you are right im guilty, even though i still believe alekhine is better

@varelse1: Euwe is a good option. The forgotten world champion or the world champion by mistake of Aljechin. An uncle of my has played against Euwe and was very much impressed by his strength.

Euwe was absolutely underated. Some facts about him:

1. He was a school maths teacher so he could only play chess tournaments in out-of-term times, often without preparation. So he was a real amateur; chess wasn't his day job. Yet he became the world champion. OK. Alekhine was into the drink and not at his best. But hey. Alekhine is still..Alekhine.

2. Euwe played a beautiful game when he beat Alekhine to become the champion. The game is called "The Pearl of Zandvoort". It is a slow build-up positionally with a nice tactical prize.

3. Some trivia. Euwe was an excellent amateur boxer. He won a European amateur boxing championship.

Euwe was also later president of FIDE, if I recall. If that, and everything Linux just said holds up, he is a real Renaissance Chessplayer.

I recall seeing one of his games versus Alekhine. Alekhine came out swinging with tactics, of course. But Euwe was not impressed. And matched him combination for combination, sacrifice for sacrifice. Wound up a draw.

I was almost amazed Alekhine escaped that game, TBH.

Tolush