The "Almost" Best players of all time

I am curious about the players that people consider the most influential or "best" of all time that never made world champion. (In the classical sense, I dont count the FIDE champions sorry) Best can also mean best player or best in contributions to chess thinking/theory etc. 

These arent in any particular order but its just something interesting to think about. 

1. Morphy (Botvinnik said that all you need to know about open games was taught by Morphy)

2. Chigorin- Original thinker , creative attacker but fell short, the founder of the russian school of chess

3. Tarrasch- Same boat great thinker and influenced a lot of players with his teaching

4. Rubinstein- just brilliant but nerves got in his way. Similar to Ivanchuk in some respects.

5.Tarkatower - great player and teacher, funny guy too

6. Marshall- how many variations are played with his name attached? A brillant attacker and dynamic player but ran into a genius from Cuba. 

7.Sveshnikov ( his contribution to theory alone made people look at things differently) A guy that really believes in challenging the status quo of chess thinking. The revived several openings though his teaching and play. if an opening is named after you and played by world champions... gotta be a somebody.

8. Keres brillant , brillant brillant attacker, just couldnt deal with Botvinniks scientific approach

9. Nimzovitch - no explaination needed I hope.

10. Bronstein genius! 

there are a few others that I would throw in but this is MY list whats yours? players that werent world champs and deceased 

Don't forget Henry Pillsbury, Adolf Anderssen, and Henry Blackburne.  

Korchnoi

all good players, pillsbury was very influential anderssen was famous for his attacking flair as was blackburne just wondering what your top 10 list would be then

It has been said that Keres is the strongest player never to become world champion, so he should be included.

So why is it that nobody on this site talks about Luis Ramirez de Lucena and Ruy Lopez de Segura at all.  Weren't they basically the "world champion" players of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?  In relative terms, that wasn't too long ago.  Lopez was a contemporary of Shakespeare, for instance.  

Korchnoi deserves mentioning twice.

Do you mean that the FIDE champions are/were not the world champions or are you asking about people before FIDE?

oh yes +1 on korchnoi!! I also  really like short and ivanchuk too IMO ivanchuk is a genius just bad nerves. when he is on his game he is a monster.

 You can make your own list and add Ruy. 

Should we include Keres?

I like the Tarrasch trap in the roy lopez, that was a nice game.

I think Ivanchuk should be rejected because he is still alive and playing at a level where he has the potential to become world champion, although Korchnoi can be included.

Korchnoi, keres and the most obvious pick for me is rubenstein. He was like a squirrel on fire on his peak.

for Chucky he could have gone and see a sport psychologist to over come this problem.

I pick Samuel Rehevsky,

because he looks like my grandpa

oh bronstein for sure. again post YOUR list not just one or two thats the debate right? so lets clarify it to players who are deceased and not world champions

Agree with the above, especially Korchnoi, Reshevsky, Keres 

Would add Schlechter

Both Larsen and Reshvesky were great.what did Larsen & reshvesky contribute? 

Larsen- the 1.b3 opening he played a few times. 

Paul KeresFischer was one of nine World Champions Keres beat—every one from Capablanca to Fischer.- Wikipedia

For Keres fans

Link to source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_beaten_Bobby_Fischer_in_chess

hmm ya larsen might be a stonger version of sveshnikov. I need to get his book and read it but its a pain to find :(