Underestimated players

Bogoljubov. Maybe most people see him as a player that was given a couple of title matches he didn't deserve and nothing more, but he was a great player as these tournament tables from the 1920s show:

http://www.worldchesslinks.net/eziq13.html

http://www.worldchesslinks.net/eziq21.html

http://storiascacchi.altervista.org/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1922pistyan.htm

http://storiascacchi.altervista.org/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1923karlsbad.htm

http://storiascacchi.altervista.org/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1925breslau.htm

He was at his best in the 1922-28 period during which all the above linked tournaments were played. Bogoljubov was already 40 when he played his first title match against Alekhine in 1929, and his playing strength had maybe started to decline, but he did win a couple of minor tournaments as late as in the beginning of the 1950s.

i feel so ignorant of Bogoljubov; all his games i have show him being crushed by Capa or Alekhine. anyone have his ELO?

He died long before the Elo lists, even if Arpad Elo did make various retrospective ratings of players in his book The Rating of Chess Players. Maybe not particularly seriously, but he measured Bogoljubov's average Elo during his best five years as 2610. That should be slightly higher at his peak, maybe 2630 or something like that, whatever one might conclude from that. Bogoljubov was never comparable to Lasker, Capa and Alekhine but in the league below those three in the 1920s he was a strong contender for first place.

In his first match with Alekhine he lost clearly but distinguished himself with an honorable result, +11 -5 =9.

He won 5 times vs. Alekhine. Not so bad.

there are a lot of folks that should and would have shined, if not for a more powerful player beating the socks off him lol.  reuben fine, bogoljubov, frederick yates, tarrasch, david janowski (VERY strong player), akiba rubenstein, george alan thomas, gruenfeld, tartakower, hans kmoch, aaron nimzowitsch for sure, frank marshall, rudolf spielmann and many, many others, and that is just from the '20s! 

Not so good either. For a top knotch GM, worlds championship contender to lose 11 games while winnig five in a championship match is equivalent to being horse whipped, on the court house lawn, at high noon---naked!

That wasn't an honorable result---that was a humiliating result.

If you dont keep an eye on these guys they will be telling you black is white.

To meet an all-time best player at his peak and still score -11 +5 =9 is an honorable result.

Not enough for bragging rights perhaps but enough to hold one's head up.

This is what happened when champions were allowed to pick their opponents for a world title match.

Lasker v Marshall Lasker wins 8-0 3 draws

Lasker v Janowski Lasker wins (seven wins, two draws, one loss)

Alekhine v Bogolubov 29' Alekhine wins +11 -5 =9.

Alekhine v Bogolubov 34' Alekhine wins +8 -3 =15

Playing Bogolubov was like a day at the beach and he got paid for it!!

Goldendog, when was the last time you got paid to go lay on the beach?

Bogolyubov wasn't in Alekhine's class, especially with Alekhine near his peak, so yeah Bogo couldn't stress him.

Not in disagreement here.

I have read that Bogoljubow also had a great sense of humor. I read about one tournament in which he participated, and upon its conclusion, journalists asked him some questions. He didn't speak English very well, though, so he answered every question he was asked with reportedly the only word he knew: "Beer."

Alekhine was very strong around 1930. The two tournaments he played after the match against Bogoljubov were San Remo 1930 and Bled 1931. They were quite strong (both ranked in the top 5 of the strongest tournaments of the whole decade) and still he scored +28 -0 =13 in them. Bogoljubov won five games in their match and even if he lost eleven it wasn't a bad result against Alekhine in those years.

http://storiascacchi.altervista.org/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1930sanremo.htm

http://storiascacchi.altervista.org/storiascacchi/tornei/1900-49/1931bled.htm

You too fabelman are coo coo for cocoa puffs!!

When one man challenges the world champion to a match and loses 15 1/2 to 9 1/2 his clock has been cleaned! He was pistol whipped right there in the playing hall! Bogo suffered abject, utter defeat. I hope Bogo didnt let the door hit him in the ass on the way out.

I heard Bogo was an avid Nazi. Maybe Alekhine was taking it easy on him. Alekhine was a Nazi lover wasn't he. Hell, if Alekhine took off the kid gloves he might have pulverized the guy 15 1/2 to zero!!!

I was reminded of the Kasparov v Short championship of 93'---Man that was pathetic