Morphy (The Pride and Sorrow)
famous chess nicknames
Some others I just thought of
Carl Schlechter--The Drawing Master
Blackburne--The Black Death
Steinitz--The Father of Modern Chess (also, The Man Who Took the Fun Out of Chess)
trysts, I don't think Fischer was in Jackass, but he could have been.
Judit Polgar(The Princess of Chess)
Ruy Lopez(The Spanish Bishop)
Jackson Showalter--The Kentucky Lion
Edward Lasker--Lasker Common
Emanuel Lasker--Lasker Preferred
Fishly Clumspatz--The Whiny Little Twerp
Teichmann - "Richard the Fifth" (for the number of times he finished 5th in major tournaments in the early 20th Century: not quite able to compete for the top prizes, but far above the field).
Schlecter was NOT known as "the drawing master." He was from Vienna, and the top Vienna players of the era, including Schlecter, played a careful game trying more to avoid weaknesses than to create winning chances, and were collectively known as the "Vienna drawing masters" because they were very tough to beat.
Neither was Morphy known during his career as "the Pride and Sorrow of Chess" - that came from a book title, perhaps Phillip Seargeant's early 20th Century bio.
Fischer was certainly a jackass in the way he dealt with people most of the time, but it was never his nickname.
Actually I have seen in books where authors refer to him as the drawing master.
Mickey Adams--The Spider
Nimzovich--The Crown Prince of Chess (due to some calling cards he supposedly had made up bearing that phrase, but Winter says this is in doubt and that none have been seen).
Tigran Petrosian-Iron Tigran, a hard man to beat in his prime. Spassky likened him to a hedgehog after someone said he was like a constrictor: "Just when you think you have him he puts his quills out."
Steinitz--The Austrian Morphy, in his younger, combinative days.
Estragon
Good spot on Richard the Fifth--I forgot that one!
I've seen a couple of references to Schlechter as "The Drawing Master," and I'll take your word for it that the "Vienna Drawing Masters" was a collective appellation. But nowhere in this post does it call for nicknames during the players career--by that train of thought, Steinitz wasn't known as the father of modern chess, nor Nimzovitch as the father of hypermodern chess. So the nicknames came after--so what? They are known by that now; true?
What are some famous chess nicknames wheater famous or almost unknown ? I find it interesting and sometimes I learn I could be learning something from certain player's
Capablanca (The chess machine)
Keres (The Crown Prince of chess)
R. Spielman ( The last knight of the Kings Gambit)
Nimzovitch (The Father of hypermodern play)
V. Petrosian (The Iron Tiger)
F. Marshall (The Great Swindler)
Karpov (Contrict Boa of chess)
Tal (Riga Magician)