Was Sammy Reshevsky Underated

He was an eight-time winner of the US Chess Championship, tying him with the great Bobby Fischer for the all-time record.

Although Reshevsky and Fischer had one of the fiercest rivalries in chess history, Fischer greatly respected the older champion, stating in the late 1960s that he thought Reshevsky was the strongest player in the world in the mid-1950s. This was around the time when Reshevsky defeated World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik in their four-game mini-match, which was the top board of the US vs. USSR team match held in Moscow.

Haha, good question!

The answer is yes. When at 8 years old he played in that simul -- see picture below

Well .... he learned chess at 4 years old. But we don't know what Charlie Chaplin might have thought of the young Rechevsky 🤔

He was a top GM, several-time national champion, and was considered one of the six best players in the world in 1948 when FIDE organized a tournament to crown a new World Champion to replace the recently-Alekhine. How can you call that "underrated"?

Underarrated in the sense that he was never world champion but more so that many chess pundits hardly listed Sammy in their best ever lists because I agree he has been faded from memories in a historical sense. Where would members list him. With his outstanding record and Bobby fischers glowing recommendation. Would he make the top 20. We’re the 1950’s relevant in chess history. I do think he was underrated.

Many chess players rate their best ever players with at least one world championship under their belt. Including Botvinnik whom I rate very highly.Yet I believe that Sammy had a good record against Botvinnik beating him on board 1 in the USA versus Russian tournament in 1955 . A monumental achievement including defeating 6 other world champions in his career.

Every great chess player dominates in an era or achieves greatness for varying reasons. The late 1940’s and 1950’s saw many great chess giants . Sammy was unlucky to strike some of the very best. Not achieving world champion status may have struck him off many chess players lists but maybe he was the greatest ever to not win one with his record !!

Chessmetrics has Reshevsky as number 1 in the world at age 31 from December 1942 through March 1943.

“greatest ever chess player list” quoted on a web listing across notable scribes doesn’t even have Sammy in the top 50?? Yet Botvinnik came in at 6 and Sammy could match it equally ( if not better) that him. 
Hence my point that if you do not have a world championship under your belt you are invisible.

Best ever lists are purely subjective but as a general rule the names in them are simply jumbled according to personal criteria and what value the person places on various aspects of a players career. But I’m continually dumbfounded at how poorly Sammy is rated in these lists and the disregard he has had as time marches on. In his day he was one of the greatest chess players as highlighted here. In modern times invisible. So I highlight his achievements to the younger audience who have a penchant for the history of chess😊😊😊

”Botvinnik came in at 6 and Sammy could match it equally ( if not better) that him”

I’d say Botvinnik was better, just look at his results in the 1940s and all his title matches played when he was past his peak, in his 40s and 50s. At Chessmetrics he is the best player in the world for well over ten years. Reshevsky is ranked as #30 among the greatest players ever by the Chess24 GMs and that is not too bad though:

https://chess24.com/en/learn/advanced/video/hall-of-fame-the-50-greatest-chess-players-of-all-time/intro-50-great-players

Reshevsky specialized in closed openings with the white pieces, usually opening with 1.d4, and was a virtuoso with the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. He rarely opened with 1.e4 against strong opposition. With the black pieces, he employed a broad and varied repertoire during his long career.

Contemporary American GM Arnold Denker complimented Reshevsky's extraordinary tenacity and fighting spirit and noted that Reshevsky developed a vital advantage in his great head-to-head battles with his main American rival, GM Reuben Fine, particularly in US Championships from the mid 1930s through the early 1940s. Trouble in games against Reshevsky was the main reason Fine was never able to win the US Championship.[24]

MATCH STANDINGS
Fischer - Reshevsky Match 
Robert James Fischer
5.5/11
(+2 -2 =7)
[games]
Samuel Reshevsky
5.5/11
(+2 -2 =7)
[games]

Fischer - Reshevsky (1961)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
Fischer 0 1 = = 1 = 0 = = = = 5.5
Reshevsky 1 0 = = 0 = 1 = = = = 5.5

Reshevsky had White in the odd-numbered games.

Sammy Reshevsky was my fathers favourite chess player. As a chess historian dad always received a monthly journal of the Soviet chess masters games and studied their collective world dominance during their golden years. Yet Sammy stood out like a beacon before the arrival of the prodigal Bobby Fischer on the American front . As can be seen above they fought some fierce battles and there was no love lost between them. But the young Bobby knew how good Sammy was even as Sammy swept past his best years. 

One of Bobby’s finest game was game 6 against Boris Spassky which we all admired. But what was one of Sammy’s finest games.

Any suggestions😊😊

Sammy Reshevsky was disadvantaged by the fact that his prime chess years were during the Depression of the 30s and WWII during the 40s cutting him off from playing in Europe during this time. He did have an excellent result in the Zurich 1953 Candidates Tournament where he finished tied for second with Bronstein and Keres finishing 2 points behind Vassily Smyslov with a +4 score.

Yes. That’s true and a very good point!!

An excellent tournament for him.😊😊

Here are some of his finest games

NOTABLE GAMES:
Reshevsky vs Petrosian, 1953 1/2-1/2
Botvinnik vs Reshevsky, 1948 0-1
Evans vs Reshevsky, 1963 1/2-1/2
Reshevsky vs A Vasconcellos, 1944 1-0
J Mieses vs Reshevsky, 1935 0-1
Lasker vs Reshevsky, 1936 0-1
Reshevsky vs Najdorf, 1957 1-0
Reshevsky vs Fischer, 1961 1/2-1/2
Reshevsky vs Capablanca, 1935 1-0
Reshevsky vs G N Treysman, 1938 1-0

fabelhaft 
”Botvinnik came in at 6 and Sammy could match it equally ( if not better) that him”

I’d say Botvinnik was better, just look at his results in the 1940s and all his title matches played when he was past his peak, in his 40s and 50s. At Chessmetrics he is the best player in the world for well over ten years. Reshevsky is ranked as #30 among the greatest players ever by the Chess24 GMs and that is not too bad though:

Yes. I have Botvinnik in my top 5 best players ever for exactly those reasons you mentioned. His dominance in his era speaks for itself.

All the more outstanding was Sammy’s effort to beat him on the number one board that tournament mentioned earlier.

Its all subjective and a mute point but the purpose of this forum is to let young up and coming chess players who have an interest in the history of chess, the dominance of the soviets across those era’s be made aware of Sammy Reshevsky’s contribution outside the soviet block during that time.

Yes. Reuben Fine was also an outstanding chess player

Reuben C. Fine[1] (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mid-1930s until his retirement from chess in 1951. He was granted the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, when titles were introduced.