Paul Keres
Encyclopedia
Paul Keres was an Estonia
n chess
grandmaster
, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s.
Keres narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship
match on five occasions. He won the 1938 AVRO tournament
, which led to negotiations for a World Championship match against champion Alexander Alekhine
, but the match never took place due to World War II. Then after the war he was runner-up in the Candidates' Tournament on four consecutive occasions.
Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres the strongest player never to become World Chess Champion. He was nicknamed "The Crown Prince
of Chess". Keres was the only player in chess history to defeat nine undisputed world champions.
, Estonia.
Keres first learned about chess from his father and older brother Harald
(later a prominent physicist
). With the scarcity of chess literature in his small town, he learned about chess notation
from the chess puzzle
s in the daily newspaper, and compiled a handwritten collection of almost 1000 games. In his early days, he was known for a brilliant and sharp attacking style.
Keres was a three-time Estonian schoolboy champion, in 1930, 1932, and 1933. His playing matured after playing correspondence chess
extensively while in high school. He probably played about 500 correspondence games, and at one stage had 150 correspondence games going simultaneously. In 1935, he won the International Fernschachbund (IFSB
) international correspondence chess championship. From 1937 to 1941 he studied Mathematics
at the University of Tartu
, and competed in several interuniversity matches.
1933 with 5/7 (+5 =0 -2), tied 3rd–4th, half a point behind joint winners Paul Felix Schmidt
and V. Kappe. Keres became champion of Estonia
for the first time in 1935. He tied for first (+5 =1 −2) with Gunnar Friedemann
in the tournament, then defeated him (+2 =0 −1) in the playoff match. In April 1935, Keres defeated Feliks Kibbermann
, one of Tartu
's leading masters, in a training match, by (+3 =0 −1).
Keres played on top board for Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad
at Warsaw 1935, and was regarded as the new star, admired for his dashing style. His success there gave him the confidence to venture onto the international circuit.
At Helsinki
1935, he placed 2nd behind Paulin Frydman
with 6.5/8 (+6 =1 −1). He won at Tallinn
1936 with 9/10 (+8 =2 −0). Keres' first major international success against top-level competition came at Bad Nauheim
1936, where he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine
at 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0). He struggled at Dresden 1936, placing only 8th–9th with (+2 =3 −4), but wrote that he learned an important lesson from this setback. Keres recovered at Zandvoort
1936 with a shared 3rd–4th place (+5 =3 -3). He then defended his Estonian title in 1936 by drawing a challenge match against Paul Felix Schmidt
with (+3 =1 −3).
Keres had a series of successes in 1937. He won in Tallinn with 7.5/9 (+6 =3 -0), then shared 1st–2nd at Margate with Reuben Fine
at 7.5/9 (+6 =3 −0), 1.5 points ahead of Alekhine. In Ostend
, he tied 1st–3rd places with Fine and Henry Grob at 6/9 (+5 =2 -2). Keres dominated in Prague
to claim first with 10/11 (+9 =2 -0). He then won a theme tournament in Vienna with 4.5/6 (+4 =1 −1); the tournament saw all games commence with the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 Ne4, known as the Dory Defence. He tied for 4th–5th places at Kemeri
with 11.5/17 (+8 =7 −2), as Salo Flohr
, Vladimirs Petrovs
and Samuel Reshevsky
won. Then he tied 2nd–4th in Pärnu
with 4.5/7 (+3 =3 −1).
This successful string earned him an invitation to the tournament at Semmering
–Baden
1937, which he won with 9/14 (+6 =6 −2), ahead of Fine, José Raúl Capablanca
, Reshevsky, and Erich Eliskases
. Keres, in his autobiographical games collection, refers to this major event as a 'Candidates' Tournament', and claimed that he was recognized as a Grandmaster after winning it, although its parallel connection with later FIDE-organized Candidates' tournaments (from 1950 onwards) is not exact, and the Grandmaster title was not formalized by FIDE until 1950.
Keres tied for second at Hastings
1937–38 with 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0) (half a point behind Reshevsky), and at Noordwijk
1938 (behind Eliskases) with 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0). Keres drew an exhibition match at Stockholm
1938 with Gideon Ståhlberg
on 4–4 (+2 =4 −2).
He continued to represent Estonia with success in Olympiad play. His detailed results for Estonia follow. Of note was the team bronze medal attained by Estonia in 1939; this was exceptional for a country with a population of less than two million people.
, held in various cities in the Netherlands, ahead of chess legends Mikhail Botvinnik
, Max Euwe
, Reshevsky, Alekhine, Capablanca and Flohr. AVRO was one of the strongest tournaments in history; some chess historians believe it the strongest ever staged. Keres won on tiebreak because he beat Fine 1½–½ in their individual two games.
It was expected that the winner of this tournament would be the challenger for the World Champion
title, in a match against World Champion Alexander Alekhine
, but the outbreak of the Second World War, especially because of the first occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940–1941, brought negotiations with Alekhine to an end. Keres had begun his university studies in 1937, and this also played a role in the failed match.
Keres struggled at Leningrad
-Moscow 1939 with a shared 12th–13th place; he wrote that he had not had enough time to prepare for this very strong event, where he faced many Soviet stars for the first time. But he recovered with more preparation time, and won Margate 1939 with 7.5/9 (+6 =3 -0), ahead of Capablanca and Flohr.
at the Olympiad. He stayed on to play in a Buenos Aires International tournament after the Olympiad, and tied for first place with Miguel Najdorf
with 8.5/11 (+7 =3 -1).
His next event was a 14-game match with former World Champion Max Euwe
in the Netherlands, held from December 1939 –- January 1940. Keres managed to win a hard-fought struggle by 7.5–6.5 (+6 =3 -5). This was a superb achievement, because not only was Euwe a former World Champion, but he had enormous experience at match play, far more than Keres.
With the Nazi-Soviet Pact having been concluded on August 23, 1939, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union on August 6, 1940. Keres played in his first Soviet Championship at Moscow 1940 (URS-ch12), placing fourth (+9 =6 -4) in an exceptionally strong field. This was ahead of the defending champion Mikhail Botvinnik
, however. The Soviet Chess Federation organized the "Absolute Championship of the USSR" in 1941, with the top six finishers from the 1940 championship meeting each other four times; it was split between Leningrad
and Moscow. Botvinnik won this super-strong tournament, one of the strongest ever organized, with 13.5/20, and Keres placed second with 11/20, ahead of Vasily Smyslov
, Isaac Boleslavsky
, Andor Lilienthal
, and Igor Bondarevsky
.
With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Estonia came under German control soon afterwards. During 1942 and 1943, Keres and Alekhine both played in four tournaments organized by Ehrhardt Post
, a President of Nazi Grossdeutscher Schachbund. Alekhine won at the Salzburg 1942 chess tournament
(Six Grandmasters' Tournament) in June 1942, at Munich
(European Individual Chess Championship) in September 1942, and at Prague
(International Tournament) in April 1943, always ahead of Keres, who placed second in all three of those tournaments. They tied for first at Salzburg
(Six Grandmasters' Tournament) in June 1943, with 7.5/10.
During World War II, Keres played in several more chess tournaments. He won all 15 games at Tallinn
1942 (EST-ch), and swept all five games at Posen
1943. He also won at Tallinn 1943 (EST-ch), and Madrid
1944 (13/14, +12 =2 -0). He was second, behind Stig Lundholm
, at Lidköping
1944 (playing hors concours in the Swedish Championship
). Keres won a match with Folke Ekström
at Stockholm
in 1944 by 5–1 (+4 =2 -0).
); however, he may have been held in detention. But his return to the international chess scene was delayed, in spite of his excellent form; he won at Riga 1944/45 (Baltic Championship
) (10.5/11). Presumably for political reasons, he was excluded from the ten-player Soviet team for the 1945 radio match against the U.S.A.
, and he did not participate in the first great post-war tournament at the 1946 Groningen tournament
which was won by Botvinnik, just ahead of Euwe and Vasily Smyslov
.
He won the Estonian Championship at Tallinn 1945 with 13/15 (+11 =4 -0), ahead of several strong visiting Soviets, including Alexander Kotov
, Alexander Tolush
, Lilienthal, and Flohr. He then won at Tbilisi
1946 (hors concours in the Georgian
Championship) with a near-perfect score of 18/19, ahead of Vladas Mikėnas
and a 16-year-old Tigran Petrosian
.
Keres returned to international play in 1946 in the Soviet radio match against Great Britain, and continued his excellent playing form that year and the next year. Even after he resumed a relatively normal life and chess career, however, his play at the highest level appears to have been affected by living under the enemy occupation of the Soviet Union, which at a minimum must have aggravated the stress of playing under the watchful eye and tight control of the Soviet chess hierarchy.
, arranged to determine the world champion after Alekhine's death in 1946, his performance was far from his best. Held jointly in The Hague
and Moscow, the tournament was limited to five participants: Mikhail Botvinnik
, Vasily Smyslov
, Keres, Samuel Reshevsky
, and Max Euwe
. (Reuben Fine
had also been invited but declined.) The event was played as a quintuple round robin. Keres finished joint third, with 10.5 out of 20 points. In his individual match with the winner, Botvinnik, he lost four of five games, winning only in the last round when the tournament's result was already determined.
Since Keres lost his first four games against Botvinnik in the 1948 tournament, suspicions are sometimes raised that Keres was forced to "throw" games to allow Botvinnik to win the championship. Chess historian Taylor Kingston investigated all the available evidence and arguments, and concluded that: Soviet chess officials gave Keres strong hints that he should not hinder Botvinnik's attempt to win the World Championship; Botvinnik only discovered this about half-way though the tournament and protested so strongly that he angered Soviet officials; Keres probably did not deliberately lose games to Botvinnik or anyone else in the tournament.
Keres finished second or equal second in four straight Candidates' tournaments (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962), making him the player with the most runner-up finishes in that event. (He was therefore occasionally nicknamed "Paul II".) Keres participated in a total of six Candidates' Tournaments:
Keres' run of four successive second places in Candidates' tournaments (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962) has prompted suspicions that he was under orders not to win these events. Taylor Kingston concludes that: there was probably no pressure from Soviet officials, since from 1954 onwards, Keres was rehabilitated and Botvinnik was no longer in favor with officials. At Curaçao in 1962 there was an unofficial conspiracy by Petrosian, Geller and Keres, and this worked out to Keres' disadvantage, since he may have been slightly stronger than both Petrosian and Geller at this stage.
Bronstein, in his final book, published just after his death in late 2006, wrote that the Soviet chess leadership favoured Smyslov to win Zurich 1953, and pressured several of the other top Soviets to arrange this outcome, which did in fact occur. Bronstein wrote that Keres was ordered to draw his second cycle game with Smyslov, to conserve Smyslov's fading physical strength; Keres, who still had his own hopes of winning the event, tried as White to win an attacking game, but instead lost because of Smyslov's excellent play.
three times. In 1947, he won at Leningrad
, URS-ch15, with 14/19 (+10 =8 -1); the field included every top Soviet player except Botvinnik. In 1950, he won at Moscow, URS-ch18, with 11.5/17 (+8 =7 -2) against a field which was only slightly weaker than in 1947. Then in 1951, he triumphed again at Moscow, URS-ch19, with 12/17 (+9 =6 -2), against a super-class field which included Efim Geller
, Petrosian, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Yuri Averbakh
, David Bronstein
, Mark Taimanov
, Lev Aronin
, Salo Flohr
, Igor Bondarevsky
, and Alexander Kotov
.
Keres won Pärnu
1947 with 9.5/13 (+7 =5 -1), Szczawno-Zdrój
1950 with 14.5/19 (+11 =7 -1), and Budapest
1952 with 12.5/17 (+10 =5 -2), the latter ahead of world champion Botvinnik and an all-star field which included Geller, Smyslov, Gideon Stahlberg
, Laszlo Szabo
, and Petrosian. The Budapest victory, which capped a stretch of four first-class wins over a two-year span, may represent the peak of his career. The Hungarian master and writer Egon Varnusz
, in his books on Keres, states that at this time, "The best player in the world was Paul Keres".
event), and in 161 games, Keres accumulated a brilliant total of (+97 =51 -13), for 76.7%. His detailed Soviet Olympiad results are:
Keres also appeared three times for the Soviet Union in the European Team Championships, winning team and individual gold medals on all three occasions. He scored 14/18 (+10 =8 -0), for 77.8%. His detailed Euroteams results are:
Keres also represented the USSR in many international team matches, in Europe and the Americas, with great success. He represented Estonia on top board with distinction in Soviet team championships, contested between regions.
1947 tournament, Keres made some significant contributions as a chess organizer in Estonia
; this is an often overlooked aspect of his career.
Keres continued to play exceptionally well on the international circuit. He tied 1st–2nd at Hastings
1954–55 with Smyslov on 7/9 (+6 =2 -1). He dominated an internal Soviet training tournament at Pärnu
1955 with 9.5/10. Keres placed 2nd at the 1955 Göteborg Interzonal
, behind David Bronstein
, with 13.5/20. Keres defeated Wolfgang Unzicker
in a 1956 exhibition match at Hamburg
by 6–2 (+4 =4 -0). He tied 2nd–3rd in the USSR Championship, Moscow 1957 (URS-ch24) with 13.5/21 (+8 =11 -2), along with Bronstein, behind Mikhail Tal
. Keres won Mar del Plata 1957 (15/17, ahead of Miguel Najdorf
), and Santiago
1957 with 6/7, ahead of Alexander Kotov
. He won Hastings
1957–58 (7.5/9, ahead of Svetozar Gligorić
). He was tied 3rd–4th at Zürich
1959, at 10.5/15, along with Bobby Fischer
, behind Tal and Gligoric. He placed tied 7th–8th in the USSR Championship, Tbilisi
1959 (URS-ch26) with 10.5/19, as Petrosian won. Keres was third at Stockholm
1959–60 with 7/9. He won at Pärnu
1960 with 12/15. He was the champion at Zürich
1961 (9/11, ahead of Petrosian). At the elite Bled
1961 event, Keres shared 3rd–5th places, on 12.5/19 (+7 =11 -1), behind only Mikhail Tal
and Bobby Fischer
. In the USSR Championship, Baku
1961 (URS-ch29), Keres scored 11/20 for a shared 8–11th place, as Boris Spassky
won. Keres shared first with World Champion Tigran Petrosian
at the very strong 1963 Piatigorsky Cup
in Los Angeles with 8.5/14.
Further tournament championships followed. He won Beverwijk
1964, with 11.5/15, tied with Iivo Nei
. He shared first place with World Champion Tigran Petrosian
at Buenos Aires
1964, with 12.5/17.
He won at Hastings
1964–65 with 8/9. He shared 1st–2nd places at Marianske Lazne
1965 on 11/15 with Vlastimil Hort
. In the USSR Championship at Tallinn
1965 (URS-ch33), he scored 11/19 for 6th place, as Leonid Stein
won. He won at Stockholm
1966–67 with 7/9. At Winnipeg
1967, he shared 3rd–4th places on 5.5/9 as Bent Larsen
and Klaus Darga
won.
At Bamberg
1968, he won with 12/15, two points ahead of World Champion Tigran Petrosian
. He was 2nd at Luhacovice
1969 with 10.5/15, behind Viktor Korchnoi
. At Tallinn
1969, he shared 2nd–3rd places on 9/13 as Stein won. At Wijk aan Zee
1969, he shared 3rd–4th places on 10.5/15, as Geller and Botvinnik won. He won Budapest
1970 with 10/15, ahead of Laszlo Szabo
. Also in 1970, Keres's 3:1 win over Ivkov
on the tenth board gave victory to the Soviet team in the match vs Rest of the World. He shared 1st–2nd at Tallinn
1971 with Mikhail Tal
on 11.5/15. He shared 2nd–3rd at Pärnu
1971, on 9.5/13, as Stein won. He shared 2nd–4th at Amsterdam
1971 with 9/13, as Smyslov won. He shared 3rd–5th places at Sarajevo
1972 on 9.5/15, as Szabo won. He placed 5th at San Antonio 1972 on 9.5/15, as Petrosian, Lajos Portisch
, and Anatoly Karpov
won.
At Tallinn
1973, he shared 3rd–6th places on 9/15, as Mikhail Tal
won. His last Interzonal was Petropolis
1973, where he scored 8/17 for a shared 12th–13th place, as Henrique Mecking
won. That same year, he made his last Soviet Championship appearance,
at Moscow for URS-ch41, scoring 8/17 for a shared 9th–12th place, as Boris Spassky
won.
1975, just a few months before his death.
He died of a heart attack
in Helsinki
, Finland, at the age of 59 (it is commonly reported that he died on the same date in Vancouver
, Canada). His death occurred while returning to his native Estonia from a tournament in Vancouver, which he had won. The Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
s have been held annually mainly in Vancouver and Tallinn ever since.
Over 100,000 were in attendance at his state funeral in Tallinn, Estonia, where the leaders of Estonia were on guard of honour, and FIDE President Max Euwe
, his old friend and rival, was also present.
system places Keres in the top 10 players in the world between approximately 1936 and 1965, and overall he had one of the highest winning percentages of all grandmasters in history. He has the seventh highest Chessmetrics
20-year average, from 1944 to 1963.
He was one of the very few players who had a plus record against Capablanca. He also had plus records against World Champions Euwe and Tal, and equal records against Smyslov, Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov
. In his long career, he played no fewer than ten world champions. He beat every world champion from Capablanca through Bobby Fischer
(his two games with Karpov were drawn), making him the only player ever to beat nine undisputed world champions. Other notable grandmasters against whom he had plus records include Fine, Flohr, Viktor Korchnoi
, Efim Geller
, Savielly Tartakower, Mark Taimanov
, Milan Vidmar
, Svetozar Gligorić
, Isaac Boleslavsky
, Efim Bogoljubov and Bent Larsen
.
He wrote a number of chess books, including a well-regarded, deeply annotated collection of his best games, Grandmaster of Chess ISBN 0-668-02645-6, The Art of the Middle Game (with Alexander Kotov
) ISBN 0-486-26154-9, and Practical Chess Endings ISBN 0-7134-4210-7. All three books are still considered among the best of their kind for aspiring masters and experts. He also wrote several tournament books, including an important account of the 1948 World Championship Match Tournament. He authored several openings treatises, often originally in the German language, as listed by the Hungarian writer Egon Varnusz
: Spanisch bis Franzosisch, Dreispringer bis Konigsgambit, and Vierspringer bis Spanisch. He contributed to the first volume, 'C', of the first edition of the Yugoslav-published Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
(ECO), which appeared in 1974, just before his death the next year. Keres also co-founded the Riga
magazine Shakhmaty.
Keres made many important contributions to opening theory. Perhaps best-known is the Keres Attack against the Scheveningen Variation
of the Sicilian Defence
(1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4), which was successfully introduced against Efim Bogolyubov at Salzburg 1943, and today remains a topical and important line. An original system on the Black side of the Closed Ruy Lopez
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7) was introduced by Keres at the 1962 Candidates' tournament, and it had a run of popularity for several years. He also popularized the Keres Defence (1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+). Another important system on the Black side of the English Opening
was worked out by him; it runs 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 c6.
The Hungarian writer Egon Varnusz
wrote that Keres "published 180 problems and 30 studies. One of his rook endings won first prize in 1947."
Keres won top-class tournaments from the mid-1930s into the mid-1970s, a span of 40 years, and won major events in western Europe
, eastern Europe
, the Soviet Union, South America, and North America. Botvinnik, by contrast, never competed in the Americas during his career.
His rival Samuel Reshevsky
, while paying tribute to Keres' talent, tried to pinpoint why Keres never became world champion, and also complimented his friendly personality. "Well, I believe that Keres failed in this respect because he lacked the killer instinct. He was too mild a person to give his all in order to defeat his opponents. He took everything, including his chess, philosophically. Keres is one of the nicest people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. With his friendly and sincere smile, he makes friends easily. He is goodnatured and kind. Yes, he loves chess, but being a human being is his first consideration. In addition to chess, Keres was interested in tennis
, Ping-Pong, swimming, and bridge."
(5 krooni) Estonian banknote bears his portrait. He is the only chess player whose portrait is on a banknote.
A statue honouring him can be found on Tõnismägi
in Tallinn
.
An annual international chess tournament has been held in Tallinn every other year since 1969. Keres won this tournament in 1971 and 1975. Starting in 1976 after Keres' death, it has been called the Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
. There are also the annual Keres Memorial tournament held in
Vancouver
and a number of chess clubs and festivals named after him.
In 2000, Keres was elected the Estonian Sportsman of the Century.
There is also a street in Nõmme
, a district of Tallinn
, which was named after Keres.
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s.
Keres narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
match on five occasions. He won the 1938 AVRO tournament
AVRO tournament
The AVRO tournament was a chess tournament held in the Netherlands in 1938, sponsored by the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO. The event was a double round-robin tournament...
, which led to negotiations for a World Championship match against champion Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, but the match never took place due to World War II. Then after the war he was runner-up in the Candidates' Tournament on four consecutive occasions.
Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres the strongest player never to become World Chess Champion. He was nicknamed "The Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
of Chess". Keres was the only player in chess history to defeat nine undisputed world champions.
Early life
Paul Keres was born in NarvaNarva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
, Estonia.
Keres first learned about chess from his father and older brother Harald
Harald Keres
Harald Keres was an Estonian physicist, considered to be the father of the Estonian school of relativistic gravitation theory. In 1961 Keres became a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in the field of theoretical physics...
(later a prominent physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
). With the scarcity of chess literature in his small town, he learned about chess notation
Chess notation
Chess notation is the term for several systems that have developed to record either the moves made during a game of chess or the position of the pieces on a chess board. The earliest systems of notation used lengthy narratives to describe each move; these gradually evolved into terser systems of...
from the chess puzzle
Chess puzzle
A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to solve logically a chess-related problem. The longstanding popularity of chess has paved the way for a rich tradition of such chess-related puzzles and composed problems, which assume a familiarity with the...
s in the daily newspaper, and compiled a handwritten collection of almost 1000 games. In his early days, he was known for a brilliant and sharp attacking style.
Keres was a three-time Estonian schoolboy champion, in 1930, 1932, and 1933. His playing matured after playing correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
extensively while in high school. He probably played about 500 correspondence games, and at one stage had 150 correspondence games going simultaneously. In 1935, he won the International Fernschachbund (IFSB
IFSB
The Internationaler Fernschachbund was an international correspondence chess organisation, founded in 1928. It was superseded in 1945 by the International Correspondence Chess Association, and by the International Correspondence Chess Federation in 1951.-Creation:In August 1928 the Internationaler...
) international correspondence chess championship. From 1937 to 1941 he studied Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
at the University of Tartu
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...
, and competed in several interuniversity matches.
Pre-war years
Keres achieved a very good result at age 17 in a Master tournament at TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1933 with 5/7 (+5 =0 -2), tied 3rd–4th, half a point behind joint winners Paul Felix Schmidt
Paul Felix Schmidt
Paul Felix Schmidt was an Estonian chess International Master, chess writer, and chemist.- Biography :In June 1935, he won, ahead of Paul Keres, at Tallinn. In May 1936, he drew a match against Keres at Pärnu. In 1936, he won the 8th Estonian Championship at Tallinn. In December 1936, he placed...
and V. Kappe. Keres became champion of Estonia
Estonian Chess Championship
The first unofficial Estonian Chess Championship was held in 1903, organized by a chess club formed in Reval in 1903 and named for the famous Russian master Mikhail Chigorin. After the World War I, when Estonia became an independent country, official Estonian championships started...
for the first time in 1935. He tied for first (+5 =1 −2) with Gunnar Friedemann
Gunnar Friedemann
-Biography:Friedemann played several times in Estonian championships at Tallinn. In 1932, he tied for 3rd-4th with Johannes Türn . In 1933, he won the 5th EST–ch. In 1934, he took 3rd, behind Ilmar Raud and Paul Felix Schmidt, at the 6th EST–ch. In 1935, he took 2nd, behind Paul Keres, at the 7th...
in the tournament, then defeated him (+2 =0 −1) in the playoff match. In April 1935, Keres defeated Feliks Kibbermann
Feliks Kibbermann
Feliks Kibbermann was an Estonian chess master.Before the World War II, he tied for 3rd-5th with Ilmar Raud and Viktor Uulberg in the 5th Estonian Championship at Tallinn 1933 , and lost a match to Paul Keres at Tallinn 1935 . Kibbermann represented Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad at Warsaw 1935...
, one of Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
's leading masters, in a training match, by (+3 =0 −1).
Keres played on top board for Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
at Warsaw 1935, and was regarded as the new star, admired for his dashing style. His success there gave him the confidence to venture onto the international circuit.
At Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
1935, he placed 2nd behind Paulin Frydman
Paulino Frydman
Paulino Frydman was a Polish chess master.-Biography:...
with 6.5/8 (+6 =1 −1). He won at Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1936 with 9/10 (+8 =2 −0). Keres' first major international success against top-level competition came at Bad Nauheim
Bad Nauheim
Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. , Bad Nauheim has a population of 30,365. The town is located approximately 35 kilometers north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a world-famous resort, noted for its salt...
1936, where he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
at 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0). He struggled at Dresden 1936, placing only 8th–9th with (+2 =3 −4), but wrote that he learned an important lesson from this setback. Keres recovered at Zandvoort
Zandvoort
Zandvoort is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.Zandvoort is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach, bordered by coastal dunes...
1936 with a shared 3rd–4th place (+5 =3 -3). He then defended his Estonian title in 1936 by drawing a challenge match against Paul Felix Schmidt
Paul Felix Schmidt
Paul Felix Schmidt was an Estonian chess International Master, chess writer, and chemist.- Biography :In June 1935, he won, ahead of Paul Keres, at Tallinn. In May 1936, he drew a match against Keres at Pärnu. In 1936, he won the 8th Estonian Championship at Tallinn. In December 1936, he placed...
with (+3 =1 −3).
Keres had a series of successes in 1937. He won in Tallinn with 7.5/9 (+6 =3 -0), then shared 1st–2nd at Margate with Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
at 7.5/9 (+6 =3 −0), 1.5 points ahead of Alekhine. In Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
, he tied 1st–3rd places with Fine and Henry Grob at 6/9 (+5 =2 -2). Keres dominated in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
to claim first with 10/11 (+9 =2 -0). He then won a theme tournament in Vienna with 4.5/6 (+4 =1 −1); the tournament saw all games commence with the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 Ne4, known as the Dory Defence. He tied for 4th–5th places at Kemeri
Ķemeri
Ķemeri resort is a part of Jūrmala in Latvia, 44 km from Riga. From 1928 to 1959, Ķemeri was a separate town, famous for the healing mud baths and luxurious hotel. Now about 2 200 inhabitants live there, while the main hotel is under reconstruction....
with 11.5/17 (+8 =7 −2), as Salo Flohr
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne...
, Vladimirs Petrovs
Vladimirs Petrovs
Vladimirs Petrovs or Vladimir Petrov was a Latvian chess master.He was born in Riga, Latvia. Though he learned the game of chess relatively late, at age thirteen, Petrovs made rapid progress. By 1926, at age 19, he won the Riga Championship and finish third in the national championship...
and Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
won. Then he tied 2nd–4th in Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
with 4.5/7 (+3 =3 −1).
This successful string earned him an invitation to the tournament at Semmering
Semmering
For the town of the same name, see Semmering, Austria.Semmering is a mountain pass in the Eastern Northern Limestone Alps connecting Lower Austria and Styria, between which it forms a natural border.-Location:...
–Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
1937, which he won with 9/14 (+6 =6 −2), ahead of Fine, José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
, Reshevsky, and Erich Eliskases
Erich Eliskases
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases was a chess Grandmaster of the 1930s and 1940s, who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition....
. Keres, in his autobiographical games collection, refers to this major event as a 'Candidates' Tournament', and claimed that he was recognized as a Grandmaster after winning it, although its parallel connection with later FIDE-organized Candidates' tournaments (from 1950 onwards) is not exact, and the Grandmaster title was not formalized by FIDE until 1950.
Keres tied for second at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1937–38 with 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0) (half a point behind Reshevsky), and at Noordwijk
Noordwijk
Noordwijk is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 51.53 km² and had a population of 24,707 in May 2006....
1938 (behind Eliskases) with 6.5/9 (+4 =5 −0). Keres drew an exhibition match at Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
1938 with Gideon Ståhlberg
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939....
on 4–4 (+2 =4 −2).
He continued to represent Estonia with success in Olympiad play. His detailed results for Estonia follow. Of note was the team bronze medal attained by Estonia in 1939; this was exceptional for a country with a population of less than two million people.
- Warsaw 19356th Chess OlympiadThe 6th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 16 and August 31, 1935, in Warsaw, Poland...
, Estonia board 1, 12.5/19 (+11 =3 -5); - Munich 19363rd unofficial Chess OlympiadThe 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events....
(unofficial Olympiad), Estonia board 1, 15.5/20 (+12 =7 -1), board gold medal; - Stockholm 19377th Chess OlympiadThe 7th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 31 and August 14, 1937, in Stockholm, Sweden]....
, Estonia board 1, 11/15 (+9 =4 -2), board silver medal; - Buenos Aires 19398th Chess OlympiadThe 8th Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs , comprised an 'open' tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest...
, Estonia board 1, 14.5/19 (+12 =5 -2), team bronze medal.
World Championship match denied
In 1938 he tied with Fine for first, with 8.5/14, in the all-star AVRO tournamentAVRO tournament
The AVRO tournament was a chess tournament held in the Netherlands in 1938, sponsored by the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO. The event was a double round-robin tournament...
, held in various cities in the Netherlands, ahead of chess legends Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
, Reshevsky, Alekhine, Capablanca and Flohr. AVRO was one of the strongest tournaments in history; some chess historians believe it the strongest ever staged. Keres won on tiebreak because he beat Fine 1½–½ in their individual two games.
It was expected that the winner of this tournament would be the challenger for the World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
title, in a match against World Champion Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
, but the outbreak of the Second World War, especially because of the first occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940–1941, brought negotiations with Alekhine to an end. Keres had begun his university studies in 1937, and this also played a role in the failed match.
Keres struggled at Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
-Moscow 1939 with a shared 12th–13th place; he wrote that he had not had enough time to prepare for this very strong event, where he faced many Soviet stars for the first time. But he recovered with more preparation time, and won Margate 1939 with 7.5/9 (+6 =3 -0), ahead of Capablanca and Flohr.
World War II
At the outbreak of World War II, Keres was in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
at the Olympiad. He stayed on to play in a Buenos Aires International tournament after the Olympiad, and tied for first place with Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....
with 8.5/11 (+7 =3 -1).
His next event was a 14-game match with former World Champion Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
in the Netherlands, held from December 1939 –- January 1940. Keres managed to win a hard-fought struggle by 7.5–6.5 (+6 =3 -5). This was a superb achievement, because not only was Euwe a former World Champion, but he had enormous experience at match play, far more than Keres.
With the Nazi-Soviet Pact having been concluded on August 23, 1939, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union on August 6, 1940. Keres played in his first Soviet Championship at Moscow 1940 (URS-ch12), placing fourth (+9 =6 -4) in an exceptionally strong field. This was ahead of the defending champion Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, however. The Soviet Chess Federation organized the "Absolute Championship of the USSR" in 1941, with the top six finishers from the 1940 championship meeting each other four times; it was split between Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and Moscow. Botvinnik won this super-strong tournament, one of the strongest ever organized, with 13.5/20, and Keres placed second with 11/20, ahead of Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
, Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
, Andor Lilienthal
Andor Lilienthal
Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...
, and Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...
.
With the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Estonia came under German control soon afterwards. During 1942 and 1943, Keres and Alekhine both played in four tournaments organized by Ehrhardt Post
Ehrhardt Post
Alfred M. Ehrhardt Post was a German chess master and functionary.-Biography:At the beginning of his career, he won and tied for 3-6th at Hanover 1902 . He tied for 7-8th at Coburg 1904 and 12-13th at Barmen 1905...
, a President of Nazi Grossdeutscher Schachbund. Alekhine won at the Salzburg 1942 chess tournament
Salzburg 1942 chess tournament
The main organiser of Salzburg 1942, Ehrhardt Post, the Chief Executive of Nazi Grossdeutscher Schachbund, intended to bring together the six strongest players of Germany, the occupied and neutral European countries; world champion Alexander Alekhine, former champion Max Euwe, challenger Paul...
(Six Grandmasters' Tournament) in June 1942, at Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
(European Individual Chess Championship) in September 1942, and at Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(International Tournament) in April 1943, always ahead of Keres, who placed second in all three of those tournaments. They tied for first at Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
(Six Grandmasters' Tournament) in June 1943, with 7.5/10.
During World War II, Keres played in several more chess tournaments. He won all 15 games at Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1942 (EST-ch), and swept all five games at Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
1943. He also won at Tallinn 1943 (EST-ch), and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
1944 (13/14, +12 =2 -0). He was second, behind Stig Lundholm
Stig Lundholm
Stig Lundholm was a Swedish chess master.He won at Stockholm 1942, tied with Folke Ekström, ahead of both Gösta Stoltz and Erik Lundin, took second place behind Ekström at Stockholm 1943/44, and won at Lidköping 1944 ahead of Paul Keres...
, at Lidköping
Lidköping
Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near...
1944 (playing hors concours in the Swedish Championship
Swedish Chess Championship
The first Swedish Champion was Gustaf Nyholm who won two matches against winners of national tournaments: Berndtsson in Göteborg and Löwenborg in Stockholm in 1917. Until 1931 Swedish Chess Championships decided by match play. In the 1930s, Gideon Ståhlberg held the title in spite of results of the...
). Keres won a match with Folke Ekström
Folke Ekström
Folke Ekström was a Swedish International Master of chess and of Correspondence chess .- Biography :...
at Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1944 by 5–1 (+4 =2 -0).
Dangerous circumstances
The close of World War II placed Keres in dangerous circumstances. During the war, his native Estonia was successively occupied by the Soviet Union, Germany and again the Soviet Union. Estonia had been under Russian control when Keres was born in 1916, but it was an independent nation between the two World Wars. Keres participated in several tournaments in European regions under German occupation, and when the Soviets occupied Estonia in 1944, he attempted to escape. As a consequence he was harassed by the Soviet authorities and feared for his life. Fortunately, Keres managed to avoid deportation or any worse fate (e.g., that of Vladimirs PetrovsVladimirs Petrovs
Vladimirs Petrovs or Vladimir Petrov was a Latvian chess master.He was born in Riga, Latvia. Though he learned the game of chess relatively late, at age thirteen, Petrovs made rapid progress. By 1926, at age 19, he won the Riga Championship and finish third in the national championship...
); however, he may have been held in detention. But his return to the international chess scene was delayed, in spite of his excellent form; he won at Riga 1944/45 (Baltic Championship
Baltic Chess Championship
The first Baltic Chess Congress took place in Riga, Latvia , in 1899. The winner was Robert Behting, the elder brother of Karl Behting, who won a play-off game with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz. The second Baltic Chess Congress was played in Dorpat, Estonia , in 1901...
) (10.5/11). Presumably for political reasons, he was excluded from the ten-player Soviet team for the 1945 radio match against the U.S.A.
USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945
The USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945 was a chess match between the USA and the USSR that was conducted over the radio from September 1 to September 4, 1945. The ten leading masters of the United States played the ten leading masters of the Soviet Union for chess supremacy. The match was played...
, and he did not participate in the first great post-war tournament at the 1946 Groningen tournament
Groningen 1946 chess tournament
Groningen 1946 was the first major international chess tournament to be held after World War II.Held at Groningen in August and September 1946, it was considered a miracle that the Netherlands could stage such an event just fifteen months after the end of the war.Mikhail Botvinnik won the...
which was won by Botvinnik, just ahead of Euwe and Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
.
He won the Estonian Championship at Tallinn 1945 with 13/15 (+11 =4 -0), ahead of several strong visiting Soviets, including Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
, Alexander Tolush
Alexander Tolush
Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush was a Soviet Russian chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg...
, Lilienthal, and Flohr. He then won at Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1946 (hors concours in the Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
Championship) with a near-perfect score of 18/19, ahead of Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikenas
Vladas Mikėnas was a Lithuanian International Master of chess, an Honorary Grandmaster, and a journalist.- Early life :Vladas Mikėnas played for Lithuania at first board in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads....
and a 16-year-old Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
.
Keres returned to international play in 1946 in the Soviet radio match against Great Britain, and continued his excellent playing form that year and the next year. Even after he resumed a relatively normal life and chess career, however, his play at the highest level appears to have been affected by living under the enemy occupation of the Soviet Union, which at a minimum must have aggravated the stress of playing under the watchful eye and tight control of the Soviet chess hierarchy.
World Championship Candidate (1948–65)
Although he participated in the 1948 World Championship tournamentWorld Chess Championship 1948
The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had...
, arranged to determine the world champion after Alekhine's death in 1946, his performance was far from his best. Held jointly in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and Moscow, the tournament was limited to five participants: Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
, Keres, Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
, and Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
. (Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
had also been invited but declined.) The event was played as a quintuple round robin. Keres finished joint third, with 10.5 out of 20 points. In his individual match with the winner, Botvinnik, he lost four of five games, winning only in the last round when the tournament's result was already determined.
Since Keres lost his first four games against Botvinnik in the 1948 tournament, suspicions are sometimes raised that Keres was forced to "throw" games to allow Botvinnik to win the championship. Chess historian Taylor Kingston investigated all the available evidence and arguments, and concluded that: Soviet chess officials gave Keres strong hints that he should not hinder Botvinnik's attempt to win the World Championship; Botvinnik only discovered this about half-way though the tournament and protested so strongly that he angered Soviet officials; Keres probably did not deliberately lose games to Botvinnik or anyone else in the tournament.
Keres finished second or equal second in four straight Candidates' tournaments (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962), making him the player with the most runner-up finishes in that event. (He was therefore occasionally nicknamed "Paul II".) Keres participated in a total of six Candidates' Tournaments:
- BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
1950, 4th, behind David BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
and Isaac BoleslavskyIsaac BoleslavskyIsaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
, with 9.5/18 (+3 =13 -2). - ZürichZürichZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1953, tied 2nd–4th, along with David BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
and Reshevsky, two points behind Smyslov, with 16/28 (+8 =16 -4). - AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
1956, 2nd, 1.5 points behind Smyslov, with 10/18 (+3 =14 -1). - YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
1959, 2nd, 1.5 points behind Mikhail TalMikhail TalMikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
, with 18.5/28 (+15 =7 -6). He had positive or equal scores against all the competitors, including 3–1 against Tal, but this was not enough, since Tal scored 14.5/16 against the bottom four finishers. - CuraçaoCuraçaoCuraçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
1962, tied 2nd–3rd, with Efim GellerEfim GellerEfim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
, half a point behind Tigran PetrosianTigran PetrosianTigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
, with 17/27 (+9 =16 -2). This event is discussed further at World Chess Championship 1963World Chess Championship 1963At the World Chess Championship 1963 Tigran Petrosian narrowly qualified to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the World Chess Championship, and then won the match to become the ninth World Chess Champion...
. Keres won a match at Moscow 1962 against Geller, for an exempt place in the 1965 Candidates, by 4.5 – 3.5 (+2 =5 -1). - RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
1965, lost his quarter-final match to eventual Candidates' winner Boris SpasskyBoris SpasskyBoris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
by 6 – 4 (+2 =4 -4). This was the only match loss of Keres' long career.
Keres' run of four successive second places in Candidates' tournaments (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962) has prompted suspicions that he was under orders not to win these events. Taylor Kingston concludes that: there was probably no pressure from Soviet officials, since from 1954 onwards, Keres was rehabilitated and Botvinnik was no longer in favor with officials. At Curaçao in 1962 there was an unofficial conspiracy by Petrosian, Geller and Keres, and this worked out to Keres' disadvantage, since he may have been slightly stronger than both Petrosian and Geller at this stage.
Bronstein, in his final book, published just after his death in late 2006, wrote that the Soviet chess leadership favoured Smyslov to win Zurich 1953, and pressured several of the other top Soviets to arrange this outcome, which did in fact occur. Bronstein wrote that Keres was ordered to draw his second cycle game with Smyslov, to conserve Smyslov's fading physical strength; Keres, who still had his own hopes of winning the event, tried as White to win an attacking game, but instead lost because of Smyslov's excellent play.
Three-time Soviet champion, career peak
In several other post-war events, however, Keres dominated the field. He won the exceptionally strong USSR Chess ChampionshipUSSR Chess Championship
This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners...
three times. In 1947, he won at Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, URS-ch15, with 14/19 (+10 =8 -1); the field included every top Soviet player except Botvinnik. In 1950, he won at Moscow, URS-ch18, with 11.5/17 (+8 =7 -2) against a field which was only slightly weaker than in 1947. Then in 1951, he triumphed again at Moscow, URS-ch19, with 12/17 (+9 =6 -2), against a super-class field which included Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
, Petrosian, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Soviet and Russian chess player and author. He is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.-Life and career:...
, David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
, Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
, Lev Aronin
Lev Aronin
Lev Aronin was a Soviet International Master of chess. He was a meteorologist by profession.- Early years :...
, Salo Flohr
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne...
, Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...
, and Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
.
Keres won Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1947 with 9.5/13 (+7 =5 -1), Szczawno-Zdrój
Szczawno-Zdrój
Szczawno-Zdrój is a spa town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany....
1950 with 14.5/19 (+11 =7 -1), and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
1952 with 12.5/17 (+10 =5 -2), the latter ahead of world champion Botvinnik and an all-star field which included Geller, Smyslov, Gideon Stahlberg
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939....
, Laszlo Szabo
László Szabó (chess player)
László Szabó was a prominent Hungarian Grandmaster of chess.Born in Budapest, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18...
, and Petrosian. The Budapest victory, which capped a stretch of four first-class wins over a two-year span, may represent the peak of his career. The Hungarian master and writer Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz was a Hungarian chess Master and writer.- Biography :Varnusz competed in five Hungarian Chess Championships: in 1958, 1961, 1963, 1965, and 1966. In 1966, he made his best career result with 10.5/18, for 6th place, as Gideon Barcza won...
, in his books on Keres, states that at this time, "The best player in the world was Paul Keres".
Unmatched International team successes
After being forced to become a Soviet citizen, Keres represented the Soviet Union in seven consecutive Olympiads, winning seven consecutive team gold medals, five board gold medals, and one bronze board medal. Of note was his appearance on board one for the USSR in 1952, when the Soviets entered the event for the first time; Keres was the only Soviet team member with Olympiad experience (from his previous appearances for Estonia), and world champion Mikhail Botvinnik was not on the Soviet team. His four straight board gold medals from 1954–1960 is an Olympiad record. Although not selected after 1964, Keres served successfully as a team trainer with Soviet international teams for the next decade. Altogether, in 11 Olympiads, playing for the USSR and Estonia(counting the unofficial Munich 19363rd unofficial Chess Olympiad
The 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events....
event), and in 161 games, Keres accumulated a brilliant total of (+97 =51 -13), for 76.7%. His detailed Soviet Olympiad results are:
- Helsinki 195210th Chess OlympiadThe 10th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.-References:* OlimpBase...
, USSR board 1, 6.5/12, team gold; - Amsterdam 195411th Chess OlympiadThe 11th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 4 and September 25, 1954, in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, USSR board 4, 13.5/14 (+13 =1 -0), team gold, board gold, best overall score; - Moscow 195612th Chess OlympiadThe 12th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 31 and September 25, 1956, in Moscow, Soviet Union.-References:...
, USSR board 3, 9.5/12 (+7 =5 -0), team gold, board gold; - Munich 195813th Chess OlympiadThe 13th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 30 and October 23, 1958, in Munich, West Germany.-References:...
, USSR board 3, 9.5/12 (+7 =5 -0), team gold, board gold; - Leipzig 196014th Chess OlympiadThe 14th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 26 and November 9, 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany.-References:...
, USSR board 3, 10.5/13 (+8 =5 -0), team gold, board gold;
- Varna 196215th Chess OlympiadThe 15th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 15 and October 10, 1962, in Varna, Bulgaria.-References:* OlimpBase...
, USSR board 4, 9.5/13 (+6 =7 -0), team gold, board bronze; - Tel Aviv 196416th Chess OlympiadThe 16th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between November 2 and November 25, 1964, in Tel Aviv, Israel.-References:* OlimpBase...
, USSR board 4, 10/12 (+9 =2 -1), team gold, board gold.
Keres also appeared three times for the Soviet Union in the European Team Championships, winning team and individual gold medals on all three occasions. He scored 14/18 (+10 =8 -0), for 77.8%. His detailed Euroteams results are:
- ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
1957, USSR board 2, 3/5 (+1 =4 -0), team gold, board gold; - OberhausenOberhausenOberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
1961, USSR board 3, 6/8 (+4 =4 -0), team gold, board gold; - KapfenbergKapfenbergKapfenberg is a city in Styria, Austria, near Bruck an der Mur. The town's landmark is Burg Oberkapfenberg. Main employer in the city of Kapfenberg was and still is the steel manufacturer Böhler....
1970, USSR board 8, 5/5 (+5 =0 -0), team gold, board gold.
Keres also represented the USSR in many international team matches, in Europe and the Americas, with great success. He represented Estonia on top board with distinction in Soviet team championships, contested between regions.
Later career
Beginning with the PärnuPärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1947 tournament, Keres made some significant contributions as a chess organizer in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
; this is an often overlooked aspect of his career.
Keres continued to play exceptionally well on the international circuit. He tied 1st–2nd at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1954–55 with Smyslov on 7/9 (+6 =2 -1). He dominated an internal Soviet training tournament at Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1955 with 9.5/10. Keres placed 2nd at the 1955 Göteborg Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
, behind David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
, with 13.5/20. Keres defeated Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead....
in a 1956 exhibition match at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
by 6–2 (+4 =4 -0). He tied 2nd–3rd in the USSR Championship, Moscow 1957 (URS-ch24) with 13.5/21 (+8 =11 -2), along with Bronstein, behind Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
. Keres won Mar del Plata 1957 (15/17, ahead of Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....
), and Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
1957 with 6/7, ahead of Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
. He won Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1957–58 (7.5/9, ahead of Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligoric
Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...
). He was tied 3rd–4th at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1959, at 10.5/15, along with Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
, behind Tal and Gligoric. He placed tied 7th–8th in the USSR Championship, Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1959 (URS-ch26) with 10.5/19, as Petrosian won. Keres was third at Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
1959–60 with 7/9. He won at Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1960 with 12/15. He was the champion at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1961 (9/11, ahead of Petrosian). At the elite Bled
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
1961 event, Keres shared 3rd–5th places, on 12.5/19 (+7 =11 -1), behind only Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
and Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
. In the USSR Championship, Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
1961 (URS-ch29), Keres scored 11/20 for a shared 8–11th place, as Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
won. Keres shared first with World Champion Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
at the very strong 1963 Piatigorsky Cup
Piatigorsky Cup
The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups were the strongest U.S. chess tournaments since New...
in Los Angeles with 8.5/14.
Further tournament championships followed. He won Beverwijk
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
1964, with 11.5/15, tied with Iivo Nei
Iivo Nei
Iivo Nei is an Estonian chess master.In 1947, at the beginning of his career, Nei took 3rd in Leningrad at the sixth USSR championships. The event was won by Viktor Korchnoi. In 1948, he tied for first with Korchnoi in Tallinn...
. He shared first place with World Champion Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
at Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
1964, with 12.5/17.
He won at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1964–65 with 8/9. He shared 1st–2nd places at Marianske Lazne
Mariánské Lázne
Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses...
1965 on 11/15 with Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,...
. In the USSR Championship at Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1965 (URS-ch33), he scored 11/19 for 6th place, as Leonid Stein
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :...
won. He won at Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
1966–67 with 7/9. At Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
1967, he shared 3rd–4th places on 5.5/9 as Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
and Klaus Darga
Klaus Darga
Klaus Viktor Darga is a German Grandmaster chess player.In 1951 Darga became German Junior Champion after winning the national under-20 championship. He also proved his strength as a young chessplayer by sharing first place in the World Junior Championship of 1953, with Oscar Panno of Argentina...
won.
At Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
1968, he won with 12/15, two points ahead of World Champion Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
. He was 2nd at Luhacovice
Luhacovice
Luhačovice is a spa town in the Zlín Region, Moravia, Czech Republic.It occupies a valley, whose elevation is a minimum of 250 m above sea level...
1969 with 10.5/15, behind Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
. At Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1969, he shared 2nd–3rd places on 9/13 as Stein won. At Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.Due...
1969, he shared 3rd–4th places on 10.5/15, as Geller and Botvinnik won. He won Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
1970 with 10/15, ahead of Laszlo Szabo
László Szabó (chess player)
László Szabó was a prominent Hungarian Grandmaster of chess.Born in Budapest, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18...
. Also in 1970, Keres's 3:1 win over Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 , 1963 and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979...
on the tenth board gave victory to the Soviet team in the match vs Rest of the World. He shared 1st–2nd at Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1971 with Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
on 11.5/15. He shared 2nd–3rd at Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1971, on 9.5/13, as Stein won. He shared 2nd–4th at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
1971 with 9/13, as Smyslov won. He shared 3rd–5th places at Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
1972 on 9.5/15, as Szabo won. He placed 5th at San Antonio 1972 on 9.5/15, as Petrosian, Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
, and Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
won.
At Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1973, he shared 3rd–6th places on 9/15, as Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
won. His last Interzonal was Petropolis
Petrópolis
Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro....
1973, where he scored 8/17 for a shared 12th–13th place, as Henrique Mecking
Henrique Mecking
Henrique Mecking was a leading Brazilian chess Grandmaster in the 1970s. He was a very strong player at an early age , drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1971...
won. That same year, he made his last Soviet Championship appearance,
at Moscow for URS-ch41, scoring 8/17 for a shared 9th–12th place, as Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
won.
Death
His health declined the next year, and he did not play any major events in 1974. Keres' last major tournament win was TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
1975, just a few months before his death.
He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland, at the age of 59 (it is commonly reported that he died on the same date in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada). His death occurred while returning to his native Estonia from a tournament in Vancouver, which he had won. The Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
The Paul Keres Memorial Tournament is a chess tournament played in honour of the chess legend Paul Keres .It is being played mainly in Vancouver, Canada and Tallinn, Estonia....
s have been held annually mainly in Vancouver and Tallinn ever since.
Over 100,000 were in attendance at his state funeral in Tallinn, Estonia, where the leaders of Estonia were on guard of honour, and FIDE President Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
, his old friend and rival, was also present.
Chess legacy and writings
The unofficial ChessmetricsChessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
system places Keres in the top 10 players in the world between approximately 1936 and 1965, and overall he had one of the highest winning percentages of all grandmasters in history. He has the seventh highest Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
20-year average, from 1944 to 1963.
He was one of the very few players who had a plus record against Capablanca. He also had plus records against World Champions Euwe and Tal, and equal records against Smyslov, Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
. In his long career, he played no fewer than ten world champions. He beat every world champion from Capablanca through Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
(his two games with Karpov were drawn), making him the only player ever to beat nine undisputed world champions. Other notable grandmasters against whom he had plus records include Fine, Flohr, Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
, Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
, Savielly Tartakower, Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
, Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar was a Slovene electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, philosopher, and writer. He was a specialist in power transformers and transmission of electric current.- Biography :...
, Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligoric
Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...
, Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
, Efim Bogoljubov and Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
.
He wrote a number of chess books, including a well-regarded, deeply annotated collection of his best games, Grandmaster of Chess ISBN 0-668-02645-6, The Art of the Middle Game (with Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
) ISBN 0-486-26154-9, and Practical Chess Endings ISBN 0-7134-4210-7. All three books are still considered among the best of their kind for aspiring masters and experts. He also wrote several tournament books, including an important account of the 1948 World Championship Match Tournament. He authored several openings treatises, often originally in the German language, as listed by the Hungarian writer Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz was a Hungarian chess Master and writer.- Biography :Varnusz competed in five Hungarian Chess Championships: in 1958, 1961, 1963, 1965, and 1966. In 1966, he made his best career result with 10.5/18, for 6th place, as Gideon Barcza won...
: Spanisch bis Franzosisch, Dreispringer bis Konigsgambit, and Vierspringer bis Spanisch. He contributed to the first volume, 'C', of the first edition of the Yugoslav-published Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
(ECO), which appeared in 1974, just before his death the next year. Keres also co-founded the Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
magazine Shakhmaty.
Keres made many important contributions to opening theory. Perhaps best-known is the Keres Attack against the Scheveningen Variation
Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
In the opening of a game of chess, the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious lines in the Open Sicilian...
of the Sicilian Defence
Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
(1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4), which was successfully introduced against Efim Bogolyubov at Salzburg 1943, and today remains a topical and important line. An original system on the Black side of the Closed Ruy Lopez
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7) was introduced by Keres at the 1962 Candidates' tournament, and it had a run of popularity for several years. He also popularized the Keres Defence (1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+). Another important system on the Black side of the English Opening
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
was worked out by him; it runs 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 c6.
The Hungarian writer Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz
Egon Varnusz was a Hungarian chess Master and writer.- Biography :Varnusz competed in five Hungarian Chess Championships: in 1958, 1961, 1963, 1965, and 1966. In 1966, he made his best career result with 10.5/18, for 6th place, as Gideon Barcza won...
wrote that Keres "published 180 problems and 30 studies. One of his rook endings won first prize in 1947."
Keres won top-class tournaments from the mid-1930s into the mid-1970s, a span of 40 years, and won major events in western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, the Soviet Union, South America, and North America. Botvinnik, by contrast, never competed in the Americas during his career.
His rival Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
, while paying tribute to Keres' talent, tried to pinpoint why Keres never became world champion, and also complimented his friendly personality. "Well, I believe that Keres failed in this respect because he lacked the killer instinct. He was too mild a person to give his all in order to defeat his opponents. He took everything, including his chess, philosophically. Keres is one of the nicest people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. With his friendly and sincere smile, he makes friends easily. He is goodnatured and kind. Yes, he loves chess, but being a human being is his first consideration. In addition to chess, Keres was interested in tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, Ping-Pong, swimming, and bridge."
Acknowledgements
The five kroonsEstonian kroon
In 1992, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 20 & 50 senti, as well as 1 kroon. The 1 kroon was struck in cupronickel, the others in aluminum-bronze. However, in 1997, nickel-plated steel 20 senti were introduced, followed by aluminum-bronze 1 kroon in 1998. 5 senti coins were not...
(5 krooni) Estonian banknote bears his portrait. He is the only chess player whose portrait is on a banknote.
A statue honouring him can be found on Tõnismägi
Tõnismägi
Tõnismägi is a 36 meter high hillock adjacent to Toompea hill in Tallinn, Estonia. From 1945 to 1996 the central portion of the hillock was called Liberators' Square...
in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
.
An annual international chess tournament has been held in Tallinn every other year since 1969. Keres won this tournament in 1971 and 1975. Starting in 1976 after Keres' death, it has been called the Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
Paul Keres Memorial Tournament
The Paul Keres Memorial Tournament is a chess tournament played in honour of the chess legend Paul Keres .It is being played mainly in Vancouver, Canada and Tallinn, Estonia....
. There are also the annual Keres Memorial tournament held in
Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and a number of chess clubs and festivals named after him.
In 2000, Keres was elected the Estonian Sportsman of the Century.
There is also a street in Nõmme
Nõmme
Nõmme is one of the 8 administrative districts of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 38,168 and covers an area of , population density is...
, a district of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, which was named after Keres.
Notable chess games
- Paul Keres vs Alexander Alekhine, Margate 1937, Ruy Lopez (C71), 1-0 Here Keres outplayed Alekhine already in the first 15 moves. The game is crowned by two small combinations.
- Paul Keres vs José Raúl Capablanca, AVRO Amsterdam 1938, French, Tarrasch, Open Variation, Main line (C09), 1-0 Almost unpredictable jumps of the White Knight slowly destroy Black's position. A beautiful tactical game.
- Max Euwe vs Paul Keres, Amsterdam 1940 (match), Queen's Indian, Old Main line (E19), 0-1 Black reveals a series of brilliant tactical surprise moves, concluding elegantly against the former world champion.
- Paul Keres vs Jaroslav Šajtar, Amsterdam 1954 (ol), Sicilian, Najdorf (B94), 1-0 A typical Sicilian sacrifice on e6 leads to swift resignation.
- Paul Keres vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Moscow 1956 (Alekhine Memorial), Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack (B63), 1-0 Keres had a minus score against Botvinnik, but here he defeats the world champion in convincing positional style.
- Paul Keres vs Edgar Walther, Tel Aviv 1964, King's Indian, Petrosian System (E93), 1-0 The game where Keres introduced a new plan against the King's Indian opening: Bg5, h4, Nh2 and a sacrifice on g4.
Quotes
- "At Amsterdam in 1954 he scored 96.4% on fourth board and won another game so brilliant against ŠajtarJaroslav ŠajtarJaroslav Šajtar was a Czech chess master and an honorary grandmaster, born in Ostrava.He won at Kraków 1938, thrice placed joined 4th at Choceň 1942, Prague 1943 , Zlín 1943, and 4th at Teplitz-Schönau 1947...
of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
that the Soviet non-playing captain, KotovAlexander KotovAlexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
, told to me that it was 'a true Soviet game.' I told this to Keres who, with the nearest approach to acerbity I ever saw him show, said: 'No, it was a true Estonian game.'" – Grandmaster Harry GolombekHarry GolombekHarry Golombek OBE , was a British chess International Master and honorary grandmaster, chess arbiter, and chess author. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He became a grandmaster in 1985.He was the chess correspondent of The Times... - "At the Warsaw team tournament in 1935, the most surprising discovery was a gangling, shy, 19-year-old Estonian. Some had never heard of his country before, nobody had ever heard of Keres. But his play at top board was a wonder to behold. Not merely because he performed creditably in his first serious encounters with the world's greatest; others have done that too. It was his originality, verve, and brilliance which astounded and delighted the chess world." – Grandmaster Reuben FineReuben FineReuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
- "I loved Paul Petrovitch with a kind of special, filial feeling. Honesty, correctness, discipline, diligence, astonishing modesty – these were the characteristics that caught the eye of the people who came into contact with Keres during his lifetime. But there was also something mysterious about him. I had an acute feeling that Keres was carrying some kind of a heavy burden all through his life. Now I understand that this burden was the infinite love for the land of his ancestors, an attempt to endure all the ordeals, to have full responsibility for his every step. I have never met a person with an equal sense of responsibility. This man with internally free and independent character was at the same time a very well disciplined person. Back then I did not realise that it is discipline that largely determines internal freedom. For me, Paul Keres was the last MohicanThe Last of the MohicansThe Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in February 1826. It is the second book of the Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy and the best known...
, the carrier of the best traditions of classical chess and – if I could put it this way – the PopePopeThe Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
of chess. Why did he not become the champion? I know it from personal experience that in order to reach the top, a person is thinking solely of the goal, he has to forget everything else in this world, toss aside everything unnecessary – or else you are doomed. How could Keres forget everything else?" – Former World Champion Boris SpasskyBoris SpasskyBoris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972... - "I was unlucky, like my country." – Paul Keres, on why he never became world champion.
Tournaments
| Year | Tournament | Place | | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most... |
– | +11−5=3 on first board for Estonia |
| 1935 | Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... |
2 | Frydman Paulino Frydman Paulino Frydman was a Polish chess master.-Biography:... won |
| 1936 | Nauheim Nauheim Nauheim is a community in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Nauheim lies 3 km northwest of the district seat of Groß-Gerau 16 km northwest of Darmstadt and 6 km southeast of Rüsselsheim. After the Second World War, many instrument makers from the Sudetenland such as W... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... |
| 1936 | Dresden Dresden Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.... |
8–9 | Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... won |
| 1936 | Zandvoort Zandvoort Zandvoort is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.Zandvoort is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach, bordered by coastal dunes... |
3–4 | Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S... won |
| 1937 | Margate Margate -Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity.... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S... |
| 1937 | Ostend Ostend Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast.... |
1–3 | shared 1–3 with Grob Henri Grob Henri Grob was a Swiss chess master.Grob represented Switzerland in Chess Olympiads.* In 1927, at fourth board in 1st Chess Olympiad in London ;... and Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S... |
| 1937 | Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... |
1 | ahead of Zinner Emil Zinner Emil Zinner was a Jewish-Czech chess master.He won an open tournament at Budapest 1926 ; tied for 5-6th at Bilina 1930 ; tied for 8-10th at Brno 1931 , tied for 2nd-4th at Moravska Ostrava 1933 ; tied for 4-6th at Bad Liebenwerda 1934 ; tied for... |
| 1937 | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... |
1 | Quadrangular |
| 1937 | Kemeri Ķemeri Ķemeri resort is a part of Jūrmala in Latvia, 44 km from Riga. From 1928 to 1959, Ķemeri was a separate town, famous for the healing mud baths and luxurious hotel. Now about 2 200 inhabitants live there, while the main hotel is under reconstruction.... |
4–5 | Reshevsky Samuel Reshevsky Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster... , Flohr Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne... , and Petrovs Vladimirs Petrovs Vladimirs Petrovs or Vladimir Petrov was a Latvian chess master.He was born in Riga, Latvia. Though he learned the game of chess relatively late, at age thirteen, Petrovs made rapid progress. By 1926, at age 19, he won the Riga Championship and finish third in the national championship... shared 1st–3rd |
| 1937 | Pärnu Pärnu Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga... |
2–4 | Schmidt Paul Felix Schmidt Paul Felix Schmidt was an Estonian chess International Master, chess writer, and chemist.- Biography :In June 1935, he won, ahead of Paul Keres, at Tallinn. In May 1936, he drew a match against Keres at Pärnu. In 1936, he won the 8th Estonian Championship at Tallinn. In December 1936, he placed... won |
| 1937 | Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... |
– | individual silver (+9−2=4) on first board for Estonia |
| 1937 | Semmering Semmering, Austria Semmering is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is famous for its skiing, and has hosted the Alpine skiing World Cup several times. When the famous Semmering Railway was completed in 1854, it brought many tourists from Vienna to here. Today, tourists... /Baden Baden-Baden Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe... |
1 | ahead of Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S... |
| 1937/38 | Hastings Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the... |
2–3 | Reshevsky Samuel Reshevsky Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster... won |
| 1938 | Noordwijk Noordwijk Noordwijk is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 51.53 km² and had a population of 24,707 in May 2006.... |
2 | Eliskases Erich Eliskases Erich Gottlieb Eliskases was a chess Grandmaster of the 1930s and 1940s, who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition.... won |
| 1938 | AVRO AVRO tournament The AVRO tournament was a chess tournament held in the Netherlands in 1938, sponsored by the Dutch broadcasting company AVRO. The event was a double round-robin tournament... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S... , ahead of Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while... |
| 1939 | Leningrad Leningrad Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province... -Moscow |
12–13 | Flohr Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne... won |
| 1939 | Margate Margate -Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity.... |
1 | ahead of Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play... and Flohr Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne... |
| 1939 | Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... |
– | +12−2=5 on first board for bronze medal winning Estonia |
| 1939 | Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Najdorf Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation.... |
| 1940 | 4 | Lilienthal Andor Lilienthal Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik... and Bondarevsky Igor Bondarevsky Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author... won |
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| 1941 | 2 | behind Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while... |
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| 1942 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
1 | Estonian Championship Estonian Chess Championship The first unofficial Estonian Chess Championship was held in 1903, organized by a chess club formed in Reval in 1903 and named for the famous Russian master Mikhail Chigorin. After the World War I, when Estonia became an independent country, official Estonian championships started... +15−0=0 |
| 1942 | Salzburg Salzburg -Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for... |
2 | behind Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... |
| 1942 | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
2 | "European Championship", behind Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... |
| 1943 | Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... |
2 | behind Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... |
| 1943 | Poznań Poznan Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be... |
1 | ahead of Grünfeld Ernst Grünfeld ----Ernst Franz Grünfeld , an Austrian grandmaster and writer specializing in opening theory, was for a brief period after the First World War one of the strongest chess players in the world.... |
| 1943 | Salzburg Salzburg -Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... |
| 1943 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
1 | Estonian Championship Estonian Chess Championship The first unofficial Estonian Chess Championship was held in 1903, organized by a chess club formed in Reval in 1903 and named for the famous Russian master Mikhail Chigorin. After the World War I, when Estonia became an independent country, official Estonian championships started... +6−1=4 |
| 1943 | Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... |
1 | |
| 1944 | Lidköping Lidköping Lidköping is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 27,941 inhabitants in 2005.It is neatly situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidköping by Vänern", possibly to distinguish itself from Linköping near... |
2 | Swedish Championship Swedish Chess Championship The first Swedish Champion was Gustaf Nyholm who won two matches against winners of national tournaments: Berndtsson in Göteborg and Löwenborg in Stockholm in 1917. Until 1931 Swedish Chess Championships decided by match play. In the 1930s, Gideon Ståhlberg held the title in spite of results of the... |
| 1944/45 | Riga Riga Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,... |
1 | Baltic Championship Baltic Chess Championship The first Baltic Chess Congress took place in Riga, Latvia , in 1899. The winner was Robert Behting, the elder brother of Karl Behting, who won a play-off game with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz. The second Baltic Chess Congress was played in Dorpat, Estonia , in 1901... |
| 1946 | Tbilisi Tbilisi Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936... |
1 | Georgian Championship Georgian Chess Championship -Winners:-References:*****... |
| 1947 | Pärnu Pärnu Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga... |
1 | |
| 1947 | 1 | ||
| 1947 | Moscow | 6–7 | |
| 1948 | World Championship Tournament World Chess Championship 1948 The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had... |
3–4 | Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while... 1st, Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won... 2nd |
| 1949 | 8 | ||
| 1950 | Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... |
4 | Candidates Tournament Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship... , Bronstein David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics... and Boleslavsky Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9... 1st–2nd, Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won... 3rd |
| 1950 | Szczawno-Zdrój Szczawno-Zdrój Szczawno-Zdrój is a spa town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany.... |
1 | |
| 1950 | 1 | ||
| 1951 | 1 | ||
| 1952 | 10–11 | Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while... won |
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| 1952 | Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... |
1 | |
| 1952 | Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... |
– | +3−2=7 on first board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1953 | Zürich Zürich Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich... |
2–4 | Candidates Tournament Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship... , Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won... 1st |
| 1954 | Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
– | individual gold (+13−0=1) on fourth board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1954/55 | Hastings Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won... |
| 1955 | 7–8 | Geller Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions... won |
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| 1955 | Göteborg | 2 | Interzonal, Bronstein David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics... won |
| 1956 | Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
2 | Candidates Tournament Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship... , Smyslov Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won... won |
| 1956 | Moscow | – | individual gold (+7−0=5) on third board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1956 | Moscow | 7–8 | |
| 1957 | 2–3 | Tal Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability.... won |
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| 1957 | Mar del Plata | 1 | |
| 1957 | Santiago Santiago, Chile Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level... |
1 | |
| 1957/58 | Hastings Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the... |
1 | |
| 1958 | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
– | individual gold (+7−0=5) on third board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1959 | 7–8 | Petrosian Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else... won |
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| 1959 | Zürich Zürich Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich... |
3–4 | Tal Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability.... won |
| 1959 | Bled Bled Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:... /Belgrade Belgrade Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe... /Zagreb Zagreb Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city... |
2 | Candidates Tournament Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship... , Tal Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability.... won |
| 1959/60 | Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... |
3 | |
| 1960 | Leipzig Leipzig Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing... |
– | individual gold (+8−0=5) on third board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1961 | Zürich Zürich Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich... |
1 | |
| 1961 | Bled Bled Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:... |
3–5 | Tal Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability.... won |
| 1961 | 8–11 | ||
| 1962 | Curaçao Curaçao Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands... |
2–3 | 1962 Candidates Tournament, Petrosian Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else... won |
| 1962 | Varna Varna Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011... |
− | individual bronze (+6−0=7) on fourth board on gold medal USSR team |
| 1963 | Los Angeles | 1–2 | 1st Piatigorsky Cup Piatigorsky Cup The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups were the strongest U.S. chess tournaments since New... , tied with Petrosian Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else... for first |
| 1964 | Beverwijk Beverwijk Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast... |
1–2 | Hoogovens tournament Corus chess tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands... , shared 1–2 with Nei Iivo Nei Iivo Nei is an Estonian chess master.In 1947, at the beginning of his career, Nei took 3rd in Leningrad at the sixth USSR championships. The event was won by Viktor Korchnoi. In 1948, he tied for first with Korchnoi in Tallinn... |
| 1964 | Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Petrosian Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else... |
| 1964 | Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with... |
− | individual gold (+9−1=2) on fourth board for gold medal USSR team |
| 1964/65 | Hastings Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the... |
1 | |
| 1965 | Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázne Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses... |
1–2 | shared 1–2 with Hort Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,... |
| 1965 | 6 | Stein Leonid Stein Leonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :... won |
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| 1966/67 | Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... |
1 | |
| 1967 | Moscow | 9–12 | |
| 1967 | Winnipeg Winnipeg Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name... |
3–4 | |
| 1968 | Bamberg Bamberg Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from... |
1 | |
| 1969 | Beverwijk Beverwijk Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast... |
3–4 | Hoogovens tournament Corus chess tournament The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands... , behind Botvinnik Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while... and Geller Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions... |
| 1969 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
2–3 | |
| 1970 | Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... |
1 | |
| 1971 | Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
2–4 | |
| 1971 | Pärnu Pärnu Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga... |
2–3 | |
| 1971 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
3–6 | |
| 1972 | Sarajevo Sarajevo Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans.... |
3–5 | |
| 1972 | San Antonio | 5 | Karpov Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once... , Petrosian Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else... , and Portisch Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"... shared 1st–3rd |
| 1973 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
3–6 | |
| 1973 | Dortmund Dortmund Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union.... |
6–7 | |
| 1973 | Petropolis Petrópolis Petrópolis , also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro.... |
12–13 | Interzonal, Mecking Henrique Mecking Henrique Mecking was a leading Brazilian chess Grandmaster in the 1970s. He was a very strong player at an early age , drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1971... 1st; Geller Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions... , Polugaevsky Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title... , and Portisch Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"... 2nd–4th |
| 1973 | 9–12 | Spassky Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972... won |
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| 1975 | Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list... |
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| 1975 | Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... |
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Matches
| Year | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Gunnar Friedemann Gunnar Friedemann -Biography:Friedemann played several times in Estonian championships at Tallinn. In 1932, he tied for 3rd-4th with Johannes Türn . In 1933, he won the 5th EST–ch. In 1934, he took 3rd, behind Ilmar Raud and Paul Felix Schmidt, at the 6th EST–ch. In 1935, he took 2nd, behind Paul Keres, at the 7th... |
+2 −1 =0 |
| 1935 | Feliks Kibbermann Feliks Kibbermann Feliks Kibbermann was an Estonian chess master.Before the World War II, he tied for 3rd-5th with Ilmar Raud and Viktor Uulberg in the 5th Estonian Championship at Tallinn 1933 , and lost a match to Paul Keres at Tallinn 1935 . Kibbermann represented Estonia in the 6th Chess Olympiad at Warsaw 1935... |
+3 −1 =0 |
| 1936 | Paul Felix Schmidt Paul Felix Schmidt Paul Felix Schmidt was an Estonian chess International Master, chess writer, and chemist.- Biography :In June 1935, he won, ahead of Paul Keres, at Tallinn. In May 1936, he drew a match against Keres at Pärnu. In 1936, he won the 8th Estonian Championship at Tallinn. In December 1936, he placed... |
+3 −3 =1 |
| 1938 | Gideon Ståhlberg Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939.... |
+2 −2 =4 |
| 1939/40 | Max Euwe Max Euwe Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam... |
+6 −5 =3 |
| 1944 | Folke Ekström Folke Ekström Folke Ekström was a Swedish International Master of chess and of Correspondence chess .- Biography :... |
+4 −0 =2 |
| 1956 | Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead.... |
+4 −0 =4 |
| 1962 | Efim Geller Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions... |
+2 −1 =5 |
| 1965 | Boris Spassky Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972... |
+2 −4 =4 |
| 1970 | Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 , 1963 and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979... |
+2 −0 =2 |
Scores against other outstanding Grandmasters
Only official tournament or match games are accounted for.- Alexander AlekhineAlexander AlekhineAlexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
: +1 −5 =8 - Mikhail BotvinnikMikhail BotvinnikMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
: +3 −8 =9 - David BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
: +4 −6 =18 - José Raúl CapablancaJosé Raúl CapablancaJosé Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
: +1 −0 =5
- Max EuweMax EuweMachgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
: +11 −7 =9 - Reuben FineReuben FineReuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
: +3 −1 =8 - Bobby FischerBobby FischerRobert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
: +3 −4 =3 - Efim GellerEfim GellerEfim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
: +8 −7 =21
- Anatoly KarpovAnatoly KarpovAnatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
: +0 −0 =2 - Viktor KorchnoiViktor KorchnoiViktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
: +4 −1 =12 - Bent LarsenBent LarsenJørgen Bent Larsen was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess...
: +2 −0 =4 - Tigran PetrosianTigran PetrosianTigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
: +3 −3 =27
- Lajos PortischLajos PortischLajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
: +1 −4 =3 - Vasily SmyslovVasily SmyslovVasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
: +8 −10 =21 - Boris SpasskyBoris SpasskyBoris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
: +3 −5 =29 - Mikhail TalMikhail TalMikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
: +8 −4 =20