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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Kemeri Tournament

Samuel Reshevsky12/17(+10 -3 =4)[games]
Vladimir Petrov12/17(+9 -2 =6)[games]
Salomon Flohr12/17(+7 -0 =10)[games]
Alexander Alekhine11.5/17(+7 -1 =9)[games]
Paul Keres11.5/17(+8 -2 =7)[games]
Endre Steiner11/17(+9 -4 =4)[games]
Savielly Tartakower10.5/17(+6 -2 =9)[games]
Reuben Fine9/17(+6 -5 =6)[games]
Gideon Stahlberg8.5/17(+4 -4 =9)[games]
Vladas Mikenas8/17(+7 -8 =2)[games]
Ludwig Rellstab7.5/17(+5 -7 =5)[games]
Eero Book7.5/17(+6 -8 =3)[games]
Fricis Apsenieks7.5/17(+4 -6 =7)[games]
Teodors Bergs6.5/17(+4 -8 =5)[games]
Movsa Feigin5.5/17(+4 -10 =3)[games]
Salo Landau5.5/17(+5 -11 =1)[games]
Wolfgang Hasenfuss3.5/17(+1 -11 =5)[games]
Karlis Ozols3.5/17(+1 -11 =5)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Kemeri (1937)

Kemeri 1937 was Alexander Alekhine's penultimate tune up for his impending rematch with World Champion Max Euwe. In a result that augured poorly for his prospects in the rematch, Alekhine finished only equal 4th with Paul Keres. His misfortunes began as early as Round 4, in which he lost with the white pieces against Vladas Mikenas. As it turned out, this lost point made the difference between clear first and a share of fourth place.

In the end, however this tournament was most notable for the career-best performance of Latvian home town favorite Vladimir Petrov, who shared first with Samuel Reshevsky and Salomon Flohr. An understandably buoyant Petrov, who was awarded the Latvian Grandmaster title on the strength of his achievement, shared his post-event thoughts in an interview with the chess journal Sacha Maksla, July 24, 1937:

"Of course I am very happy about my result. I did a lot of preparations for the tournament... I studied the <e4> openings because I knew that playing the Queens Gambit against such positional players as Flohr and Fine is pretty useless. For the middle game and endgame I feel... that even the top players cannot take me lightly, particularly in the strategic phases of the game. Alekhine did not impress me in this tournament. His play displayed a lot of nervousness about the forthcoming Second World Championship Match between him and Dr. Max Euwe."

Photograph of the Tournament Book: http://www.chesspro.ru/_images/mate...

Kemeri, Latvia, 16 June - 8 July 1937

R P F A K S T F S M R B A B F L H O 1 Reshevsky X 1 = 0 1 1 = 1 = 1 0 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 12.0 2 Petrov 0 X = = = = = 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = 12.0 3 Flohr = = X = = = = = = = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 12.0 4 Alekhine 1 = = X = 1 = 1 = 0 = = = = 1 1 1 1 11.5 5 Keres 0 = = = X 1 = = 0 1 1 1 = 1 = 1 1 1 11.5 6 Steiner 0 = = 0 0 X 1 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 11.0 7 Tartakower = = = = = 0 X 1 = 0 1 1 1 = = 1 = 1 10.5 8 Fine 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 X = = = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 9.0 9 Stahlberg = 0 = = 1 1 = = X 0 0 1 = = 0 1 = = 8.5 10 Mikenas 0 1 = 1 0 0 1 = 1 X 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 8.0 11 Rellstab 1 0 0 = 0 = 0 = 1 1 X 0 = 1 0 0 1 = 7.5 12 Böök 1 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X = 1 1 0 1 = 7.5 13 Apsenieks 0 0 = = = 0 0 0 = 1 = = X 0 1 1 = 1 7.5 14 Bergs = 0 0 = 0 0 = 0 = 1 0 0 1 X 0 1 1 = 6.5 15 Feigin 0 0 0 0 = 0 = 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 X 0 = 1 5.5 16 Landau 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 X 1 1 5.5 17 Hazenfuss 0 0 0 0 0 = = 0 = 1 0 0 = 0 = 0 X 0 3.5 18 Ozols 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 = = 0 = 0 0 1 X 3.5

Sources: Vladimirs Petrovs: a Chessplayer's Story From Greatness to the Gulags, by Andris Fride. Caissa editions 2004, pp. 14-15.

Wikipedia article: 1. %C4%B6emeru starptautiskais %C5%A1aha turn%C4%ABrs

Original collection: Game Collection: Kemeri 1937 International Tournament, by User: Resignation Trap; Introduction written and sourced by User: WCC Editing Project.

Next: Kemeri (1939)

 page 2 of 7; games 26-50 of 153  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
26. Stahlberg vs E Book 1-0501937KemeriD28 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical
27. Tartakower vs Keres ½-½311937KemeriA46 Queen's Pawn Game
28. Alekhine vs V Mikenas 0-1641937KemeriD74 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O
29. F Apsenieks vs S Landau 1-0321937KemeriD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
30. T Bergs vs Flohr 0-1381937KemeriD02 Queen's Pawn Game
31. Fine vs Reshevsky 0-1421937KemeriD73 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.Nf3
32. W Hasenfuss vs Tartakower  ½-½211937KemeriC50 Giuoco Piano
33. Keres vs K Ozols 1-0421937KemeriC00 French Defense
34. Petrov vs Stahlberg 1-0371937KemeriD30 Queen's Gambit Declined
35. L Rellstab vs E Book 0-1341937KemeriC15 French, Winawer
36. E Steiner vs M Feigin  1-0571937KemeriB45 Sicilian, Taimanov
37. E Book vs Petrov 0-1631937KemeriC01 French, Exchange
38. M Feigin vs F Apsenieks  0-1491937KemeriA84 Dutch
39. Flohr vs E Steiner  ½-½421937KemeriE00 Queen's Pawn Game
40. S Landau vs Alekhine 0-1331937KemeriE00 Queen's Pawn Game
41. V Mikenas vs L Rellstab  0-1571937KemeriA46 Queen's Pawn Game
42. K Ozols vs W Hasenfuss 1-0361937KemeriA10 English
43. Reshevsky vs T Bergs  ½-½411937KemeriD26 Queen's Gambit Accepted
44. Stahlberg vs Keres 1-0741937KemeriC14 French, Classical
45. Tartakower vs Fine 1-0281937KemeriC00 French Defense
46. F Apsenieks vs Flohr  ½-½451937KemeriB24 Sicilian, Closed
47. T Bergs vs Tartakower  ½-½471937KemeriA47 Queen's Indian
48. Fine vs K Ozols  1-0321937KemeriE37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
49. W Hasenfuss vs Stahlberg  ½-½411937KemeriC14 French, Classical
50. V Mikenas vs S Landau 1-0401937KemeriD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
 page 2 of 7; games 26-50 of 153  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
Dec-06-12  Chessdreamer: the correct result of the game V Mikenas vs S Landau, 1937 is 1-0. time-loss for Black. Mikenas scored 8/17, Landau 5.5/17.
Dec-06-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <Chessdreamer> I've sent in a correction slip. When the change is made, the charts above will be updated accordingly.
Dec-10-12  USSR Championships: <Chessdreamer> wonderful catch!

The crosstable from Andris Fride's biography of Petrovs confirms your correction as well.

-<Vladimirs Petrovs: A chessplayer's story from Greatness to the Gulag> Andris Fride. Caissa Editions 2004, p14.

<Phony Benoni> thanks, fast work on sending in the slip. Let's keep track to make sure they make the correction.

Dec-10-12  USSR Championships: Excerpt from the memoirs of <Galina Petrovs>, <Vladimirs Petrovs'> wife:

"The tournament directors only had one prize to give because they had expected <Alekhine> to win. Since there were three winners, <Flohr> suggested to <Reshevsky> "Sammy, let's let <Petrov> take the rap for us." In this way, <Petrovs> was awarded the victory prize. He also won a silver cup for the "Most Brilliant Game by a Latvian against a Foreigner" for his match against <Rellstab>: Rellstab vs V Petrov, 1937

-"Refugee: Centenary of Salo Flohr" by Vladimir Moshchenko (in Russian) http://www.chesspro.ru/_events/2009...

Sep-29-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: On the basis of his performance in this tournament, Petrov was given an invitation to the Semmering/Baden (1937) tournament.
Mar-26-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: According to Golombek, Book intended to become a chess professional, but his relative failure in this event persuaded him otherwise.
Feb-05-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Stonehenge: Some info in Latvian:

https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._%C...

Feb-05-17  JimNorCal: What happened to Reuben Fine?
Disappointing result
Feb-23-17  thegoodanarchist: < JimNorCal: What happened to Reuben Fine?>

Eventually, he got psyched out of chess...

Sep-14-21  sudoplatov: Fine made his comeback during the next couple of years.
Sep-14-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Kemeri has for a long time had a railway station, and it is a beautiful Latvian town with a spa and a mud-bath. One of Latvia's many lovely spots for visitors.

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