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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 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 153  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. F Apsenieks vs L Rellstab  ½-½491937KemeriA46 Queen's Pawn Game
2. M Feigin vs W Hasenfuss  ½-½411937KemeriA44 Old Benoni Defense
3. Flohr vs Keres ½-½1041937KemeriE00 Queen's Pawn Game
4. S Landau vs Fine  ½-½521937KemeriD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
5. V Mikenas vs T Bergs 0-1321937KemeriA06 Reti Opening
6. K Ozols vs Stahlberg  ½-½391937KemeriA13 English
7. Reshevsky vs Petrov 1-0391937KemeriD49 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
8. Tartakower vs E Book 1-0411937KemeriD23 Queen's Gambit Accepted
9. Alekhine vs E Steiner 1-0461937KemeriA46 Queen's Pawn Game
10. F Apsenieks vs Alekhine ½-½331937KemeriA46 Queen's Pawn Game
11. T Bergs vs S Landau  1-0251937KemeriD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
12. E Book vs K Ozols  ½-½291937KemeriC02 French, Advance
13. Fine vs M Feigin 1-0471937KemeriD47 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
14. W Hasenfuss vs Flohr 0-1261937KemeriB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
15. Keres vs Reshevsky 0-1401937KemeriD02 Queen's Pawn Game
16. Petrov vs Tartakower  ½-½321937KemeriE44 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 5.Ne2
17. L Rellstab vs Stahlberg 1-0211937KemeriC14 French, Classical
18. E Steiner vs V Mikenas 1-0431937KemeriB00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening
19. Alekhine vs L Rellstab ½-½501937KemeriA15 English
20. M Feigin vs T Bergs  1-0571937KemeriD26 Queen's Gambit Accepted
21. Flohr vs Fine  ½-½241937KemeriE10 Queen's Pawn Game
22. S Landau vs E Steiner 0-1251937KemeriE54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System
23. V Mikenas vs F Apsenieks 0-1711937KemeriD02 Queen's Pawn Game
24. K Ozols vs Petrov  ½-½401937KemeriD02 Queen's Pawn Game
25. Reshevsky vs W Hasenfuss 1-0721937KemeriA80 Dutch
 page 1 of 7; games 1-25 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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