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Paul Keres

Paul Keres at Hastings, © December 1964.

PAUL KERES (born Jan-07-1916, died Jun-05-1975, 59 years old) Estonia PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Paul Keres was born in Narva, Estonia. The family moved back to Pärnu as soon as WW I was over. He was very active in correspondence chess throughout his youth, and soon began to make a name for himself at over-the-board play as well with a series of tournament victories culminating with a tie for first at AVRO (1938). Keres was thrice Soviet Champion, in 1947 [rusbase-1], 1950 [rusbase-2], and 1951 [rusbase-3]. In 1948, Keres participated in the World Championship tournament to determine a successor to Alexander Alekhine, finishing joint third. This would turn out to be the only opportunity Keres would ever have to play for the world title--he finished second ex aequo or outright four times in the five Candidates' tournaments, from 1950 to 1962 inclusive, but never won. Keres scored 13½/14 at the 11th Olympiad in Amsterdam 1954 (1) and in 1963, he won at Los Angeles http://www.worldchesslinks.net/eziq... (sharing first place with Tigran Petrosian). Keres suffered a fatal heart attack in Helsinki on the way home from winning a tournament in Vancouver in 1975, at age 59. Keres is the player who has defeated the largest number of world champions, no fewer than nine: Capablanca (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Alekhine http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Euwe http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Botvinnik http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Smyslov http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Tal http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Petrosian http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... Spassky http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... and Fischer http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... With his five second-place finishes in Candidates events and his results against world champions, Keres was often known as "Paul, the Second" and "The Uncrowned King". A list of books about Keres can be found at http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... References: (1) Wikipedia article: World records in chess , (2) Wikipedia article: Paul Keres Last updated: 2024-12-10 09:13:02

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page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,065  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. I Raud vs Keres   ½-½ 54 1929 Parnu, Parnu-Viljandi E10 Queen's Pawn Game 2. Keres vs I Raud 0-1 40 1929 Parnu, Parnu-Viljandi C54 Giuoco Piano 3. A Karu vs Keres 0-1 27 1931 corr D08 Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit 4. M Villemson vs Keres 0-1 51 1931 Deutsche Schachzeitung 133-A corr A15 English 5. Keres vs Molder 1-0 24 1931 Tartu, Est jr ch C33 King's Gambit Accepted 6. L Norvid vs Keres 0-1 25 1931 Tartu, Est jr ch C12 French, McCutcheon 7. Keres vs R Pruun 1-0 43 1931 ChJ B12 Caro-Kann Defense 8. Keres vs I Raud 1-0 29 1931 Tartu, Est jr ch B25 Sicilian, Closed 9. R Pruun vs Keres 0-1 24 1931 Tartu, Est jr ch E60 King's Indian Defense 10. Keres vs G Menke 1-0 62 1932 corr C33 King's Gambit Accepted 11. M Seibold vs Keres 0-1 39 1932 Deutsche Schachzeitung 1932/33 corr C12 French, McCutcheon 12. Von Feilitzsch vs Keres 0-1 32 1932 corr C22 Center Game 13. Keres vs Faltweber 1-0 18 1932 corr A06 Reti Opening 14. Keres vs Beskov 1-0 43 1932 corr C50 Giuoco Piano 15. Keres vs M Villemson ½-½ 47 1932 Deutsche Schachzeitung 133-A corr D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 16. Keres vs E Verbak 1-0 17 1932 corr C00 French Defense 17. Von Feilitzsch vs Keres   1-0 16 1932 corr C40 King's Knight Opening 18. Beskov vs Keres   0-1 47 1932 cr E12 Queen's Indian 19. Haemig vs Keres   0-1 27 1932 cr C44 King's Pawn Game 20. Keres vs Haemig   1-0 23 1932 cr B40 Sicilian 21. Keres vs P Potengowski   1-0 48 1932 cr D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 22. P Potengowski vs Keres   ½-½ 34 1932 cr C12 French, McCutcheon 23. Keres vs Villard   1-0 12 1932 cr C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 24. E Kiiver vs Keres 0-1 58 1932 Tartu, Est jr ch E20 Nimzo-Indian 25. A Remmelgas vs Keres   0-1 55 1932 Tartu, Est jr ch D02 Queen's Pawn Game  page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,065

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 43 OF 48 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-02-17    Stonehenge: From a 1946 simul: http://surfingbird.ru/surf/paul-ker... Oct-11-17    ahmadov: Some years ago, I was playing chess online with a guy from Estonia. He asked me if I knew Keres. I said yes and he started speaking further about Keres and suggested sending me a book about Keres. Some days later I received the book and a banknote with Keres picture on it. Unfortunately, I lost that guy later. If he visits this page and remembers me, I would love to resume my contacts with him. Dec-03-17    tpstar: https://images.chesscomfiles.com/up... Dec-11-17    ahmadov: <tpstar>, exactly, this is the banknote I received :-) Jan-07-18    Sularus: happy birthday! RIP Jan-07-18    Magpye: Is there a good bio on Keres? Jan-07-18    botvinnik64: Happy 102 Paul! Party on! Jan-07-18    transpose: I am surprised Keres never defeated Karpov, but then i only see two quick draws between the two. Too bad. Jan-19-18    Sularus: <transpose> just in case you haven't, consider their age difference, the age of keres and karpov when those games were played. imho, those draws were already quite an achievement for keres. Jan-19-18    Absentee: <drnooo: The 48 championship was as rigged as the Clinton Sandars affair> Proof? <Had Keres fled to the west...Fischers claim to be being the best player in the west would have folded under Keres domination and record...he would have beaten everybody and it would have taken the KGB to take care of him with either poison or a bullet.> Counterfactuals aren't a very solid argument. Jan-19-18    TheFocus: <drnoo> <<Had Keres fled to the west...Fischers claim to be being the best player in the west would have folded under Keres domination and record...he would have beaten everybody and it would have taken the KGB to take care of him with either poison or a bullet.> Fischer won his first two games played between them, and won four of the first 7 games. Overall: Fischer had 4 wins, 3 losses, and 3 draws. Jan-22-18    offramp: <Absentee: <drnooo: The 48 championship was as rigged as the Clinton Sandars affair> Proof?> <drnooo> means that it wasn't rigged at all. Jan-22-18    keypusher: <Clinton Sandars affair> Brain bleach, stat! Jan-27-18    diceman: Stonehenge: From a 1946 simul: http://surfingbird.ru/surf/paul-ker... <Paul Keres holds a simultaneous game of chess on 40 boards with sailors of the Baltic fleet aboard the battleship "October Revolution", Tallinn, 1946.> Feb-08-18    Senk: Great article series: https://chess24.com/en/read/news/pa... Mar-07-18    todicav23: http://estonianworld.com/culture/a-... "Over 100,000 people lined up the streets at his state funeral in Tallinn". Mar-07-18    ughaibu: As he kept coming second in the candidates tournaments, why wasn't he nicknamed Paul the Third? May-12-18    morfishine: God Bless Paul Keres! Sep-06-18    JimNorCal: <paavoh>: " ... it is a great gesture that Tallinn has erected a statue for him. Happy to have found it on my last visit to that charming city." I've seen it too- not so easy to find! Any chess player visiting Tallinn should attempt to see it. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/mon... Sep-06-18    Boomie: I played in Keres last tournament, which he won, of course. There were some fine players there. For example, Walter Browne. But none in Keres class. I never got a shot at the champ, but my good friend, Jim McCormick did: J McCormik vs Keres, 1975 His bio here is a disgrace, by the way. He deserves so much more. Sep-07-18    pazzed paun: Hard to imagine .... That McCormick had friends Lol Sep-07-18    Nisjesram: <boomi> , i saw your interest in omv. <johnlspouge> and i defeated <big pawn> in omv debate very thoroughly and later <nok> too defeated <big pawn> in omv debate . If you have any questions , you are welcome. Thank you Regards Sep-07-18    nimh: That photo of Keres above is actually outdated by now. The open spot where the statue once was has been liquidated and a residential building is now being erected there. The new location for the statue will be much closer to the street in front of the new house, and easier to find. Nov-06-18    Boomie: Keres was Spassky's favorite as both a player and a man. Samuel Reshevsky tried to pinpoint why Keres never became world champion. "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." Nov-20-18    HeMateMe: my library has this: <Keres: Move by Move (Everyman Chess) Paperback 2017 > <https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon...> Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 48) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 43 OF 48 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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