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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 46 OF 48 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-16-21    sudoplatov: Somewhere I read that playing the Sicilian Defense against Keres was nicknamed "Sicilianicide." Quick scan of Keres as White vs Sicilian. Wins 89 Draws 77 Losses 12 Percentage: 71.6 (wins 1, draws 1/2, losses 0) Excluding Draws (all, not just GM) 88% Jan-07-22    technical draw: Keres once beat the 16 year old Bobby Fischer. This saddened Fischer so much that Keres had to console him by saying, "Bobby, I can win a game too!" And who could doubt that the great Keres, who was named greatest player to not be world champion, could win a game. I certainly don't. Jan-07-22    Cysticcandy2: Hi Mr. Technical draw! I'm a huge fan. You're very funny and been on here for a long time ! Jan-08-22    technical draw: Why thank you <Cysticcandy2>. You've just made 2022 a great year for me. I don't always get fan mail, but when I do it's from nice guys like you! Jan-12-22    Albertan: The Perfect Score:Keres wins Tallinn 1942 with 15/15: https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-p... I wonder how many tournaments in the history of Chess the winner scored a perfect score? Jan-12-22    MissScarlett: A lot, so it would be useful to impose some restrictions. Jan-12-22    perfidious: <Albertan>, one obvious example which comes to mind was Fischer's demolition of the field of the 1963-64 US championship; a lesser-known version was Belyavsky making a clean sweep in a South American tourney in the late 1970s (possibly held in Bogota). Jan-15-22    Albertan: Perfidious thanks for your response. Jan-15-22    perfidious: <Albertan>, another perfect result was that of Alekhine in Caracas, 1939. Jan-15-22    keypusher: 19th century: Atkins won all his games at DCA Congress 27th (1899) and Lasker won all his games at the Impromptu Tournament in New York in 1893. Neumann went 34-0-0 in some event. Jan-15-22    keypusher: Impromptu game collection: Game Collection: New York 1893, The Impromtu Tournament plus Rice 1913 CC tournament, which Capablanca swept: Game Collection: Rice CC Summer Masters Tourn. (New York 1913) Would be nice to have tournament pages for these two events, but reading Phony Benoni's writeup of the chaotic Rice event, God help anyone who tries. Jan-15-22    jessicafischerqueen: <keypusher> That is some impressive research you've done, especially on Game Collection: Rice CC Summer Masters Tourn. (New York 1913) . It's exactly the kind of work that should be listed in the Tournament Index Jan-15-22    keypusher: <JFQ> I'm just a MOOCHER! The Impromtu was <Calli>'s doing, and New York 1913 was <Phony B>, assisted by <crawfb5> and <Calli>. Agree it would be nice to have those tournaments in the index. Jan-16-22    Phony Benoni: <jfq> <keypusher> It's been nearly a decade since I worked seriously on Game Collection: Rice CC Summer Masters Tourn. (New York 1913). I think most of the information is there, and it's just a little mater of cleaning the Augean Stables. My Herculean days are probably over, but I'll ltake another shot. If Ijust can't do it, I'll let you know. Oct-07-22    gezafan: If you want to win playing the black side of the Ruy Lopez it's a good idea to study the games of Paul Keres. He had a high winning rate in it. Keres played the Chigorin. He often played 11...Nd7 (the Keres variation) or 12...cxd4. He won a lot of games playing this way. Oct-27-22    Chessius the Messius: In Italian, but lots of pics: https://www.scacchierando.it/sala-d... https://www.scacchierando.it/sala-d... Oct-27-22    moronovich: Thanks for the pictures <Chessius the Messius>! Feb-26-23    Honest Adin Reviews: what a way to go, happy knowing u won your last tourney! he is the only chss playa to have money with his face on it? Feb-26-23    Olavi: <Honest Adin Reviews> Petrosian is on the 2000 dram note. Feb-27-23    Honest Adin Reviews: what country>? Mar-01-23    Olavi: < Honest Adin Reviews> Armenia, naturally. Check the English wiki page. Mar-02-23    Honest Adin Reviews: o hell no, not wikipedoia garbage, nothing is right there as succinctly proven: archive.is/Y0BB stay away from it forever!!! check my posts right! how much money is on keres' bill? Mar-02-23    Caissanist: Well, none anymore, Estonia converted to the Euro 12 years ago. Back when they had their own currency he was on the 5 kroon bill. My source for this is, yes, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eston... . Mar-02-23    Olavi: https://en.chessbase.com/post/tigra... Aug-04-23    ADmightywarriorIN: https://www.chess.com/article/view/... paul keres was never given shot at title? Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 48) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 46 OF 48 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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