Paul Keres: the eternal Estonian

Jimmy Adams, the noted author and chess editor, has created an event of immense significance in the universe of chess publishing:

The Complete Paul Keres (Limited Edition Hardbacks: four volumes, two slipcases, £225).

Hundreds of games, thousands of pages! To quote the publisher’s own encomium of this remarkable work: for over thirty years Paul Keres remained one of the world’s strongest grandmasters, admired for the way he played chess, famous for his spectacular surprise attacks, sparkling combinations, opening innovations, middlegame planning, and endgame technique. On no fewer than five occasions he narrowly missed a world title match, earning the nickname “The Eternal Second” or “The Crown Prince of Chess”. He was highly regarded not only as a fighting player with a mastery of all aspects of the game, but also for his gentlemanly sportsmanship.

The first two volumes contain over 550 games analysed by Keres and his contemporaries, including most of the strongest players of his era. Volumes three and four present, for the first time in English, the complete text of Paul Keres’ autobiography, including his 100 Selected Best Games. Added to this are many more of Keres’ games, with his own in-depth commentary, collected from contemporary books and magazines, making this the largest compilation of his literary work ever published.

The Complete Paul Keres  is written, edited and published by Jimmy Adams and distributed by New In Chess . 

In the period 1937/1938 Keres was, in my opinion, the strongest player in the world, taking top prizes in the most illustrious tournaments and defeating titans such as Alekhine, Capablanca and Fine by means of glorious sacrificial attacks. Sadly for Keres, an Estonian, the Second World War and the takeover of his homeland by both Hitler and Stalin, led to the disruption of his personal life, which he handled less resiliently than his rivals, above all the dominant Soviet player, Botvinnik. 

Indeed, in 1941 Keres participated both in events organised within the USSR and in territories controlled by the Nazi Reich. Many observers had rather expected him to be executed after Stalin’s military victory, but Keres survived and even a quarter of a century after his triumph at AVRO 1938, Keres was still able to share first prize with world champion Tigran Petrosian at the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup. This was a super tournament, made up exclusively of top grandmasters who were veterans of the world championship Candidates series. By that time Keres had defeated an astonishing total of nine world champions, from Lasker to Fischer. 

In the following, we dip into this rich vein to select a  few excerpts of the very many highlights of Keres’s career.

1. Margate International tournament, 1937

In 1937 (31 March – 9 April), ten chess masters were invited to participate in a round robin tournament at the seaside resort of Margate, England. Continuing their hot streak through the year, Reuben Fine and Paul Keres shared first place, both having gone undefeated. The former World Champion Alexander Alekhine displayed his familiar aggressive style, ceding no draws, but only taking third place, as a result of losses to the tournament co-winners Fine and Keres, as well as to Victor Buerger. The game between Keres and Alekhine (who would regain his world title from Euwe later that year) ended in dramatic fashion.

MARGATE (1937)

Keres-Alekhine Margate 1937

position after 22… Qb4

The coming thunderbolt was conclusive. Keres unleashed 23. Qxd7+!! whereupon Alekhine promptly resigned. The machine immediately (0.23 seconds) declared a mate in 13. For those of a sadistic (or indeed, masochistic) disposition, one (of very many) sample mate lines follows:

23… Kb8 (of course, not 23… Rxd7 24. Re8+ Rd8 25. Rdxd8# or Rexd8#) 24. Qxd8+ Ka7 25. Qxf6 Qxc4+ 26. Qc3 Qxc3+ 27. bxc3 Kb6 28. Rd7 h6 29. Ree7 Ka7 30. Ne5 Kb6 31. Rxc7 Ka5 32. Rxb7 Ka4 33. Nc4 a5 34. Re5 f3 35. Rxa5 checkmate.

2. Semmering/Baden tournament, 1937

Austria was host to a grandmaster contest in 1937 sponsored by its casinos. Eight chess masters, including former world champion Jose Capablanca, participated in the double round robin from September 8th until the 27th. The first four rounds were conducted at Semmering, and then moved to the Hotel Grüner Baum in Baden bei Wien for the duration of the tournament. World champion Max Euwe served as chief arbiter for the first half of games and then was relieved by Rudolf Spielmann for the second half. Young Paul Keres won the event a full point ahead of Reuben Fine.

left to right: Reuben Fine, Max Euwe, Paul Keres (source: chess.com)

3. Ostend International tournament 1937

Tournament Standings

Ostend 1937

Keres vs. Fine, Ostend 1937

position after 23… Nf8?

Fine has just erred with 23… Nf8, which encourages Keres to offer the following sacrifice, 24. Nxh7. Black is in trouble after this, but should still prefer 24… Ng6 to the text move, …Nxh7? after which White is already close to winning. He continues, 25. Rh3 Qc1 26. Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Re3 d4? with Black lending a helping hand: 27… Re8! was the best of a bad set of options. 

White is now winning and plays, 28. Qh8+, to which Black plays, 28… Ke7 29. Qxg7 Rf8? This latter is a blunder, but is still of little account as Black is doomed severally. Instead, Black should have tried 29… Rc4, but all bets are now off. 30. Qf6+ Ke8 31. e6 Black resigns 1-0.

The computer declares mate in 12 after the ultimate move, but the truth is that it has been over for some time already.

4. The AVRO tournament, 1938

In November 1938, the Dutch radio company AVRO organized and sponsored what was up to that time the strongest tournament ever held. AVRO (Algemeene Vereeniging voor Radio Omroep – literally the General Association for Radio Broadcasting) brought together the World Champion and every one of his major challengers. It ran from the 6th to the 27th of November 1938 with the players based in Amsterdam and each successive round played in a different Dutch town.

In the end, Keres and Fine finished in joint first place, with Keres declared the winner as a result of a better tie-break score. By winning this tournament, Keres became the preferred FIDÉ world championship candidate to challenge the incumbent, Alekhine. It is a minor tragedy that, before such a clash could be arranged, incomparably more tragic world events intervened to prevent it taking place. 

AVRO (1938)

Keres – Capablanca AVRO 1938

position after 25… Rb5

At this point, Keres unleashed the winning sacrifice, 26. Nxf7. The game continued, 26… Re8 27. g3 Qc8 28. Rxf4Qxg4 29. Rxg4 Kxf7 30. Rd7+ Re7 31. Rxe7+ Kxe7 32. Bxg7Ra5 33. a4 Rc5 34. Rb4 Ke6 35. Kg2 h5 36. Rc4 Rxc4 37.bxc4 Kd6 38. f4 Black resigns 1-0.

In the final position, after 38… Ke6 39. Kf3 Kf7 40. Bd4 c5 41. Bxc5 Kg7 42. g4 hxg4+ 43. hxg4 Kh6 44. Ke4 Nh8 45. Be3 Nf7 46. Kd5 the engine blithely interjects that there is a mate in 17.

The computer navigates a slightly more precise line, varying from Keres’s variation with 27. Rxc6 (27. g3 Bxg3! 28. Rxc6 Bf4 29. Rxg6 hxg6 30. Qxg6 Bh2+ 31. Kf1 Be5 32. Nxe5 Rbxe5 33. Bxe5 Qxe5) 27… Rd5 28. Nh6+ Bxh6 29. Qc4 Nf4 30. Rc5 Qd6 31. Rcxd5 Nxd5 32. Bc3 Rd8 33. Ba5 Rd7 34. Bb4 Qxb4 35. Qc8+ Kf7 36. Qxd7+ Ne7 37. Qd3; when White’s extra pawns and the vulnerability of the Black king to checks, makes the win merely a technical undertaking.

However, there is an even more compelling line than 26. Nxf7!? It is 26. Rxf4! Rxg5 27. Qxg5 Qxf4 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Qxd8+ Nf8 30. Ba3 h6 31. Qxf8+ Kh7 32. Qb4 Qg5 33. Qc3 h5 34. Bb2 (34. Qc2+ is also good) 34… Qg6 35. Kh2 f6 12. Qxc6, and with a pawn and a piece to the good, White should find the win a practical proposition. Brilliant though the Keres demolition may have seemed at the time, this is one more case where the indefatigable computer discovers previously unsuspected refinements.  

5. USSR – USA match, round two, Moscow, 1946

The 1946 chess match between the USSR and the USA was a significant event held in Moscow from September 9 to 12. This clash was a live rematch following the 1945 radio chess match.

While the U.S. team expected stiff competition, there was little doubt in the minds of most Americans that they would win. The unpleasant surprise was that not only did they not win, but they were massacred. Only then was the concealed power of Soviet chess fully understood in the West.

The match was played in the Hall of Columns at the House of Trade Unions in Moscow, with a large audience of 1,500 spectators seated and another 1,000 standing in the foyer. The event was a showcase of the Soviet Union’s chess prowess, and it further solidified their dominance in the chess world.

A two round match, the US were soundly beaten in the first round, but only narrowly lost the second. Nevertheless, it was another convincing victory for the Soviet Union, 12½-7½. 

Keres (USSR) vs. Fine (USA) 1946

position after 24… Rbc8

Keres now executes a spectacular gambit, 25. Nxf7!?; based on Black’s inadvisedness at capturing the offered piece: if 25… Kxf7?? 26. Qe6#; or if 25… Rxf7? 26. Qxc8+!! It follows that Black had only: 25… Qd7!, after which thegame continued, 26. Qxd7 Nxd7 27. Nd6 Rcd8 28. Be3 Nb6? 29. Bxc5 Na4 30. Ba3 Nc3 31. Nb7 Nxd1 32. Nxd8 Black resigns 1-0

However, Black could have significantly improved on 28… Nb6?, with Nf6! 

Finally, the resignation is motivated by the fact that after 32. Nxd8, the continuation 32… Rxd8 33. Rxd1, leaves Black with a two pawn deficit and without compensation. Alert readers will doubtless observe resonances between the Keres breakthroughs on f7 against both Capablanca (1938) and Fine (1946). 

STOP PRESS

We have just learnt the sad news of the death of the great German Grandmaster, Robert Hübner. An appreciation of this remarkable practitioner of the art and science of chess will follow in next week’s column.

Ray’s 206th book, “  Chess in the Year of the King  ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “  Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius  ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwells. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with chess playing artist Barry Martin,  Chess through the Looking Glass ,  is now   available from Amazon. 

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