Paul Keres
Keres in 1938 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 January 1916 |
| Died | 5 June 1975 (aged 59) |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Estonia Soviet Union (1944–75) |
| Title | Grandmaster (1950) |
| Peak rating | 2615 (July 1971) |
| Peak ranking | No. 11 (July 1971) |
Paul Keres (7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five occasions. As Estonia was repeatedly invaded and occupied during World War II, Keres was forced by the circumstances to represent the Soviet Union (1940–41, 1944–75) and Nazi Germany (1941–44) in international tournaments.
Keres won the AVRO 1938 chess tournament, which led to negotiations for a title match against the reigning World Champion Alexander Alekhine, but the match never took place due to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Keres was runner-up in the Candidates Tournament on four consecutive occasions in 1953–1962. Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres one of the greatest "Super grandmasters" in history, and, along with Viktor Korchnoi, the strongest player never to become world champion.
His elegant manners, informal but unflappable bearing, and well‐known sense of fairness made Keres one of the game's most popular figures. Widely admired by Estonians to this day, he was nicknamed "Paul the Second", "The Eternal Second", and "The Crown Prince of Chess".