Keres, Paul

Keres, Paul 

Born Jan. 7, 1916, in Narva; died May 6, 1975, in Helsinki. Soviet chess player, USSR Grand Master (1941), Honored Master of Sports (1948), International Grand Master (1949), and International Judge of Chess Compositions (1957).

Keres was a journalist by profession. He was several times the chess champion of Estonia and was the champion of the USSR in 1947, 1950, and 1951. He entered and won many major international tournaments, including the 1938 AVRO tournament in the Netherlands. As part of the Soviet team, he participated in the tenth through the 15th Chess Olympiads (1952–62). His standings in tournaments to determine challengers to the world champion include fourth place in 1950, second-fourth place in 1953, second place in 1956 and 1959, and second-third place in 1962. Keres wrote The Theory of Chess Openings: Open Openings (parts 1–2, 1949–52; a third part has been published separately as French Defense, 1958). He was awarded two orders.