Keres, Paul
Paul Keres (1916-1975) was an Estonian grandmaster known as the "Crown Prince of Chess" for being arguably the strongest player never to become World Champion, finishing runner-up in the Candidates Tournament four consecutive times from 1953-1962. After winning the prestigious AVRO 1938 tournament ahead of future world champions, his title chances were derailed by World War II, beginning a career-long pattern of near-misses at the ultimate prize.
Total Games
1570
Wins
696
Draws
708
Losses
166
44.3% wins45.1% draws10.6% losses
Most Played Openings
C86 - Ruy Lopez: Closed, Worrall Attack26E14 - Queen's Indian Defense: Spassky System25C84 - Ruy Lopez: Closed23C99 - Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense, Panov System22C87 - Ruy Lopez: Closed, Averbakh Variation22D41 - Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense21C71 - Ruy Lopez: Noah's Ark Trap21C73 - Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense19C92 - Ruy Lopez: Closed18E19 - Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation, Main Line17
Featured Games
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Reshevsky, Samuel Herman vs Keres, Paul
World Championship 18th
1948
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Keres, Paul vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 18th
1948
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Keres, Paul vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 18th
1948
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Reshevsky, Samuel Herman vs Keres, Paul
World Championship 18th
1948
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Euwe, Max vs Keres, Paul
World Championship 18th
1948
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Keres, Paul vs Najdorf, Miguel
Gothenburg Interzonal
1955
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Smyslov, Vassily vs Keres, Paul
World Championship 18th
1948
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Keres, Paul vs Botvinnik, Mikhail
World Championship 18th
1948
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Portisch, Lajos vs Keres, Paul
Petropolis Interzonal
1973
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Smyslov, Vassily vs Keres, Paul
World Championship 18th
1948
View PrintGames (1570)
Search & Filter All Games →Kottnauer, Cenek vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2Szcawno Zdroj 1950 E19
Keres, Paul vs Szabo, Laszlo
1/2-1/2Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C87
Keres, Paul vs Lilienthal, Andor
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 C86
Keres, Paul vs Stahlberg, Gideon
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 B62
Keres, Paul vs Pytlakowski, Andrzej
0-1Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C86
Shapi, L. vs Keres, Paul
0-1Szcawno Zdroj 1950 E33
Mikenas, Vladas vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch18 1950 A28
Szabo, Laszlo vs Keres, Paul
0-1Candidats Tournament 1950 E26
Keres, Paul vs Barcza, Gedeon
1-0Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C70
Keres, Paul vs Flohr, Salo
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 B11
Taimanov, Mark E vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C29
Keres, Paul vs Pogats, Jozsef
1-0Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C86
Keres, Paul vs Bondarevsky, Igor
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 C75
Troianescu, Octavio vs Keres, Paul
0-1Szcawno Zdroj 1950 E03
Keres, Paul vs Boleslavsky, Isaak
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 A24
Kotov, Alexander vs Keres, Paul
1-0Candidats Tournament 1950 E24
Keres, Paul vs Bondarevsky, Igor
1/2-1/2Szcawno Zdroj 1950 A30
Suetin, Alexey S vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 C59
Keres, Paul vs Boleslavsky, Isaak
1-0URS-ch18 1950 B62
Keres, Paul vs Alatortsev, Vladimir
0-1URS-ch18 1950 C35
Keres, Paul vs Konstantinopolsky, Alexander
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 C01
Keres, Paul vs Aronin, Lev Solomonovich
1-0URS-ch18 1950 B66
Lilienthal, Andor vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 D27
Keres, Paul vs Lipnitsky, Isaak
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 E02
Flohr, Salo vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch18 1950 A30
Flohr, Salo vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 A14
Keres, Paul vs Tolush, Alexander V
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 A54
Keres, Paul vs Kotov, Alexander
1-0Candidats Tournament 1950 B92
Gawlikowski, Stanislaw vs Keres, Paul
0-1Szcawno Zdroj 1950 A30
Liublinsky, Victor Alexandrovic vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch18 1950 C90
Keres, Paul vs Foltys, Jan
1-0Szcawno Zdroj 1950 C10
Keres, Paul vs Szabo, Laszlo
1/2-1/2Candidats Tournament 1950 C65
Sokolsky, Alexey vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2URS-ch18 1950 A00
Averbakh, Yuri L vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch18 1950 C49
Gruenfeld, Ernst vs Keres, Paul
0-1Szcawno Zdroj 1950 A43
Keres, Paul vs Borisenko, Georgy K
1-0URS-ch18 1950 A20
Keres, Paul vs Levenfish, Grigory
1-0URS-ch17 1949 C83
Keres, Paul vs Furman, Semen Abramovich
0-1URS-ch17 1949 C86
Keres, Paul vs Flohr, Salo
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 D22
Aronin, Lev Solomonovich vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 C81
Kholmov, Ratmir D vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 C78
Keres, Paul vs Goldberg, Grigory Abramovich
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 E11
Keres, Paul vs Lilienthal, Andor
1-0URS-ch17 1949 C14
Sokolsky, Alexey vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch17 1949 C55
Boleslavsky, Isaak vs Keres, Paul
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 C91
Taimanov, Mark E vs Keres, Paul
1-0URS-ch17 1949 D31
Keres, Paul vs Kotov, Alexander
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 A13
Mikenas, Vladas vs Keres, Paul
0-1URS-ch17 1949 E20
Keres, Paul vs Kopylov, Nikolai G
1/2-1/2URS-ch17 1949 B10
Liublinsky, Victor Alexandrovic vs Keres, Paul
1-0URS-ch17 1949 C47