Botvinnik claimed that the reasons why Keres never reached the very top was twofold. First, when confronted with new openings he did not “orientate himself” well and he generally preferred obsolete opening systems. Second, he had a “psychological problem” on that he had “a tendency to fade somewhat at decisive moments” and “when his mood was spoiled he played below his capabilities.”
Keres' health began declining in about 1973 and he played very little after that. In 1975, while returning home from a tournament in Vancouver, Canada, he died of a heart attack in Helsinki, Finland; he was only 59 years old. Vancouver was an open tournament and Keres scored +7 -0 =3 to finish 1.5 points ahead of Gyozo Forintos (Hungary), John Watson (United States) and Elod Macskasy (Canada). He was buried in Tallinn and over 100,000 (!) were in attendance at his funeral, including former World Champion Max Euwe.
While admired for his dashing stylr over the board, little emphasis has been placed on his early correspondence career. In the 1930s, while still in high school, his play matured as a result of his correspondence play. It’s said that he probably played about 1500 correspondence games. In 1935, at the age of 19, he won the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IFSB) international correspondence championship.
Today’s game, a correspondence game that won a Brilliancy Prize, is one of the earliest known examples in which Keres carried out an attack on the grand manner in which he later became famous for in his over the board play.
M. von Feilitzsch (Germany)–Paul Keres (Estonia)0–1C22Correspondence (Brilliancy Prize)corr1932Komodo Dragon 3
C22: Center Game 1.e4 e5 2.d4 The Center Game had mostly been abandoned
by 1900 because white couldm't demonstrate any advantage. More recently GM
Alexander Shabalov revived it in the 1980s and later Alexei Shirov, Michael
Adams, Judit Polgár and Alexander Morozevich gave it a try. Any success they
had with it was probably more to to their great strength that the mnerits of
the opening. exd4 3.xd4 c6 White's early Q move allows black to develop
with a tempo, nut it's white's hope that he can develop a quick attack. 4.e3 f6 5.c3 b4 6.d2 0-0 7.0-0-0 e8 8.c4 This is an attempt to obtain a
speculative attack at the cost of a Pawn. White usually plays 8.Qg3 d6
Rather than accept the P, Keres prefers to take the initiative
himself. Later he thought 8...Ba5 and 9...d5 would have been better, but that
is not the necessarily true. 8...xc3 9.xc3 xe4 10.f4 was played in
Winawer-Steinitz, Nuremburg, 1896. The chances are equal. 9.f3 a5 10.d3 10.b3 xb3+ 11.axb3 a5 12.f2 d7 13.ge2 a4 Black has a slight
advantage which he was able to convert to a win. Romero Holmes,A (2490)-Karpov,
A (2725) Madrid 1992 10...d5 An excellent move that frees his game and
threatens ...d4. White should have now offered a B trade with either 11.Nb5 or
11.Nce2 11.g5 h6 11...d4 at once is less effective. 12.Nd5 was vorrect/ 12.ce2 ...but not after this! h6 13.g3 xd2+ 14.xd2 c5 and black has
a significant advantage. Rudd,J (2288)-Rayner,F (2166) Hastings ENG 2013 12.h4 d4 Black is doing quite well here, but white should still play 13.Nd5 13.ce2 xd2+!-+ 14.xd2 c5 White's opening has turned out to be a fiasco.
He is not only sadly backward in his development, but he is also threatened by
a P-storm on the Q-side. In fact, Keres has a decisive advantage. 15.c4
After this B is worthless, and black's passed d-Pawn is more formidable than
ever. White discarded 15.b4 because it would weaken his dark squares and, also,
it would not restrain the advance of black's Ps. However, the text move also
sets up an equally flimsy barrier. 15.b3 was necessary. c6 16.g4
At least trying to counterattack. b4 17.g5 17.b1 allows the nifty move xe4 18.xd8 xd2+ 19.c1 xb3+ 20.axb3 xd3+ 21.cxd3 xd8 with an easy
win. 17...h7 18.b2 hxg5 19.g3 a5 Black is winning. 15...e6 16.b3 It is futile to try to avoid this weakening move. 16.e5 This forces the
trade of Qs, but it does not solve white's problems. d7 17.xd8 axd8
and white is faced with a loss of an important P...either on c4 or e5. 16...b5 Beginning the attack in earnest. 17.f4 17.cxb5 allows a pretty
sacrifice... xb3 18.axb3 xb3+ 19.d1 xd2 20.xd2 xe4+ 17...bxc4 18.xe6 xe6 19.bxc4 b8 20.e2 b6 Black's P advance has resulted in the
opening of the b-file which he now proceeds to exploit. The immediate threat
is ...Nxc4 and the N is immune because of ...Qb1# 21.d1 b4 22.g3 d7
An unobtrusive move, but it lays the froundwork for some tactical fireworks.
It's a multi-purpose move that protects the R on b1 which frees the Q and it
makes room for the R on e6 to move along the rank. 23.c2 a3 24.f4
This is refuted in elegant style, but there was no satisfactory defense. 24.c1 g6 25.h3 b1 26.e2 b2 27.d1 xc2 28.xc2 Watch black's far away
N on d7 join the attack. e5 29.f4 c3+ 30.d1 g4 There is no answer to
the threat of ...Nf2+ 31.f1 xc4 32.xc4 e3+ 33.e2 xc4+ 34.d3 c2+ 35.f3 xd3 24...g6 It;s time for the aforementioned lateral movement of
the R. 25.f3 xg2 The R cannot be taken. 26.e5 Keeping the
Rook under attack, and threatening B-R 7 ch. Keres could extricate himself
with the put in ready 2e chooses a ris looking continuation which soon leaves
two more pieces en prise ! 26.xg2 xd3+ 27.d2 b1+ 28.c1 xc4 29.c2 d3+ 30.d2 30.d2 f3+ 30...a3 31.c2 d3 wins. For exampls, if 32.e1 dxc2+ 33.xc2 b2 wins the Q. 26...b1+ 27.c1 It's time for
another sacrifice. xc4 28.xb1 e3+ 29.xe3 This is a waste
of postage. 29.e1 allows a mate in 3 a5+ 30.b4 xb4+ 31.c3 xc3# 29.d2 c3# 29...dxe3 30.c4 a4+ 31.b3 e4 32.b2 xe2 This R has
come a long way from e6. White resigned because he must lose at least a piece.
Flawless play by Keres. 32...xe2 33.xe2 33.xe2 b1# 33...xh1 34.xe3 g5 wins easily. 0–1
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