Outstanding: Paul Keres at the Chess Olympiad 1954

by Johannes Fischer
1/7/2021 – 105 years ago today, on January 7, 1916, Paul Keres was born. For more than 30 years, Keres was one of the world's best players, but although he finished second in four Candidates Tournaments, he never played a match for the World Championship. 105 years is not a round anniversary, but an occasion to look at a highlight of a long career. At the 1954 Chess Olympiad, Keres won gold with the Soviet Union team, and scored 13½/14 on board 4 - one of the best results ever achieved at Olympiads.
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Paul Keres at the Chess Olympiad 1954 in Amsterdam

The XI. Chess Olympiad was played in Amsterdam, from September 4 to September 25. After Dubrovnik in 1950 and Helsinki in 1952, it was the third Chess Olympiad after the war and the second post-war Olympiad in which the Soviet Union participated. In Dubrovnik, the Soviets had renounced possible Olympic glory, but in Helsinki in 1952 they took part and won their first gold medal. This was also the start of a new era, and until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet teams won gold in all but one of the following Olympiads in which they started – only in Buenos Aires 1978 they finished second behind Hungary.

In Amsterdam Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, David Bronstein, Paul Keres, Efim Geller and Alexander Kotov were part of the Soviet team, and they won smoothly. In the finals they won ten of their eleven matches and drew only against Hungary. But at that time board- and not team-points counted. Here, the six Soviet players scored 34 out of a possible 44 points, 7 more than the second-placed Argentines.

The entire team had an impressive performance, but the most successful player was Keres on board four: he scored 13½/14 and only drew against Zandor Nilsson from Sweden.

In his book "The Quest for Perfection" Keres writes about this achievement in his usual sober fashion, but also with a touch of euphoria:

"At the beginning of the Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam I once again found myself in good form. In this event I played without any sort of tension and without getting into time-trouble, in a style that was at once simple and clear. Everything worked together wonderfully, one win came after another and the end result was that [...] I achieved the absolutely best total of the Olympiad." (Paul Keres, The Quest for Perfection, Batsford 1997, p. 57).

He then presents two short, nice attacking wins – and both show the ease and the power with which Keres played in Amsterdam.

For all Keres fans:

The current ChessBase Magazine #199 includes an extensive chess portrait of the Estonian Grandmaster.

Special: AVRO 1938. "All in One": Anish Giri and Igor Stohl dissect two topical opening lines. Analyses from Norway Chess 2020 by Duda, Firouzja et al. Videos by Erwin l'Ami, Daniel King and Mihail Marin. 11 opening articles and much more!

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Be3 Qa5 11.0-0 Ng4 12.Bd2 Nb4 13.Nd5 Qc5+ 14.Kh1 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bd7 Until now both players followed a line that had often been played before. But now Keres comes up with a strong novelty. 16.Rac1N Before this game Black's position was considered to be quite playable but Keres improves on the game Geller vs Gligoric: 16.h3 Nf6 17.b4 Qb6 18.Rab1 Rfc8 19.Be3 Qd8 20.Kh2 a6 21.Nd4 Rc3 22.Rbd1 Ba4 23.Rd2 Rac8 24.Qf3 Nd7 25.Qf2 Ra3 26.Ne2 Bc3 27.Bb1 Bxd2 28.Bxd2 Bc2 29.f5 Nf6 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Bc1 Rd3 32.Qh4 Bxb1 33.Bg5 Rc2 34.Nf4 Rdd2 35.Rxb1 Qb6 36.Rg1 Qd4 37.Re1 Nh5 38.Rg1 Qxe4 0-1 (38) Geller,E-Gligoric,S Saltsjobaden 1952 16...Qb6 17.e5 Rac8 Black cannot take the pawn on b2. 17...Qxb2 18.Rc7 Bf5 19.Bxf5 gxf5 20.h3 Nh6 21.Rxe7 and White has a winning position. 18.e6 fxe6 19.dxe6 Rxc1 20.Bxc1 Bc6? After this move Black's position quickly collapses. The engines recommend 20...Be8 as best defense - and see only a slight advantage for White. 21.Nh4 Nh6 22.f5 Qd4? This loses. To save himself Black had to find a hidden tactical ressource. 22...Nxf5 23.Bxf5 Qd4! A defensive "zwischenzug" that is difficult to see. After 23...gxf5 24.Nxf5 White is winning. 24.Bg5 Qxb2 25.Bg4 and though White is clearly better, Black can still fight. 23.Rf4 Qc5 23...Qe5 does not help. After 24.fxg6 Qxe2 Or 24...hxg6 25.Nxg6 Qxe2 26.Nxe7+ Kh8 27.Ng6+ Kg8 28.Rxf8+ Bxf8 29.Bxe2 with a winning position for White. 25.gxh7+ Kh8 26.Ng6+ Black loses the house. 24.Be3 g5 With this queen sacrifice Black tries to muddy the waters. But after 24...Qd5 25.fxg6 hxg6 26.Nxg6 Black's position is also hopeless, e.g. Re8 27.Bc4 Qa5 28.Rf7 mit Gewinn. 25.Bxc5 dxc5 26.f6 gxf4 27.fxg7 Rf6 28.Qh5 Kxg7 29.Qg5+ Kf8 30.Ng6+ hxg6 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Bxg6 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keres,P-Gereben,E-1–01954E76Olympiad-11 Final A4
 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 e6 8.0-0 Qc7?! Apparently, Black is not particularly familiar with the theory of the Najdorf and his careless play quickly brings him into trouble. Better was 8...Qa5 9.Bxe6! Keres accepts the invitation. fxe6 10.Nxe6 Qc4 11.Nd5 White has two pawns and a strong attack for the piece - more than enough compensation. Kf7 12.Bxf6 Kxe6?! After this move Black loses material. As Keres indicates in his analyses, Black had to play 12...Nxf6 "During the game I intended to reply to 12...Nxf6 with 13.b3 , since after the only possible retreat of the queen, 13...Qb5, White wins a whole rook by 14.Nec7. Black has, however, a better defence in that he can give up his queen by Qxf1+! 14.Qxf1 Bxe6 The position arising is difficult to appraise, it being one in which, materially speaking, Black has nothing to complain about, but on account of the insecure position of his king he will have to reckon with great activity on the part of the enemy queen. [...] It seem to me that in this case, too, White's chances would have been preferable, but the result would have been quite unclear and Black would undoubtedly have had the better prospects than he now has in the game." 13.Bc3 Nf6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nb6 Qc6 16.Nxa8 Be7 17.a4 b6 18.Qd5+ Kd7 19.Ra3 Bd8 20.Nxb6+ 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keres,P-Sajtar,J-1–01954B94Olympiad-11 Final A10

Keres at the Chess Olympiad 1954 - Games

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Bc4 Nb6 9.Bb3 Be7 10.Qf3 Qc7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.g4 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Qxc4 14.h4 Re8 15.h5 Bd7 16.h6 g6 17.e5 Nd5 18.Bxe7 Nxc3 19.bxc3 Rxe7 20.exd6 Ree8 21.g5 Qxa2 22.Qe3 Qa1+ 23.Kd2 Qa5 24.Qe5 Qxe5 25.fxe5 Rec8 26.Rhe1 Bc6 27.c4 Kf8 28.Rb1 Ra7 29.Rf1 Ke8 30.Rf4 Bg2 31.d7+ Kxd7 32.Rxf7+ Ke8 33.Rxh7 Rxc4 34.Kd3 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keres,P-Katajisto,O-1–01954B98Olympiad-11 Preliminaries A1
Panagopoulos,T-Keres,P-0–11954A60Olympiad-11 Preliminaries A2
Keres,P-Prameshuber,A-1–01954C84Olympiad-11 Preliminaries A3
Keres,P-Palmason,G-1–01954B88Olympiad-11 Preliminaries A5
Nilsson,Z-Keres,P-½–½1954C99Olympiad-11 Final A1
Keres,P-Clarke,P-1–01954C06Olympiad-11 Final A2
Keres,P-Oren,M-1–01954B76Olympiad-11 Final A3
Keres,P-Gereben,E-1–01954E76Olympiad-11 Final A4
Bobekov,R-Keres,P-0–11954D32Olympiad-11 Final A5
Keres,P-Agustsson,G-1–01954B11Olympiad-11 Final A6
Pilnik,H-Keres,P-0–11954C90Olympiad-11 Final A7
Keres,P-Darga,K-1–01954B26Olympiad-11 Final A9
Keres,P-Sajtar,J-1–01954B94Olympiad-11 Final A10
Keres,P-Donner,J-1–01954C86Olympiad-11 Final A11

Links

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.