<By Robert D. McFadden
June 6, 1975
Paul Keres, the Estonian grandmaster who has ranked among the world's leading chess players for nearly 40 years, died of a heart attack yesterday in Helsinki, Finland, according to the Soviet press agency, Tass. He was 59 years old.
Though ill in recent years, Mr. Keres remained one of the most formidable and popular figures in international chess. He had in fact won first prize in two major international tournaments this year—one last February in Tallinn, the Estonian Soviet Republic where he made his home, and the other last month in Vancouver, B. C.
Mr. Keres never won the title of world chess champion, but he had been among the championship contenders since before World War II. Over the years, he won first place in more than a score of international tournaments.
In addition, he was champion of the Soviet Union three times —in 1947, 1950 and 1951—and held European championships three times and won four world chess Olympiads. In 1936, when he was 20, he shared first place in a tournament with Dr. Alexander Alekhine, the world champion at the time.
Known for Slashing Style
A tall, lithe man with elegant manners and an informal but unflappable bearing, Mr. Keres was regarded as one of the most spirited players in chess, and his competitiveness and well‐known sense of fairness made him one of the game's most popular figures.
His style was to attack, and his chief weapon was the combination—the creation of a series of moves to force an opponent's hand but yet erode his game, materially or positionally. He frequently eschewed methodical endings in favor of sharp tactics that produced exciting finishes.
In Tallinn last February, for example, he managed to win a pawn in a game with his old rival, Mark Taimanov of the Soviet Union. But instead of following the slow process of grinding his opponent down with the small advantage, he devised a tactical combination that ended the game with his personal trademark: the slashing Keres style.
Paul Petrovich Keres was born in Narva, Estonia, on Jan. 7, 1916, and learned to play chess at 4 by watching his father at the game board. He found little opportunity for tournament play as a boy, but took up correspondence chess.
He first played chess in public at 13, and his successes were rapid and brilliant. In 1933 and 1934, he won prizes in strong tournaments and, late in 1934, won the Estonian champnioship.International tournament play followed and his successes multiplied.
Mr. Keres studied mathematics but gave up a career in that field for chess. In addition to playing in four or five major tournaments every year, he wrote a number of books on chess openings and middlegame theory. His latest book, “Practical Chess Endings,” appeared last year.
He was married and the father of two children.>
Kibitzing
