Speaking of Keres...

In the last post I briefly mentioned Paul Keres. It so happens this year is the centenary of his birth, and to mark the occasion, Chess24.com will be publishing a series of articles. Their introduction to the series:

To mark [Keres's] centenary his compatriot Joosep Grents looks back on the life and career of the “Eternal Second”, starting with Keres’ early years until his explosion onto the international scene at the 1935 Olympiad.

The author's introduction to the piece presents what he hopes to accomplish:

To mark the Year of Paul Keres, in the following months I’m aiming to publish a series of articles shedding light on the events of his life. A lot has been written about a player who was prevented from playing a World Championship match against Alexander Alekhine by World War II, and who Chessmetrics report was ranked world no. 2 for 52 different months between 1943 and 1960. The material available in English, however, is limited. Most extensive biographies – and literature going beyond mere game collections – has been published in Estonian, and mostly by Keres’ biographer Valter Heuer. This has not, to my knowledge, been translated into English. The motivation for these articles is therefore not only to celebrate the centenary of Keres’ birth, but also to open up literature that may not be available to non-Estonian speakers.  

I haven't read the first article yet, as it's long and I have a six year-old to chase, but it looks promising. And those with an interest in Keres's games should check the club library. Keres's wrote three collections of his games, and the single-volume English translation by Golumbek is up on the shelf. The books (or book in this case) are simply outstanding. There are two downsides to the volume, however. First, it is the size of a standard paperback novel, and thus doesn't lay flat when open. (The collection is quite large.) Second, it is in the old English Descriptive Notation. That's not a problem for me, but I know some of you break out into hives at the thought of it. So, fair warning!