"The Road to the Top" by Paul Keres review

Paul Keres · March 23, 2013

The story of the chess career of Paul Keres could take more than one book, and the most valuable source of information can be considered the author’s own thoughts on his sporting career. In those days every self-respecting chess player tried to display his views on paper — now, not many members of high chess society would risk revealing the secrets of their creative laboratory, since it would certainly give some advantage to a potential opponent at the board. Of course, Paul Petrovich decided to take this step only in the twilight of his career as a chess player; he was truly a veteran of the game. The world first heard of the young Estonian in 1937, after he took first place in tournaments in Margate and Ostend, but he really became popular a year later, at the very strong AVRO tournament in Holland. Nobody expected such powerful play from a young man — Keres tied for first place with American player Reuben Fine. But you need to know who else took part there: to name just a few, World Champion Alexander Alekhine, Capablanca, Euwe, Botvinnik, and others — it was almost a royal family of chess. After this event, it became clear that there was another contender for the chess crown; apparently only the beginning of World War II prevented this from happening.

Paul Keres

The book can be called autobiographical — the author tries to show events as he saw them, and in it you will find many interesting stories about Paul. Naturally, it also contains many excellently annotated games against well-known chess players; the author decided to select for the book only the games he won. But the Estonian had a positive overall balance against almost all the best chess players, and even world champions — he managed to draw with world champion Anatoly Karpov near the end of his life. It’s believed the book’s title was chosen somewhat inaccurately — in Russian the book is called “One Hundred Games”, but naturally with such a title it would be impossible to sell many copies, so for English readers the title “The Road to the Top” was chosen. Keres was, after all, one of the top chess players for 30 years — no one would argue with a title like “The Road on the Top”, though it might not quite fit the character of Paul Petrovich. Who is this book addressed to? It’s written entirely in simple language for a wide range of readers, but the greatest benefit will be found by chess players with a dynamic style of piece play — this was one of Keres’s strongest traits. Each chapter begins with a detailed description of some period of his career, and you’ll see how difficult and sometimes dangerous an athlete’s career can be. The author is also known for his theoretical research into the opening stage and the endgame, though the greatest attention here is paid to the middle game. You will learn more about critical positions and how to make the right decisions in them. The book is certainly worth reading and is one of the best for improving your game. Paul Keres remains a national hero in Estonia for his contribution to the country’s standing in chess.

2nd of September 2011