Keres and communism

[Paul Ashton]

Reuben Fine in the Paul Keres section of the The World's Great Chess Gamescomments that 'It was no secret that he was an avowed enemy of communism:'. This seems a remarkable statement. The book was first published in 1951 and presumably copies would make their way to the Soviet Union where Keres' political masters wouldn't view this opinion too kindly. Presumably Fine knew Keres reasonably well, playing a number of tournaments with him, so perhaps it came from a conversation. However a number of authors note Keres' reluctance to discuss matters outside of chess. Hans Ree on pg 36 of My Chess (2013) called Keres 'The Great Silent One' and Larsen in Guezendam's Finding Bobby Fischer (1994, pg 128) notes Keres 'quiet and balanced way' and says that he would say very little about his personal history. Hence comments on communism by Keres would seem very much out of character. Alternatively is it unreliable journalism from Fine? Edward Winter has levelled this charge against Fine, with strong supporting evidence (see Chess Notes on the Fine claim that Bogoljubow had 'some of his rivals put in concentration camps by the Nazis' .

So is there any support anywhere for Fine's statement about Keres or is it unreliable journalism?

[Ian Jamieson]

Reuben Fine in the Paul Keres section of the The World's Great Chess Gamescomments that 'It was no secret that he was an avowed enemy of communism:'. This seems a remarkable statement. The book was first published in 1951 and presumably copies would make their way to the Soviet Union where Keres' political masters wouldn't view this opinion too kindly. Presumably Fine knew Keres reasonably well, playing a number of tournaments with him, so perhaps it came from a conversation. However a number of authors note Keres' reluctance to discuss matters outside of chess. Hans Ree on pg 36 of My Chess (2013) called Keres 'The Great Silent One' and Larsen in Guezendam's Finding Bobby Fischer (1994, pg 128) notes Keres 'quiet and balanced way' and says that he would say very little about his personal history. Hence comments on communism by Keres would seem very much out of character. Alternatively is it unreliable journalism from Fine? Edward Winter has levelled this charge against Fine, with strong supporting evidence (see Chess Notes on the Fine claim that Bogoljubow had 'some of his rivals put in concentration camps by the Nazis' .

So is there any support anywhere for Fine's statement about Keres or is it unreliable journalism?

Given his and Estonia’s history it would perhaps be surprising if he wasn’t opposed to both communism and fascism but at the same time had learned not to express any strong views in public one way or the other.

Fine was presumably writing for a largely American audience and perhaps wrote what he expected would go down well with his audience.

If copies did make their way to the Soviet Union I suspect Keres just denied the claim and if necessary made a statement in favour of communism.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Towards the end of his life he was asked about his failure to become WC and replied "I was unlucky, like my country".

His funeral apparently saw the (then banned) Estonian national flag significantly in evidence.

[MJMcCready]

Reuben Fine in the Paul Keres section of the The World's Great Chess Gamescomments that 'It was no secret that he was an avowed enemy of communism:'. This seems a remarkable statement. The book was first published in 1951 and presumably copies would make their way to the Soviet Union where Keres' political masters wouldn't view this opinion too kindly. Presumably Fine knew Keres reasonably well, playing a number of tournaments with him, so perhaps it came from a conversation. However a number of authors note Keres' reluctance to discuss matters outside of chess. Hans Ree on pg 36 of My Chess (2013) called Keres 'The Great Silent One' and Larsen in Guezendam's Finding Bobby Fischer (1994, pg 128) notes Keres 'quiet and balanced way' and says that he would say very little about his personal history. Hence comments on communism by Keres would seem very much out of character. Alternatively is it unreliable journalism from Fine? Edward Winter has levelled this charge against Fine, with strong supporting evidence (see Chess Notes on the Fine claim that Bogoljubow had 'some of his rivals put in concentration camps by the Nazis' .

So is there any support anywhere for Fine's statement about Keres or is it unreliable journalism?

Given his and Estonia’s history it would perhaps be surprising if he wasn’t opposed to both communism and fascism but at the same time had learned not to express any strong views in public one way or the other.

Fine was presumably writing for a largely American audience and perhaps wrote what he expected would go down well with his audience.

If copies did make their way to the Soviet Union I suspect Keres just denied the claim and if necessary made a statement in favour of communism.

That's likely to be the case I would say.

[Geoff Chandler]

If we look at the full statement of what Reuben Fine wrote.

"After the war Keres became a Soviet citizen by incorporation, when the Baltic countries were returned to the USSR. It was no secret that he was an avowed enemy of communism; in fact, it was widely reported that in the bloody purge of his countrymen by the Stalinist regime, Keres's life was saved only because of his chess prowess.

When I met him again in person in Moscow in 1946, he visited me in my hotel room (which the other Soviet masters were afraid to do at that time) and castigated the regime mercilessly. "

The World's Great Chess Games. pg.233.

I took that from here: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/kibitzi ... &reply=412

I do not know if that is from the 1951 edition or a later edition in 1960. A revised edition came out in 2012. (Fine died in 1993) did he update it after 1960.

If the part about him visiting Fine in his hotel room got back to the Politburo Paul in 1951 he may have had to do some fast talking or just deny it and put it down to a decadent westerner trying to make a quick buck.

[MJMcCready]

Thanks for posting, makes it a little clearer.

[Colin Patterson]

For the run down on Keres' complicated life, the best source I have found is Sosonko, who devotes a chapter to him in Russian Silhouettes.

Quite honestly, it is amazing that he was able to focus on chess at all. We can only imagine how good he would have been if his relationship with the Soviet system had not been so stressful and fragile.

[Paul Ashton]

If we look at the full statement of what Reuben Fine wrote.

"After the war Keres became a Soviet citizen by incorporation, when the Baltic countries were returned to the USSR. It was no secret that he was an avowed enemy of communism; in fact, it was widely reported that in the bloody purge of his countrymen by the Stalinist regime, Keres's life was saved only because of his chess prowess.

When I met him again in person in Moscow in 1946, he visited me in my hotel room (which the other Soviet masters were afraid to do at that time) and castigated the regime mercilessly. "

The World's Great Chess Games. pg.233.

I took that from here: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/kibitzi ... &reply=412

I do not know if that is from the 1951 edition or a later edition in 1960. A revised edition came out in 2012. (Fine died in 1993) did he update it after 1960.

If the part about him visiting Fine in his hotel room got back to the Politburo Paul in 1951 he may have had to do some fast talking or just deny it and put it down to a decadent westerner trying to make a quick buck.

Geoff, thanks for that full text. The reference to the 1946 Moscow meeting isn't included in my edition of Fine's book (Dover, 1983; presumably a reprint of the 1976 Revised and Expanded edition).

[Paul Ashton]

Incidentally there is a fine article on Keres in today's Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... orld-crown

Leonard draws upon his own loss to Keres at Hastings in 1957 to highlight Keres' adaptability (though it became apparent later that Keres was using Leonard as preparation for a game against Tal). Great pictures too.

There is wealth of detail on Keres' post war problems alongside the wider context of Soviet machinations in volume II of Voronkov's brilliant series on the USSR championships. Volume III has much of Keres related interest too.