Paul Keres

Paul Keres (7 January 1916 to 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer, one of the world top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Because Estonia was repeatedly occupied during World War II, he represented the Soviet Union in international tournaments in 1940 to 1941 and from 1944 to 1975, and Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. He won the AVRO 1938 tournament, which led to talks for a title match against champion Alexander Alekhine that the outbreak of war prevented. He was runner-up in the Candidates Tournament four times in a row from 1953 to 1962. Many historians count him, with Viktor Korchnoi, as the strongest player never to become world champion, and Estonians nicknamed him the Eternal Second.