Due to the keen reception of my translation of Paul Keres’ World Chess Championship 1948, it is already time to publish a third edition. How did this project get started? After learning it was one of Garry Kasparov’s favourite books, I decided to translate it from Estonian to English. Much can be said about Garry, but he does not readily offer compliments or recommendations. Hearing of his high praise for this book, I understood I had found a treasure the chess world had overlooked. I worked on the book for four years, in tandem with my regular studies and work, and finally achieved my goal of publishing it in 2016, on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Paul Keres. What is so remarkable about World Chess Championship 1948 by Paul Keres to make it worth studying by new generations of chess players when there are so many more recent books featuring updated theory and ever stronger players? There are good reasons why this book remains relevant today. First is the historical significance of the tournament. The 1948 World Chess Championship occupies a unique place in chess history. Elite international chess tournaments were rare occurrences in World War II, and the 1948 World Chess Championship is considered the world’s most paramount chess event since the 1938 AVRO tournament. The 1948 lineup was incredibly strong; the five participants included one former and two future world champions. The competition ended with Mikhail Botvinnik being crowned as the new world champion, heralding the start of the Soviet hegemony of international chess that would prevail for decades to come.
Second is the quality of the games and comments. Books from the pre-computer era usually contain substantial analytical errors. However, all the analyses in this book were checked with chess engines. But there were practically no significant mistakes, and this was in a book written in 1949 under conditions far from ideal for Keres. What makes World Chess Championship 1948 unique, aside from Keres’ profound analytical ability, is the exceptional clarity with which he explains what is going on in the games using an abundance of verbal comments instead of a forest of bare variations. In my opinion, the instructional benefit of studying the games of past masters also surpasses the value of studying today’s best players because their plans were much more straightforward in those times. This book was the first I translated, and it motivated me to start my own company, Verendel Publishing, which aims to publish high-quality, timeless chess books. This goal is focused not only on our books’ content but also on their production qualities. People today can easily and quickly access information online, and a screen can be its delivery portal. But it can never replace the feeling of luxury when holding a book in your hand. With every turn of the page, you will experience a sense of craftsmanship, depth of content quality, and lofty production values. This edition has been significantly improved compared to the two previous ones. Philip Jurgens (Canada) has done a terrific job reviewing the whole book again, giving the grammar, diction, and syntax a final lift. Photos have been added and colourized with modern techniques to enhance the reader’s feeling of the tournament’s atmosphere. Most of the photographs appear courtesy of the Nationaal Archief of The Netherlands, the Soviet World News Services (1948), and the tournament book Wereld-Kampioenschap Schaken 1948 by Max Euwe. Since my first book, I have published two other great successes, namely Akiba Rubinstein by Yuri Razuvaev and Valery Murakhveri and Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess, Volume I: The Musketeer Years 1908–1939 by Peter Holmgren. Many more books are yet to come, and I hope you will accompany me on this journey. Nothing makes me happier than receiving feedback from my readers, whether you have found a typo in the book, have a suggestion for a future publication, or just enjoyed reading the book. If you liked the book or even improved your game, tell me because then I know that the time and effort spent on this work was not in vain, which keeps me ‘in the game’. With these words, I invite you, dear reader, to travel back to 1948. Let us embark on this voyage into the heart of chess mastery, guided by the incomparable Paul Keres.
Jan Verendel
Stockholm, November 2024
Excerpt
