On Nov 20, 12:51 pm, Taylor Kingston wrote:

Did Keres' family situation allow this?

I don't know about during most of WW II, but toward the end, when
the USSR was re-taking Estonia from the Germans, Keres had a chance to
get away. However, it would have been escape for him alone. He was not
willing to abandon his wife and children.


A wife and children -- right there is the elusive
smoking gun. No wonder he wasn't able to take
the title. Did Bobby Fischer have a wife and
chldren? No. Did Gary Kasparov? Nope (his
mother doesn't count). What about Alexander
Alekhine? Nyet. This is (obviously) a handicap,
much like adopting the French Defense as
black and the Reti or Bird's as white.


-- help bot