Watch Paul Keres: The King (2023) Official Trailer

When this film reached the editing table, the British newspaper The Guardian, which reaches thirty million readers, featured an article by renowned chess writer Leonard Barden, “Pride of Estonia: Paul Keres, one of the best to never hold chess world crown”. “Keres became a national hero for Estonians,” writes Leonard Barden, who believed that the Soviet authorities forced him to play badly at the 1948 World Championship tournament. Most of the professionals who appear in the film also agree with the theory that Paul Keres was influenced by the Soviet authorities. But some disagree.