Early Life
Paul Keres was born in Narva (then under supremacy of Russian Empire, now Estonia).
Keres first learned about chess from his father and older brother Harald (afterwards a prominent physicist, who later told friendly jokes to his students: "I am not Pauls' brother; Paul is my brother.). With the scarcity of chess literature in his small town, he learned about chess notation from the chess puzzles in the daily newspaper, and compiled a handwritten collection of almost 1000 games. In his early days, he was known for a brilliant and sharp attacking style.
Keres was a three-time Estonian schoolboy champion, in 1930, 1932, and 1933. His playing matured after playing correspondence chess extensively while in high school. He probably played about 500 correspondence games, and at one stage had 150 correspondence games going simultaneously. In 1935, he won the International Fernschachbund (IFSB) international correspondence chess championship. From 1937 to 1941 he studied Mathematics at the University of Tartu, and competed in several interuniversity matches.
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