Paul Keres, along with Soviet rival Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Max Euwe and Samuel Reshevsky contested the title in a tournament split between The Hague in the Netherlands and Moscow.

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.

Owing to a combination of bad timing, bad faith and bad luck, such all-time greats as Poland’s Akiba Rubinstein and Estonia’s Paul Keres never got the shot at a world title match that their ...