Suat Atalık (born October 10, 1964) is a Turkish-Bosnian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

grandmaster. He is a three-time Turkish Chess Champion.

Chess career

He was born in Turkey in 1964, represented Turkey in the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

in 1983, and was their top board for several

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

s. Despite this, and his current residence in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, he had disputes with chess organizers in his country, so he declared himself to be a resident of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, his ancestral home. During the

2000 Chess Olympiad The 34th Chess Olympiad ( tr, 34. Satranç Olimpiyatı), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to all players. and women's tourn ...

, Atalik insisted on playing for

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

rather than Turkey. As a result, the organizers of the Olympiad banned him from the competition. After the selection of the new national chess federation he returned to the Turkish national team. In 2003, he took first at

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

. In 2007 he tied for first with

Michael Roiz Michael Roiz (russian: Михаил Владимирович Ройз, translit=Mikhail Vladimirovich Royz, born 12 October 1983 in Russia) is an Israeli chess Grandmaster. He learned to play chess at the age of 7. At 9, he finished 2nd in the n ...

at the Gorenje

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...

Tournament. Atalık won the 3rd and 4th

Mediterranean Chess Championship Leading chess players from the Mediterranean Chess Association member nations, and invited guest participants, are allowed to play in the Mediterranean Chess Championship. The Mediterranean Chess Association was established at the 73rd FIDE Congress ...

s in

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, Turkey and

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, respectively. He was the only Grandmaster registered in the Turkish Chess Federation in Turkey beginning in 1994 and ending in 2005, when Mikhail Gurevich took up residence there. As of the July 2009

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

rating list, he is ranked number 165 in the world and number two in Turkey, behind Gurevich.

Notable games

Suat Atalik vs Gyula Sax, Maroczy mem 1997, Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical, Noa Variation, San Remo Variation (E37), 1-0Florian Handke vs Suat Atalik, 16th open 2000, King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Donner Defense (E94), 0-1Zurab Sturua vs Suat Atalik, Bled Olympiad 2002, Slav Defense: Chameleon Variation, Advance System (D15), 0-1Suat Atalik vs Pablo Zarnicki, Bled Olympiad 2002, Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian. Classical Variation (E12), 1-0

Personal life

He attended Galatasaray Lycee and studied

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

. On November 11, 2005 he

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

22-year-old woman grandmaster

Ekaterina Polovnikova Ekaterina Atalik (née Polovnikova; born 14 November 1982 in Kirov) is a Russian- Turkish chess player, who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She won the European Youth Chess Championship in the under-1 ...

from Russia. Former

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

challenger

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the w ...

, who also played in the World Junior Championship in 1983, was his

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

References

External links

* * *
Chessbase News Reports: Grandmaster Atalik marries Woman Grandmaster Ekaterina Polovnikova

Video Interview with Suat Atalık
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atalik, Suat 1964 births Living people Turkish chess players Bosnia and Herzegovina chess players Serbian chess players Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Turkish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Sportspeople from Istanbul Galatasaray High School alumni Boğaziçi University alumni