Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia and Yugoslavia. In 1958, he received the Golden Badge award for the best athlete of Yugoslavia. During the 1950s and 1960s, Gligorić was one of the top players in the world reaching the Candidates Tournament multiple times. In his career he won both team (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

) and individual board 1 ( 1958) gold medals at the

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 FIDE Onli ...

thus becoming one of the few players in chess history to do so (along with Kashdan, Rubinstein, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Korchnoi, Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Aronian, Ding and Gukesh). He was also among the world's most popular players, owing to his globe-trotting tournament schedule and a particularly engaging personality, reflected in the title of his autobiography book, ''I Play Against Pieces'' (i.e., without hostility toward the opponent, and not differently against different players for psychological reasons; playing "the board and not the man").

Early years

Gligorić was born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

to a poor family. According to his recollections, his first exposure to chess was as a small child watching patrons play in a neighborhood bar. He began to play at the age of eleven, when taught by a boarder taken in by his mother (his father had died by this time). Lacking a

chess set A chess set consists of a chessboard and White and Black in chess, white and black chess pieces for playing chess. There are sixteen pieces of each color: one King (chess), king, one Queen (chess), queen, two Rook (chess), rooks, two Bishop (chess ...

, he made one for himself by carving pieces from corks from wine bottles—a story paralleling the formative years of his contemporary, the renowned

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n grandmaster

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

. Gligorić was a good student during his youth, with both academic and athletic successes that famously led to him to be invited to represent his school at a birthday celebration for Prince Peter, who later became King

Peter II of Yugoslavia Peter II Karađorđević (; 6 September 1923 – 3 November 1970) was the last King of Yugoslavia, reigning from October 1934 until he was deposed in November 1945. He was the last reigning member of the Karađorđević dynasty. The eldest ...

. He later recounted to

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

David Levy (who chronicled his chess career in ''The Chess of Gligoric'') his distress at attending this gala event wearing poor clothing stemming from his family's impoverished condition. His first tournament success came in 1938 when he won the Belgrade Chess Club championship; however, World War II interrupted his chess progress for a time. During the war, Gligorić was a member of a

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

unit. A chance encounter with a chess-playing partisan officer led to his removal from combat. Following the death of his parents, he was adopted in 1940 at the age of 17 by

Niko Miljanić Dr. Nikola "Niko" Miljanić (Serbian language, Serbian Serbian Cyrillic, Cyrillic: Никола "Нико" Миљанић; 1892 – 20 October 1957) was a Montenegro, Montenegrin and Serbia, Serbian Anatomy, anatomist and Surgery, surgeon, profess ...

. Following World War II, Gligorić worked for several years as a journalist and organizer of chess tournaments. He continued to progress as a player and was awarded the

title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title in 1951, eventually making the transition to full-time chess professional.

Chess career

During the 1950s and 1960s, Gligorić was one of the world's strongest players, with a number of tournament victories to his credit and three participations in the Candidates tournaments. Thanks to his engaging personality, Gligorić became a lifelong friend of many legendary players like

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vardani Petrosian (; ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing s ...

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (; ; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occa ...

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ; – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...

and

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf ( ; born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf; 15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish-Argentine chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a leadin ...

. He was Yugoslav champion a record 11 times in 1947 (joint), 1948 (joint), 1949, 1950, 1956, 1957, 1958 (joint), 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1966. He represented his native

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

with great success in fifteen

s between 1950 and 1982 (thirteen times on ), playing 223 games (+88−26=109). In the first post-World War II Olympiad, on home soil at Dubrovnik 1950, Gligoric played on board 1 and led Yugoslavia to a historic result, the team gold medal. This was during a golden age of Serbian chess, a period when Yugoslavia (led by Serbian grandmasters like Gligorić, Ivkov,

Trifunović Trifunović ( sr-cyr, Tpифунoвић, ) is a Serbian surname, derived from the given name " Trifun" (from Greek Tryphon), which may refer to: *Aleksandar Trifunović (basketball) (born 1967), basketballer * Aleksandar Trifunović (footballer) ( ...

, Matanović,

Matulović Matulović ( sr-cyr, Матуловић) is a Serbo-Croatian surname, a patronymic derived from the archaic Slavic given name ''Matul''. It may refer to: *Marina Matulović-Dropulić (born 1942), Croatian politician *Milan Matulović, Serbian chess ...

, Ljubojević etc.) was usually among the top three chess countries in the world which led to Gligorić becoming the man with the most team-medals in the history of the Chess Olympiad: 12 (1 gold, 6 silvers and 5 bronze medals). His best individual result was the gold medal on board 1 at the 1958 Olympiad in Munich ahead of reigning world champion

and former world champion

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

. With this medal Gligorić became one of only 13 players (along with Kashdan, Rubinstein, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Korchnoi, Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Aronian, Ding and Gukesh) with both team and individual board 1 gold medals at Chess Olympiad. On top of that, he was very successful at European championship as well winning 6 team medals and 5 board medals, including individual board 1 gold medal that he won in 1973 together with

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilyevich Spassky (; January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigra ...

. His list of first-place finishes in international chess competitions is one of the longest and includes such events as Warsaw 1947 (ahead of

Smyslov Smyslov (masculine, ) or Smyslova (feminine, ) is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Vasily Osipovich Smyslov (1881–1943), Russian chess master and the father of Vasily Vasilievich Smyslov * Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( ...

and Boleslavsky),

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

1950 and 1953 (ahead of the entire 1952 Argentina Olympic team: Najdorf, Bolbochan, Eliskases, Pilnik and Rossetto), Stockholm 1954, Dallas 1957 (ahead of Reshevsky, Szabo, Larsen and Najdorf), Belgrade 1962 (ahead of Ivkov) and 1969 (tied with Ivkov and Polugaevsky), Tel Aviv 1966, Manila 1968, Lone Pine (California) 1972 and 1979, Staunton Memorial 1951, Sarajevo 1962 (tied with Portisch), Los Angeles 1974 and many others. He was also a regular competitor in the series of great tournaments held at

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, with wins (or ties for first) in 1951–52, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61 and 1962–63. His five wins and shared wins at Hastings remains a record for the event. Some other notable results include second place in Buenos Aires 1955, Hastings 1957/58 (behind

), Zurich 1959 (ahead of Keres and Fischer but ½ point behind Tal), Hastings 1961/62 (behind Botvinnik), Reykjavik 1964 (behind Tal), great tournament in Zagreb 1970 (ahead of Petrosian, tied with Smyslov, Korchnoi and

Hort Hort may refer to: * Hort, Hungary, a settlement in Heves county * Hort., an abbreviation which indicates that a name for a plant saw significant use in the horticultural literature but was never properly published * Hort (surname) See also

...

, behind Fischer) and

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

1971 (tied with Petrosian, behind Korchnoi). Gligorić was also third in Mar del Plata 1955, very strong Bled 1961 tournament (ahead of Geller and Najdorf, tied with Keres and Petrosian, behing Fischer and Tal) and Havana 1952 (behind Najdorf and Reshevsky), as well as fourth in

Capablanca Memorial The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...

1962 (tied with Smyslov, behind Najdorf, Spassky and Polugaevsky), San Antionio 1972 (ahead of Keres and Hort, behind Portisch, Karpov and Petrosian) and in the 1956 Alekhine Memorial Tournament held in Moscow. Sixteen leading grandmasters took part in this prestigious tournament, which made Gligorić's result even more valuable. The fact that Gligorić finished behind Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov and

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific chess author, Taimanov was awarded the title of Grandmas ...

, but ahead of

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 195 ...

, Miguel Najdorf and Paul Keres lead Bronstein to claim that Gligoric was one of the top three players in the world at that moment. His record in world championship qualifying events was mixed. He was a regular competitor in Zonal and

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

competitions with several successes, e.g. zonal wins in 1951, 1960 (joint), 1963, 1966, and 1969 (joint) and 8 participations in the interzonal tournaments between 1948 and 1973 with his best result coming in 1958 when he was 2nd, half a point behind the future world champion, Mikhail Tal. During this period, the Serbian grandmaster missed only one of these tournaments in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. Successful performances at interzonal level in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

enabled him to participate in Candidates Tournaments the following years. He was not that successful in any of those Candidates events, however, finishing 13th in the 1953, 5th in 1959 and with 3½–5½ loss against

in the quarterfinals of the 1968 Candidates match series. Two years later, in 1970, Gligorić participated in one of the greatest chess events of the 20th century, a match between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. That year,

gathered literally all the best players in the world from both sides of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

, among them Gligorić, who played on the fifth board for Team World. The Soviets, more difficult than expected, confirmed their superiority with a score of 20½–19½.

Lifetime scores against selected grandmasters

In his career, Gligorić defeated six reigning, former and future world champions, and his overall record against players of this caliber is 24 wins (+), 50 losses (−) and 108 draws (=). His win against Fischer in the 1962 Olympiad and two wins against Petrosian (in 1963 and 1967) while Petrosian was the World Champion stand out the most. One of those two wins was Petrosian's first defeat since he won the title against Mikhail Botvinnik in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. Gligorić had the following record against the world champions he played: *

(Netherlands) +2−0=5 *

(Soviet Union) +2−2=6 *

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

(Soviet Union) +6−8=28 *

(Soviet Union) +8−11=19 *

(Soviet Union) +2−10=22 *

(Soviet Union) +0−6=16 *

(United States) +4−6=6 *

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

(Soviet Union) +0−4=6 *

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

(Soviet Union) +0−3=0 Selected lifetime results against other top grandmasters: *

Aleksandar Matanović Aleksandar Matanović (; 23 May 1930 – 9 August 2023) was a Serbian chess grandmaster, one of the leading Yugoslav players in the 1950s-1970s. In 1966 he founded the company Chess Informant, which publishes regular game collections from recen ...

(Yugoslavia) +8−3=25 *

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve c ...

(Hungary) +8−12=29 *

(Soviet Union) +1−4=22 *

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, S ...

(Yugoslavia) +7−6=16 *

(Soviet Union) +2−8=15 *

Victor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bo ...

(Soviet Union) +2−8=14 *

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-Soviet Union, Soviet player, behind ...

(Denmark) +12−20=13 *

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Chess career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. ...

(Sweden) +6-1=10 *

Gedeon Barcza Gedeon Barcza (August 21, 1911 – February 27, 1986) was a Hungarian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. He was eight-time Hungarian Chess Championship, chess champion of Hungary. Chess career In 1940, Barcza took third place, behind Max E ...

(Hungary) +5−1=4 *

(Argentina) +2−3=23 *

Erich Eliskases Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. ...

(Argentina) +2−0=5 *

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in ...

(Soviet Union) +1−8=5 * Istvan Bilek (Hungary) +3−2=4 *

(Soviet Union) +0−4=10 *

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid 1930s to the late 1 ...

(United States) +1−5=24 *

(Soviet Union) +5−3=12 *

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. As one of the most decorated players in the history of Chess Olympiad, Ivkov was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal t ...

(Yugoslavia) +10−2=42 *

Pal Benko Pal Charles Benko (; July 15, 1928 – August 25, 2019) was a Hungarian and American chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Early life Benko was born on July 15, 1928, in Amiens, France, where his ...

(United States) +5−2=10 *

Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970. He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead. Unzicker was at times the world's strongest ama ...

(West Germany) +5−5=21 *

Oscar Panno Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Biography Panno was born in Buenos Aires. He won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future strong Grandmasters as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Lar ...

(Argentina) +3−0=5 * Laszlo Szabo (Hungary) +7−9=28 *

Friðrik Ólafsson Friðrik Ólafsson (26 January 1935 – 4 April 2025) was an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He was a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion. Chess career Friðrik was ...

(Iceland) +7−4=15 *

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (12 January 1944 – 12 May 2025) was a Czech and German chess grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the World Chess Championship 1978, 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for ...

(Czechoslovakia) +6−3=19 *

Petar Trifunović Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav and Serbian chess player, who was awarded the international grandmaster title, and was a five-time Yugoslav champion. Chess career Yugoslavia was for ...

(Yugoslavia) +2−3=24 *

Milan Matulović Milan Matulović (10 June 1935 – 9 October 2013) was a Yugoslav chess International Grandmaster, grandmaster who was the third strongest Yugoslavia, Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and Borislav Ivkov. H ...

(Yugoslavia) +9−2=13 *

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

(Netherlands) +3−4=10

Rating and ranking

During his prime in the 1950s and 1960s, Gligorić was one the ten best players in the world. When the

Elo rating system The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

was introduced in the early 1970s, Gligorić had a rating of 2600. This placed him in the top 15 best players in the world when he was nearly 50 years old. In 1987, at the age of 64, Gligorić was among the top 100 for the last time in his career.

Later years and death

In 1984 to 1985 he was the chief arbiter in the aborted marathon world title match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Gligorić turned down FIDE's offer to keep the same position in the 1985 rematch. He continued active tournament play well into his sixties. In his last public chess event, he played board 1 for the Yugoslav team in the so-called "USSR vs. Yugoslavia" match in 2007. This match celebrated the USSR versus Yugoslavia matches that were held from the 1950s to the 1970s, in which Gligorić had represented the Yugoslav side 14 times. During his life Gligorić was very interested in art and culture, but his greatest passion besides chess was music. So in his eighties, Gligorić turned to music, even releasing an album in Belgrade consisting of 12 compositions, mostly jazz, rap and blues. On 14 August 2012, Gligorić died from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at 89 years of age in

. He was buried on 16 August 2012, at 13:30 in the ''

Alley of the Greats The New Cemetery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ново гробље, Novo groblje) is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third C ...

'' at Belgrade's New Cemetery.Svetozar Gligorić: 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012
Chessbase. Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
The Telegraph (2012-08-15). Retrieved on 2012-11-10.

Legacy

Although he compiled a superb tournament record, it is perhaps as an openings theorist and commentator that Gligorić will be best remembered. He made enormous contributions to the theory and practice of the

King's Indian Defence The King's Indian Defence (or KID) is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: : 1. d4 Nf6 : 2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead and ...

Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...

and

Nimzo-Indian Defence The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Bb4 Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-Indian ...

, among others; and, particularly with the King's Indian, translated his theoretical contributions into several spectacular victories with both colours (including the game below). Theoretically significant variations in the King's Indian and Ruy Lopez are named after him, including some critical and very commonly played opening variations like the Gligorić Variation of King's Indian (E92); the Ruy Lopez Exchange, Gligorić Variation (C69); the Nimzo-Indian Gligorić System (E54) and the Ruy Lopez Closed Breyer, Gligorić Variation (C95). His battles with

in the King's Indian and

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...

(particularly the

Najdorf Variation The Najdorf Variation ( ) of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular, reputable, and deeply studied of all chess openings. ''Modern Chess Openings'' calls it the "Cadillac" or "Rolls-Royce" of chess openings. The opening is named after th ...

, a long-time Fischer specialty) often worked out in his favour. Gligoric also invented the famous Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defence which he employed for the first time at the international tournament in Mar del Plata in 1953 against Najdorf and two rounds later against Eliskases, winning both games. As a commentator, Gligorić was able to take advantage of his fluency in a number of languages and his training as a journalist, to produce lucid, interesting game annotations. He was a regular columnist for ''

Chess Review ''Chess Review'' was an U.S. chess magazine published from January 1933 to October 1969 (Volume 37 Number 10). Until April 1941 it was called ''The Chess Review''. Published in New York, it began on a schedule of at least ten issues a year but l ...

'' and ''

Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "m ...

'' magazines for many years, his "Game of the Month" column often amounting to a complete tutorial in the opening used in the feature game as well as a set of comprehensive game annotations. He wrote a number of chess books in several languages. One of the most notable was ''Fischer vs. Spassky: The Chess Match of the Century'', a detailed account of their epic struggle for the world title in Reykjavík in 1972. He also contributed regularly to the ''

Chess Informant Chess Informant () is a publishing company from Belgrade, Serbia, that periodically (since 2012, four volumes per year) produces volumes of a book entitled ''Chess Informant'', as well as the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', ''Encyclopaedia ...

'' semi-annual (more recently, thrice-yearly) compilation of the world's most important chess games. In 2019,

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

established a fair play award named after Gligorić. The "Fair Play Svetozar Gligoric Trophy" is awarded annually by a three-member commission in recognition of sportsmanship, integrity and the promotion of ethical behavior within chess. On September 23, 2020, the public company "

Pošta Srbije Pošta Srbije ( sr-Cyrl, Пошта Србије, lit=Post of Serbia) is the national postal service of Serbia, with the headquarters in Belgrade. Public postal service was first introduced in Serbia in 1840. The first stamp was printed in 1866. ...

" released a series of new postage stamps called: "Chess Giants of Serbia". In addition to Gligorić,

Boris Kostić Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Serbs, Serbian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and a popularizer of the game. He was one of the best players in the world during the early part of the 20th century and in 1950 w ...

and

Milunka Lazarević Milunka Lazarević (1 December 1932 – 15 December 2018) was a Serbian chess player and journalist. For many years, she was the strongest female player of Yugoslavia and became a contender for the Women's World Chess Championship. Biography ...

were also given this honour. On that occasion, short biographies of the players depicted on these stamps were also published. The texts are given in Serbian and English, and their authors are: Gligorić's teammate from the national team and close friend, grandmaster

and sports journalist Miroslav Nešić.

Bibliography

* ''Selected Chess Masterpieces'', Pitman, 1970. * To all the FIDE Members and Central Committee, Belgrade 1978 * ''Šahovski vodič. T. 1, Suština šaha'', Belgrade 1988, * ''Igram protiv figura'', Belgrade 1989, * ''Peti meč Kasparov–Karpov za titulu svetskog prvaka'', Belgrade 1991, * ''Gligina varijanta'', Belgrade 2000 * ''Fischer vs. Spassky – The Chess Match of the Century'', Simon and Schuster, 1972, *
I Play Against Pieces
', Batsford, 288 pages, 2002. * ''The Chess of Gligoric'' by David N. L. Levy, World Publishing, 192 pages, 1972. * ''The French Defence'', co-author with

Wolfgang Uhlmann Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player between the mid-1950s and the late 1980s, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann pla ...

* ''How To Open a Chess Game'', one of the contributors, along with Larry Evans,

and

* ''Svetozar Gligorić's Chess Career 1945-1970'', co-author with Vladimir Sokolov * ''Kandidatenturnier fur Schachweltmeisterschaft / Bled - Zagreb - Beograd / 6 September-31 Oktober 1959'' (Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship / Bled - Zagreb - Beograd / 6 September-31 October 1959), co-author with

Viacheslav Ragozin Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. ...

* ''Interzonen Turnier Portoroz 1958'', co-author with

Aleksandar Matanovic Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

* ''King's Indian Defence, Mar Del Plata Variation'' * ''Play the Nimzo-Indian Defence'' * ''The Sicilian Defence'' co-author with Vladimir Sokolov * ''Le Grande Tournoi International D'echecs, Terre des Hommes, Montreal 1979'' * ''The World Chess Championship'', co-author with Robert Wade * ''Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?'' * ''Yugoslav Chess Triumphs'', co-author with Petar Trifunovic, Rudolf Maric and Dragoljub Janosevic * ''The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence'', co-author with

and Lubosh Kavalek

Quotes

"The moment of death has the power to stress in a single move the achievement or the futility of a life."

Notable games

One of Gligorić's most famous games was this win against the former

world champion 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 ...

at the great "Tournament of Peace" held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in 1970. It displays Gligorić's virtuosity on the Black side of the King's Indian and his willingness to play for a sacrificial attack against one of history's greatest defenders. Zagreb 1970 was another Gligorić tournament success, as he tied for second (with Petrosian and others) behind Fischer, at the start of the latter's 1970–71 run of tournament and match victories. :Petrosian vs. Gligorić, Zagreb 1970;

, Classical Variation ('' ECO'' E97)
1.c4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Nd2 Nf4 11.a4 f5 12.Bf3 g5 13.exf5 Nxf5 14.g3 (''diagram'') Nd4 15.gxf4 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 g4 17.Qh1 exf4 18.Bb2 Bf5 19.Rfe1 f3 20.Nde4 Qh4 21.h3 Be5 22.Re3 gxh3 23.Qxf3 Bg4 24.Qh1 h2+ 25.Kg2 Qh5 26.Nd2 Bd4 27.Qe1 Rae8 28.Nce4 Bxb2 29.Rg3 Be5 30.R1a3 Kh8 31.Kh1 Rg8 32.Qf1 Bxg3 33.Rxg3 Rxe4 Indeed, Gligorić was the first person to inflict a defeat on Petrosian (at the First

Piatigorsky Cup The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin tournament, round-robin grandmaster (chess), grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960s. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, ...

in 1963) after he won the world title from

in 1963.

References

External links

*
"To Gligoric with Love – a legend turns 85"
a

ChessBase ChessBase is a German company that develops and sells chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates an internet chess server for online chess. Founded in 1986, it maintains and sells large-scale databases containing the moves of recor ...

article
"Svetozar Gligorić (1923–2012)"
by Edward Winter {{DEFAULTSORT:Gligoric, Svetozar 1923 births 2012 deaths Yugoslav Partisans members Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Serbian chess players Chess players from Belgrade Yugoslav chess players Serbian chess writers Chess arbiters Chess theoreticians Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery