Petar Trifunović
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Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav and Serbian chess player, who was awarded the
international grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is hel ...
title, and was a five-time Yugoslav champion.


Chess career

Yugoslavia was for many years the world's second strongest chess nation. Trifunovic came 3rd in the first Yugoslav championship (1935), 2nd in 1936, 1937 (shared with Mirko Breder and
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 1938 (shared with
Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (; 22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugural recip ...
and
Lajos Asztalos Lajos Asztalos (; 29 July 1889 – 1 November 1956) was a Hungarian- Yugoslavian chess International Master, professor, and teacher of languages. At the beginning of his career, he tied for sixth-eighth at the 1911 Hungarian Chess Championship; ...
) and won in 1945, 1946, 1947 (shared with
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
), 1952, and 1961. In total, Trifunović was among the top three players in the Yugoslav chess championship 16 times, which is an all-time record (tied with
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
). The young Trifunovic was also an excellent scholar, obtaining a law degree in 1933, followed by a doctorate. He had a reputation as an attacking player in the 1930s, when he was known as 'Typhoonovic'. Later, he concentrated more on positional play and defensive technique, his style becoming less adventurous but difficult to refute. As a result, he
drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...
many games. For example, his drawn match with
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 ...
at
Opatija Opatija (; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic bu ...
1949 included ten drawn games (+1 −1 =10), and at
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in 1965 he drew all 15 of his games. His international tournament successes included:
Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...
1945 (first),
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
1946 (tied for second after Najdorf),
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
1950 (first),
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1951 (tied for second after Gligorić), Belgrade 1954 (third after Bronstein and Matanović, but ahead of Gligorić and
Petrosian Petrosyan (Armenian: ), Petrosian or Petrossian (Eastern Armenian), Bedrosian or Bedrossian (Western Armenian) is a common surname in Armenia. It is a patronymic from the Armenian first name Petros (equivalent to Peter, making the name effectivel ...
). At
Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...
1961 he tied for first with
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 ...
and Czerniak. At Prague 1961 and
Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...
1962 he came outright first and at Sarajevo, also in 1962, third after Gligorić and Portisch. Trifunović tied for first with 10 players at the 1962 Oklahoma City Open after drawing with Ken Smith and drawing with Bob Potter, a little-known expert from Dallas. At
Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the f ...
in 1965 he finished second to Botvinnik (ahead of Flohr, Larsen and Donner).
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 ...
awarded him the
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 ...
title in 1950 and the grandmaster title in 1953 making him the third Serbian to become a grandmaster, after
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 ...
(1950) and
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
(1951). He played for his country in seven
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 ...
s between 1935 and 1962. His best individual result was the event held in his birthplace, Dubrovnik, in 1950. A score of 10/13 won him the board 3 gold medal. During his career, Trifunović won 8 team and board medals at Chess Olympiad, which makes him the fourth-most decorated Serbian and Yugoslav player of all time behind
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 ...
(13),
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
(13) and
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 ...
(14).


Legacy

He popularised and subsequently had his name associated with a variation of
Alekhine's Defence Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 Nf6 Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad , with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposi ...
. The Trifunovic Variation is identified by the move 5...Bf5 as a counter to White's Four Pawns Attack (1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4). 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 new postage stamps called: "Chess Giants of Serbia". In addition to Trifunović,
Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
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 honor. 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: Trifunović's teammate from the national team and close friend, grandmaster
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 ...
and sports journalist Miroslav Nešić.https://sahmatlista.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/prof-dr-dragoslav-dukanovic-sahovski-velikani-srbije-nove-postanske-marke-srbije/


References

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External links

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Visa with photo 1953Visa with photo 1955
1910 births 1980 deaths Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Yugoslav chess players Chess theoreticians Sportspeople from Dubrovnik Serbs of Croatia {{Yugoslav Chess Championship