Svetozar
Gligorić: 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012
The legendary Serbian grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić died in Belgrade
on August 14 after suffering a stroke. He was 89 years old. Gligorić
as buried on Friday at 13.30 in the Alley of the Greats at Belgrade's
New Cemetery (Novom Groblju).
Gligorić came from a poor family in Belgrade and starting playing
at the age of 11, when he was taught by a boarder living in the house.
He made his first chess set by carving the corks of wine bottles, and
won his first tournament in 1938, four years after he had learnt the game.
He went on to become one of the world's leading players, and was one of
the world's top ten in the 1950s and 60s. He won the Yugoslav Championship
twelve time, and represented his country with great success in fifteen
Chess Olympiads.
Gligoric made significant contributions to the theory and practice of
the King’s Indian Defence and the Ruy Lopez. He was fluent in several
languages, and worked as a professional journalist and organiser of chess
tournaments. Besides chess his most enduring passions was music, and in
2011 he released a CD featuring compositions that drew on jazz, ballads
and rap. |
Jean-Luc Oesch of Belgrade, Serbia, wrote us: "Thanks to your nice article
on Gliga, I was alerted and had the privilege to attend Mr. Gligoric' funeral.
It was attended by around 300 people, amongst whom the new Prime Minister Ivica
Dacic, the new Minister of Youth and Sport (and chess champion Alisa Maric)
and many personalities such as basketball legend and former Lakers star Divac.

Gligoric's friend Aleksandar Matanov delivering a eulogy in the Belgrade
City
Assembly (picture Politika newspaper)
It was a nice day, very sunny and nice speeches were telling stories about
Gligoric, not only about his chess life, but also, as your article rightly pointed
out, about his other passion: music. A great man and sad loss for the chess
community. Jean-Luc Oesch, Deputy Head of Swiss Embassy in Belgrade and (modest)
chess player."
Remembering Svetozar Gligoric
By Kiril Penušliski
For a kid growing up in Yugoslavia there was no greater chess hero then Gligoric.
Kasparov was an opponent. He was the man who I imagined sitting across the board
from me. He was the one who was going to crumble under my stare and wince because
of my moves. But, Gligoric? Gligoric was the example I wanted to follow. Gligoric
was my teacher, a mentor whose games taught me how to play chess and hopefully,
when I finally got around to beating Garry, my trusted second who was going
to guide me with his wisdom and his knowledge.
Perhaps I had a slight preference for the torrential quality of Borislav Ivkov’s
best games, but Gliga... it was impossible not to love him. I don’t think
I ever saw a photograph of him where he wasn’t smiling. One look was enough
to realize that you had a good person in front of you; someone who is kind and
noble.
As a chess player, for twenty years he was a member of the elite, the very
best. It’s not only his results which impressed me, his successes at the
candidates tournaments, the wins he gathered for the Yugoslav Olympic team,
or the fact that he won the Yugoslav championship almost every time he felt
like it. It is the kind of chess he played. There is a wonderful lucidity to
his best games. As a player whose style was a curious mixture of Rubinstein
and Capablanca, he was extremely objective and never bogged down by chess dogma.
All those things we ordinary mortals aren’t supposed to do, you will find
them all in his games! But always as a part of a sound plan, and never as a
whimsical frivolity.
Although his name is still spoken with the upmost respect everywhere chess
is played, most people don’t know enough of his games. As a rule, his
win over Petrosian from the 1970 Rovinj Zagreb tournament is used as an example
of his play. A sacrificial King’s Indian versus one of the best defenders
in the history of our game. But here I would like to show you a few other games,
some well known, others less so. The games are all presented with already published
analysis, which I hope will better illustrate not only his playing style and
strength, but also Gligoric’s modesty and clear chess logic.
Game one, Gligoric-Keres,
This comes from one of the Yugoslavia vs USSR matches (1958, Zagreb). Usually
the powerful Soviets would win; the only question was what the score would be
like. But this time the match on board one (Gligoric-Keres) was a 2-2 draw.
The game we have chosen is a Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian. Later people will finally
learn that playing a Nizo-Indian versus Gliga was not good for your health;
a lesson Keres hadn’t mastered yet. The game is presented with Gligoric’s
own comments, very humble and to the point.

Gligoric vs Keres in an earlier encounter (Helsinki 1952)
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bd2 cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.cxd5 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qxd5 11...exd5 12.Bg5 Qd6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Ne5 12.c4 12.a4 -- 13.Rb1 13.Re1 12...Qd6 13.Bc3 Nbd7 14.Re1 Rac8 14...Ng4 15.h3 15.h3 Rfd8 15...Nd5 16.cxd5 Rxc3 17.dxe6 fxe6 18.Ng5 15...b5 16.Rb1 16.c5 16.Re3 Nh5? 16...h6 16...b5 17.Ba5 17.d5! Nc5 17...exd5 18.Nd4 -- 19.Nf5 18.Ng5 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Ng5+ Kg6 20.Nxf7 Kxf7 21.Qxh5+ Kg8 22.Bxg7 22.Rae1! 22...Kxg7 23.Rg3+ Qxg3 18...g6 19.Be2 Ng7 19...Qf4 20.Bxh5 Qxc4 20...Qxg5 21.Qd4 21.Qf3 19...exd5 20.Qd4 f6 21.Bxh5 20.Qd4 Qf8 21.Qh4 h5 22.Bg4! 22.g4 -- 23.gxh5 Nf5 22...f5? 22...Bxd5 23.cxd5 Rxd5 24.Bf3 23.Nxe6 Ngxe6? 24.dxe6 Re8 25.Bxh5 Qh6 25...gxh5 26.Rg3+ 26.Qf6 f4 26...Rf8 27.Qxg6+ 27.Qf7# 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
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- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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Gligoric,S | - | Keres,P | - | 1–0 | 1958 | E43 | URS-YUG | 3 |
Please, wait...
Game two, Gligoric-Botvinik
This game comes from the 3rd Euro Team Championship, which took place in Hamburg
1965. The tournament was a ten board double round robin. The first game between
the two ended in a draw in 72 moves. Interestingly, this was a fight on board
two, as Ivkov was playing board one for the Yugoslav team (it was his year,
he won a number of tournaments and progressed to the Candidates finals where
he unfortunately and somewhat surprisingly lost to Larsen). But Gligoric had
the best result of all the Yugoslav players and also the best result on board
two, 7/10.

The first time I saw the game I was very impressed by white’s logic,
especially in the opening. He was willing to switch from one idea, one plan
to the next without any hesitation. I particularly found the sequence of good
moves 12.Qa4! 13.h3! 15.Nd4! very impressive. The comments are by Gligoric and
they show his modesty. He just beat one of the best players in history, but
there is nothing to suggest that. There is no reference to Botvinik; truly a
case of ‘I play against the pieces’.

Three-time World Champion Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 g6 2.e4 c6 3.f4 d5 4.e5 c5 5.dxc5! 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nc6 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 e6 7...Qa5+ 8.c3 Qxc5 9.b4 8.Be3 Nh6 9.c3 Nf5 10.Bf2 h5 10...Bh6 11.g3 g5 12.Nxg5 Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Bxg5 14.fxg5 Qxg5 15.Nd2 11.Nbd2 Bh6 12.Qa4! 12.g3 g5 13.fxg5 Bxg5 12...g5 13.h3! 13.g3 gxf4 14.gxf4 d4 13...Bxf3 14.Nxf3 gxf4 15.Nd4! Qc7 15...Nfxd4 16.cxd4 15...Nfe7 16.Bb5 16.Nxf5 exf5 17.0-0 Kf8 18.Bd4 Re8 18...Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Bf3 Qe3+ 21.Kh1 Qxc5 22.Qd7 19.Bf3 Rg8 20.Rae1 Qd7 20...Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Rxe5 Qxe5 23.Qxa7 21.Qb3 Rd8 22.Qc2 Ne7 23.Bxh5 Ng6 24.Bxg6 Rxg6 24...fxg6 25.e6 25.Rf3 Kg8 26.Qf2 Qe7 27.Rf1 Kh7 28.Qc2 Qe6 29.b4 Rdg8 30.R1f2 a6 31.a4 Qd7 32.Kh1 R8g7 33.Qb3 Rg8 34.b5 axb5 35.axb5 Ra8 36.Qb1 Ra5 37.Rb2 Kg8 38.Rf1 Ra8 39.Rbf2 Rg3 40.Rb2 Rg6 41.c6 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Gligoric,S | - | Botvinnik,M | - | 1–0 | 1965 | B12 | EU-chT (Men) | 8 |
Please, wait...
Kiril Penušliski is a Macedonian
art historian with tempestuous hair, an expert in Italian Renaissance
art and is supposedly writing his doctorate (the last pages), but can
on most nights be found playing on the Playchess.com
server.
He learned to play chess at age six and formerly played second board
for the Penušliski family team (comprising of: first board Dr. Kiril Penušliski
(now deceased), second board Kiril Penušliski Jr., third board Ilija Penušliski
and fourth board Ilija Penušliski Jr.). His most lofty goal and ambition
in life is some day to learn how to avoid making mouse slips.
See also: The
Contemporary Chess Art of Ilija Penušliski, by Kiril Penušliski |
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Penušliski/ChessBase