Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić | |
|---|---|
 Gligorić in 1966 | |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Born | 2 February 1923 Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Died | 14 August 2012 (aged 89) Belgrade, Serbia |
| Title | Grandmaster (1951) |
| Peak rating | 2600 (July 1971) |
| Peak ranking | No. 15 (July 1971) |
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: 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 player ever from Serbia and Yugoslavia. In 1958, he was declared the best athlete of Yugoslavia.
 | An editor has launched a copyright investigation involving this section. The text under investigation is currently hidden from public view, but is accessible in the page history. Please do not remove this notice or restore blanked content until the issue is resolved by an administrator, copyright clerk, or volunteer response agent.
The purported copyright violation copies text from https://www.chessgames.com/player/svetozar_gligoric.html ; as such, this page has been listed on the copyright problems page. Unless the copyright status of the text of this page or section is clarified and determined to be compatible with Wikipedia's content license, the problematic text and revisions or the entire page may be deleted one week after the time of its listing (i.e. after 18:32, 18 April 2025 (UTC)). What can I do to resolve the issue?
Steps to list an article at Wikipedia:Copyright problems:
|
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, Belgrade gathered literally all the best players in the world from both sides of Iron Curtain, 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
[edit]Gligorić had the following record against some of the grandmasters he played against[15]:
Players who have been World Champions in boldface
Max Euwe +2−0=5
Mikhail Botvinnik +2−2=6- Vasily Smyslov +6−8=28
- Tigran Petrosian +8−11=19
- Mikhail Tal +2−10=22
- Boris Spassky +0−6=16
Bobby Fischer +4−6=6- Anatoly Karpov +0−4=6
- Garry Kasparov +0−3=0
In his career, Gligorić managed to defeat 6 different world champions, and his overall record against players of this caliber is 24 wins (+), 50 losses (-) and 108 draws (=). These wins include two wins against Petrosian while he was World Champion, one of which was Petrosian's first defeat since winning the title from Botvinnik in 1963.[16]
Aleksandar Matanović +8−3=25
Lajos Portisch +8−12=29- Efim Geller +1−4=22
- Ljubomir Ljubojević +7−6=16
- Paul Keres +2−8=15
- Victor Korchnoi +2−8=14
Bent Larsen +12−20=13
Ulf Andersson +6-1=10- Gedeon Barcza +5−1=4
/
Miguel Najdorf +2−3=23- Erich Eliskases +2−0=5
- Lev Polugaevsky +1−8=5
- Istvan Bilek +3−2=4
- David Bronstein +0−4=10
- Samuel Reshevsky +1−5=24
- Mark Taimanov +5−3=12
- Borislav Ivkov +10−2=42
- / Pal Benko +5−2=10
Wolfgang Unzicker +5−5=21- Oscar Panno +3−0=5
- Laszlo Szabo +7−9=28
Friðrik Ólafsson +7−4=15
Vlastimil Hort +6−3=19- Petar Trifunović +2−3=24
- Milan Matulović +9−2=13
- Jan Timman +3−4=10
Ratings/Rankings
[edit]Gligorić was usually ranked in the top ten players of the world in the 1950s and 1960s. When numerical ratings were first introduced in the early 1970's, Gligorić, though nearly fifty years old, was placed fifteenth with Elo rating of 2600.[17] He remained in the top 100 until 1987 when he was 64.
Later years and death
[edit]In later years he was the chief arbiter in the aborted Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85), but turned down his appointment by FIDE to that position for the Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1985). In his last public chess event, he played board 1 for the Yugoslav team in the so-called "USSR vs. Yugoslavia" match in 2007.[18][19] 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.[20]
On 14 August 2012, Svetozar Gligorić died from a stroke at 89 years of age in Belgrade.[21][22] Gligorić was buried on 16 August 2012, at 13:30 in the Alley of the Greats at Belgrade's New Cemetery.[23][24]
Legacy
[edit]
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, Ruy Lopez and Nimzo-Indian Defence, among others; and, particularly with the King's Indian, translated his theoretical contributions into several spectacular victories with both colours (including the notable game below).
Theoretically significant variations in the King's Indian and Ruy Lopez are named after him, including such critical and commonly played opening variations as the Nimzo-Indian Gligorić System (E54), the Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligorić Variation (C69), the Ruy Lopez Closed Breyer, Gligorić Variation (C95) and the King's Indian (Gligorić Variation) (E92). His battles with Bobby Fischer in the King's Indian and Sicilian Defence (particularly the Najdorf Variation, a long-time Fischer specialty) often worked out in his favour.
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 and Chess Life 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 semi-annual (more recently, thrice-yearly) compilation of the world's most important chess games.
In 2019, FIDE 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 ethical behavior within chess.[25]
On September 23, 2020, the public company "Pošta Srbije" released a new postage stamps called: "Chess Giants of Serbia". In addition to Gligorić, Petar Trifunović, Boris Kostić, Milan Matulović and Milunka Lazarević 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: Gligorić's teammate from the national team and close friend, grandmaster Aleksandar Matanović and sports journalist Miroslav Nešić.[26]
Quotes
[edit]"The moment of death has the power to stress in a single move the achievement or the futility of a life."[27]
Notable games
[edit]| h | g | f | e | d | c | b | a | ||
| 1 |              | 1 | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| h | g | f | e | d | c | b | a | ||
One of Gligorić's most famous games was this win against the former world champion Tigran Petrosian at the great "Tournament of Peace" held in Zagreb 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; King's Indian Defence, 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 0–1[28]
Indeed, Gligorić was the first person to inflict a defeat on Petrosian (at the First Piatigorsky Cup in 1963) after he won the world title from Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963.[29]
Bibliography
[edit]- Selected Chess Masterpieces, Pitman, 1970. ISBN 978-0-273-40414-9
- To all the FIDE Members and Central Committee, Belgrade 1978
- Šahovski vodič. T. 1, Suština šaha, Belgrade 1988, ISBN 86-80001-02-3
- Igram protiv figura, Belgrade 1989, ISBN 86-80001-04-X
- Peti meč Kasparov–Karpov za titulu svetskog prvaka, Belgrade 1991, ISBN 86-80001-07-4
- Gligina varijanta, Belgrade 2000
- Fischer vs. Spassky – The Chess Match of the Century, Simon and Schuster, 1972, ISBN 978-0-671-21397-8
- I Play Against Pieces, Batsford, 288 pages, 2002.
- The Chess of Gligoric by David N. L. Levy, World Publishing, 192 pages, 1972.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ GM Kavalek, Lubomir Kavalek in Huffington: a chess legend turns to music
- ^ "OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ "OlimpBase :: 3rd European Team Chess Championship, Hamburg 1965, information". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ "OlimpBase :: 4th European Team Chess Championship, Kapfenberg 1970, information". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ "OlimpBase :: 5th European Team Chess Championship, Bath 1973, information". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ "OlimpBase :: 7th European Team Chess Championship, Skara 1980, information". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ "OlimpBase :: 8th European Team Chess Championship, Plovdiv 1983, information". www.olimpbase.org.
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=80179
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=90791
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=43096
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=43111
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=87222
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79445
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/player/svetozar_gligoric.html
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/
- ^ https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106609
- ^ https://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo197107e.html
- ^ McClain, Dylan Loeb (11 November 2007). "Blast From the Past". Gambit. New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ Kohlmeyer, Dagobert (2 February 2023). "Remembering Svetozar Gligoric: 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012". ChessBase. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ Anatoly Karpov, ed. (1990). Шахматы. Энциклопедический Словарь [Chess. Encyclopedic Dictionary] (in Russian). Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya. pp. 380–381. ISBN 5-85270-005-3.
- ^ Loeb, Dylan. (2012-08-16) Svetozar Gligoric, Who Pioneered Chess Moves, Dies at 89. NY Times. Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
- ^ He played the pieces, not the man SVETOZAR GLIGORIC, 1923–2012 Archived 2 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. SMH. Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
- ^ Svetozar Gligorić: 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012. Chessbase. Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
- ^ Svetozar Gligoric. The Telegraph (2012-08-15). Retrieved on 2012-11-10.
- ^ "Svetozar Gligoric Award for fair play". FIDE. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ^ https://sahmatlista.wordpress.com/2020/09/25/prof-dr-dragoslav-dukanovic-sahovski-velikani-srbije-nove-postanske-marke-srbije/
- ^ Gligorić, Svetozar (1972). The world chess championship. New York, Harper & Row. p. 1.
- ^ "Petrosian vs. Gligoric, Zagreb 1970". Chessgames.com.
- ^ "Gligoric vs. Petrosian, First Piatigorsky Cup 1963". Chessgames.com.
- Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [First pub. 1992]. The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 153–54. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
External links
[edit]
