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Remembering Svetozar Gligoric (Part one)

20.08.2012 – "If you post a follow-up article on Gligoric, please don't make the mistake of other sites and
simply copy & paste his win versus Petrosian from Rovinj-Zagreb from Wikipedia," wrote Kiril Penusliski.
We asked the Macedonian art historian to select examples that better illustrate the unique Gligoric style,
and he sent us some beautifully annotated games of his teacher and mentor. Do not miss this one.

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Svetozar Gligorić: 2 February 1923 – 14 August

Email 2012

Print The legendary Serbian grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić

Twitter died in Belgrade on August 14 after suffering a stroke.
He was 89 years old. Gligorić as buried on Friday at
Facebook 13.30 in the Alley of the Greats at Belgrade's New
Digg Cemetery (Novom Groblju).

Gligorić came from a poor family in Belgrade and

More 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.

Ads Jean-Luc Oesch of Belgrade, Serbia, wrote us: "Thanks to your nice article on Gliga, I was alerted and had the
priviledge to attend Mr. Gligoric' funeral. It was attended by around 300 people, amongst whom the new Prime
Books, boards, sets: Minister Ivica Dacic, the new Minister of Youth and Sport (and chess champion Alisa Maric) and many personalities
Chess Niggemann 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: the 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

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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)

Gligoric, Svetozar – Keres, Paul 1–0

E43 URS-YUG (3) 1958 [Gligoric,Svetozar]

1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3. c3 b4 4.e3 c5 5. d3 b6 6. f3 b7

7.0-0 0-0 8. d2 cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.cxd5 xc3 11.bxc3
xd5
[Significantly weaker was 11...exd5 12. g5 d6 13. xf6
xf6 14. e5 ]
12.c4
[I felt that the continuation 12.a4 and -- 13. b1
(or 13. e1 are not dangerous, so after a long think I decided
on this move, which forces the black queen away from the
strongest square. White's hanging pawns are less in danger
then they seem at first glance. )
]
12... d6 13. c3 bd7 14. e1 ac8
[On 14... g4 15.h3 is very strong because the white king has
a shelter on f1; this on top of the fact that in those cases Black
has to count on a sacrifice on h7 or d4-d5. ]
15.h3 fd8
Learn more about this opening! [There is nothing to be gained from 15... d5 16.cxd5 xc3
1000 Opening Traps 17.dxe6 fxe6 18. g5 ]
by Dr. Karsten Müller, Rainer Knaak [or from 15...b5 becasue of 16. b1
(or even 16.c5 if white doesn't want to take the exchange )
]
16. e3 From here the rook both protects and attacks. We arrived
Available in the ChessBase Shop at the same position in the first game of the match, but from a
different move order. h5?
[White is more active, but there is a certain balance in the
position, which Black, wanting to take some action, disrupts
with his last move. More solid was 16...h6 as Keres played in
the first game ]
[while 16...b5 doesn't work because of the interpolation
17. a5 ]
17.d5! c5
[On 17...exd5 18. d4 Black doesnt have a good defence
against -- 19. f5 ]
18. g5
[Other possibilities were not clear enough 18. xh7+ xh7
19. g5+ g6 20. xf7 xf7 21. xh5+ g8 and if 22. xg7
( 22. ae1! noted by Udovic was also interesting )
22... xg7 23. g3+ xg3 ]
18...g6 19. e2 g7 The most persistent move
[On 19... f4 20. xh5 xc4
(or 20... xg5 21. d4 )
21. f3 ]
[ 19...exd5 20. d4 f6 21. xh5 ]
20. d4 f8 21. h4 It was important to secure that the knight
remain on g5 as Black with h7-h6 would consolidate. The
exchange on g7 would bring a pawn, but now that is too little h5
22. g4!

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[Weaker was 22.g4 -- because 23.gxh5 would not work

because of the interpolation f5 The move in the game
prevents the sortie of Black's knight and hits the point e6 ]
22...f5?
[Due to lack of time, Black weakens his position. A tactical
chance was 22... xd5 23.cxd5 xd5 24. f3 but White can
even give an exchange due to his irresistible attack on the
kings wing ]
23. xe6 gxe6? Speeding up the defeat which could no longer
be avoided 24.dxe6 e8 25. xh5 h6
[ 25...gxh5 26. g3+ ]
26. f6 f4
[Played due to lack of time! 26... f8 27. xg6+ ]
27. f7# S. Gligoric, Jugoslavenski Sahovski Glasnik, n. 7, 1958

1–0

Download PGN

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

Gligoric, Svetozar – Botvinnik, Mikhail 1–0

B12 EU-chT (Men) (8) 1965 [Gligoric,Svetozar]

1.d4 g6 2.e4 c6 3.f4 One of the methods of fighting this

defence. Now that undermining of the centre with c6-c5 would be
a waste of time. d5 With 3... d6 Black would go into one of the
variations of the Pirc defence, but with small prospects for the
fight for the centre. 4.e5 c5 Wanting direct counter play in a
confined position Black is taking risks, expecting that there will be
pressure on d4. But.... 5.dxc5!
[On 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 c6 Black would have a target on
which he could build his counter play. After the move in the
game he cant take back the pawn advantageously because of
the strong pressure on d5. But although Black already has a

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difficult position, white must follow up his play precisely so to

avoid possible dangers. ]
5... c6 6. f3 g4 7. e2 e6
[Weaker was 7... a5+ 8.c3 xc5 because of 9.b4 and the d5
pawn falls. ]
8. e3 h6 9.c3 f5 10. f2 h5
[On 10... h6 11.g3 would follow because after g5 12. xg5
Black is forced to play xe2 13. xe2 xg5 14.fxg5 xg5
15. d2 and White has a pawn plus. ]
11. bd2 h6 Since he cant make any progress on the Q side,
black's only chance is to undermine the centre from the kings
side. Black's pieces are active and the position in sensitive to the
smallest mistake by white. 12. a4!
[Now g3 would be bad because after 12.g3 g5 13.fxg5 xg5
Black can simply take on g5 and the e5 point would be
seriously threatened. ]
12...g5 13.h3!
[ Taking on g5 would give the initiative to the opponent because
it would open up all the diagonals and the passive 13.g3 gxf4
14.gxf4 d4 with taking on g4 would also lead to complications.
After the move in the game Black is forced to take the pawn on
f4 and pay dearly for the restored material, his bishop on h6
remains 'dead'. ]
13... xf3 14. xf3 gxf4 g5-g4 was not a threat as it would open
up the h file to whites favour. 15. d4! The point of White's 12th
move. The most important piece, the N on f5 is forced away from
his excellent spot. Black doesn't have the time to jump to e3 or g3
and revive his B because of the threats to c6, h5. c7
[Allowing the weakening of his pawn structure, because he
didn't like 15... fxd4 16.cxd4 ]
[or 15... fe7 16. b5 ]
16. xf5 exf5 17.0-0 f8 One of the weakness of blacks
position is that he doesn't have the possibility to castle 18. d4
e8
[On 18... xe5 White should not be afraid of the bishops of
opposite colours as he can play 19. xe5 xe5 20. f3 e3+
21. h1 xc5 22. d7 and White gets back the material with a
strong attack. ]
19. f3 g8 20. ae1 Black's position is strategically lost, so
White doesn't take the pawn on d5 so not to gave his opponent
any tactical chances d7
[ 20... xe5 21. xe5 xe5 22. xe5 xe5 23. xa7 And Black
loses on the Q side while he has no counter play on the other
wing. ]
21. b3 d8 22. c2 e7 23. xh5 g6 Bf7 was threatened.
24. xg6 xg6
[On 24...fxg6 25.e6 would follow. ]
25. f3 g8 26. f2 e7 Not allowing the white Q to reach h4.
27. f1 h7 28. c2 e6 29.b4 dg8 30. 1f2 a6 31.a4 d7
32. h1 8g7 33. b3 g8 Black is forced to wait for White's
Learn more about this opening! action. 34.b5 axb5 35.axb5 a8 36. b1 a5 37. b2 g8
38. f1 a8 39. bf2 Due to lack of time White does not decide
The Caro-Kann
on an immediate e6! g3 40. b2 g6 41.c6 After 41...bc6 42.
by Viktor Bologan
b6 Qb7 43. Ra2 White's pawn is unstoppable.

1–0
Available in the ChessBase Shop
Download PGN

– Part two to follow –

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

Copyright Penušliski/ChessBase

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