The Star E-dition

MARK RUBERY CHESS

The legendary Serbian grandmaster Svetosar Gligoric (1923-2012) was one of the few players of his time who could hold his own against the phalanx of Soviet GMs who dominated the game. 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.

Garry Kasparov wrote the following in the third volume of his ‘My Great Predecessors’ series.

‘I made my first acquaintance with Gligoric’s play back in my youth, when I read Bronstein’s legendary tournament book on the Candidates tournament in Zurich 1953. Especially engraved in my memory is the following fascinating game-a highly complicated example on the theme of blockade; in order to deprive the enemy pieces of mobility, Black has to sacrifice two pawns. This proved a high price and the outcome of the battle was unclear to the very end.’

Kotov, A – Gligoric, S

Candidates Tournament, Zurich 1953 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 c5 8.Bd3 Nh5 9.Nge2 f5 10.exf5 gxf5 11.Qc2 e4!

(A positional sacrifice that activates the dark-squared bishop and gains the e5 square. The pawn on e4 will restrict White’s own forces) 12.fxe4 f4 13.Bf2 (13 e5! Giving up a piece is an interesting alternative)…Nd7 14.Ng1 Qg5 15.Bf1 Ne5 16.Nf3 Qe7 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.0-0-0 Nf6 19.h3 Bd7 20.Bd3 a6 21.Nb1 f3 (The second pawn is sacrificed to increase the bind) 22.gxf3 Nh5 23.Nd2 Nf4 24.Bf1 (‘A classic example of a blockaded position. The immediate targets are four white pawns but the influence of the blockade is far deeper; the light-squared bishop has been transformed into a pawn, the knight’s own pawns take away all its important squares, and the queen, such a mobile piece, is almost completely restricted’-Bronstein)…b5! (‘One can only be surprised at the potential defensive strength of White’s position and the skill of Kotov, who maintains the balance, albeit with great difficulty-Bronstein) 25.h4 Kh8 26.Rg1 Bf6 27.Nb3 Rab8 28.Be1 b4 29.Kb1 Ra8 30.Bg3 Rg8 31.Qh2 Rxg3 32.Rxg3 Ne2 33.Qxe2 Qxg3 34.Nc1 a5 35.Nd3 Bd4 36.h5 Qh4 37.Bg2 Rg8 38.Rh1 Qg3 39.Bf1 a4 40.Kc2 a3 41.b3 0.5-0.5

Gligorić 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. (Chessbase)

THE XFILES

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2022-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thestar.pressreader.com/article/281874417438688

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