Twenty Years After

János Kubát (left), a well-known organiser who helped arrange the Rematch of the Century twenty years later, next to 11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer, most likely in Yugoslavia, 1992. Photo: Szabad Magyar Szó.

Lost in the Crowd

Robert James “Bobby” Fischer giving a 25-board simultaneous exhibition in Mostar, Yugoslavia in 1970. Photo: Milan Jovičić.

Repetita iuvant

Dražen Marović – Mario Bertok
9th Yugoslav Chess Championship; Zenica, 1963
5k2/3R4/4K1p1/5p1p/5P1P/6P1/1b6/8 w - - 1 97

Position after 96. ... Bc3-b2

97. g4! hxg4 98. h5! gxh5 99. Rf7+ Kg8 100. Rxf5 Bc1 101. Rg5+ Kf8 102. Rxh5 g3 103. Rf5+ Kg7 104. Rg5+ Kh6 105. Kf5 Be3 106. Ke4 1 : 0.

Frenemies

Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (pictured left) and Boris Vasilievich Spassky (pictured right) argue a point at a cocktail party after a news conference in Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia on Monday, September 15, 1992. At that point, Fischer was leading 3–2 in their 10-game, open-ended rematch, with their next game scheduled for Wednesday. Photo: AP.

The Desecrated King

11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (pictured right), shakes hands with the then President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević (pictured left) in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on Tuesday, October 6, 1992. Fischer’s rematch vs. Boris Vasilievich Spassky would be continued on Wednesday in Belgrade with Fischer leading by 5 to 3. Speaking on the occasion, Milošević said that the match was proving that “Chess and sports cannot be limited by politics”. Photo: AP.

Ad multos annos!

It seems almost a lifetime has passed by when the first issue of the Šahovski Informator/Chess Informant appeared in the late autumn of 1966. In the meantime, the world changed a lot, but the mythical Serbian book somehow survived the Internet, and its last issue (No. 131) was published on April 2017.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) wasn’t even born yet when Robert James “Bobby” Fischer and Boris Vasilievich Spassky almost exclusively depended on the then Yugoslavian periodical book, and now she is one of the stars shining in the Šahovski Informator/Chess Informant’s last issue. All Photos: sohu.com.

Figure of speech

• Aleksandar Nikolić, Alisa Marić: Fišer mi je rekao da sam sjajna šahistkinja | Alisa Marić: Fischer told me I was a great chess player, Blic, October 24, 2010

Alisa Marić: Fischer told me I was a great chess player When Bobby Fischer played his century rematch with Boris Spassky in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1992, I was in the audience to watch my lifetime idol’s outstanding games. At the party which followed the match, I approached Fischer and he whispered to me: “Alisa, I’ve heard a lot of good things about you. You’re a great chess player”. In that very moment, all the world was mine, and I knew all the time I devoted to chess was worth it”, Woman Grandmaster Alisa Marić told Blic. [Read more].

Alisa Marić. Photo: eKapija.

Paypress

Josip Asik (‏@JosipAsik)

National Hero of Yugoslavia

Fifteen-year-old Robert James Fischer stepping on Belgrade soil for the first time on July 9, 1958, coming from Moscow on his way to Portorož Interzonal. The afternoon edition of Večernje novosti took a photo of him at the Surčin Airport captioned “Fischer today in Belgrade”, appearing on the right of the page above a large-font headline: ‘From Moscow to ‘Moscow’”.

Disintermediation

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro, September 1992. Robert James Fischer agreeing to an interview with Bernard Nežmah. Photo © Borut Krajnc.

The Boss

Dragoljub Velimirović (1942–2014), otherwise nicknamed “The Boss”. “Everyone called him that”, said Josip Asik, chess journalist and CEO of Sahovski Informator. "Like a sign of respect among chess players”. So no wonder Russian Grandmaster Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich’s nickname on ICC is “Velimirović” — as a sign of respect too!

Dragoljub Velimirović – Ljubomir Ljubojević
27th Yugoslav Chess Championship; Umag, 1972
Sicilian Defence B99

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. 0-0-0 Nbd7 10. Bd3 b5 11. Rhe1 Bb7 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Bxg5

14. Rxe6+ fxe6 15. Nxe6 Qa5 16. Qh5+ g6 17. Qxg5 Rg8 18. Rd2 Nf8 19. Nxf8 Qd8 20. Nxh7 Qxg5 21. fxg5 Kf7 22. Nf6 Rh8 23. g3 Bc8 24. h4 Bf5 25. Bxf5 gxf5 26. h5 Ra7 27. Rf2 1 : 0.

Dragoljub Velimirović and Ljubomir Ljubojević. Photo: ChessVibes.

黑暗騎士 (The Dark Knight)

The obituary is by Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett:

He died this past Thursday. Born in Valjevo (Serbia) on May 12, 1942, Velimirović became known as one of the most brilliant attackers of his (or any!) generation, rivalling the reputations of Alekhine, Tal and Kasparov. Bobby Fischer was immensely impressed with his understanding of the Sicilian Defence and the Benoni, and it is said that the two spent some time together analysing. His theoretical ideas and innovations helped advance our understanding of numerous popular opening variations.
But Velimirović was much more that just an attacker. He defeated many of the world’s top grandmasters, representing his country not less than 6 times at the Olympiad and won the national title not less than 3 times.

[Event "XVIII Campionato Jugoslavo"]
[Site "Vrnjacka Banja"]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Velimirović, Dragoljub"]
[Black "Bradvarević, Aleksandar"]
[ECO "B89"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Spraggett, Kevin"]
[PlyCount "47"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9.Bb3 Na5 10.O-O b5 11.Rad1 Qc7 12.f4 Nxb3 13.cxb3 Bb7 14.f5 e5 15.Nf3 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 d5 19.f6 O-O 20.Qg4 Qc5+ 21.Rf2 Rfe8 {One of Velimirović’s earliest games using the sharp Sozin Attack. Black seems to have weathered White’s attack quite easily and was now looking forward to using his strong centre to push White backwards... Unfortunately, the game lasted only 3 more moves!} 22.Be3 $1 Qf8 23.Bc5 $1 h5 24.Qg5 1-0

• Lubomir Kavalek, “The Man With Too Much Chess Talent”, The Huffington Post, December 2, 2010

Dragoljub Velimirović at the 1966 Olympiad in Havana, Cuba

A street to be named after Bobby Fischer

A petition with the aim of naming a street after Robert James “Bobby” Fischer in Belgrade is gaining momentum:

• Pat Anđelković, “What’s In A Name?”, BalkanInsight.com, Ocotober 13, 2008.