Play Chess Against Svetozar Gligorić

Svetozar Gligorić (1923-2012), record eleven-time Yugoslav champion and pioneer of the King's Indian Defense, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

Play Gligorić now

Portrait of Svetozar Gligorić — Svetozar Gligorić, 1923-2012.

Black · Svetozar Gligorić10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Svetozar Gligorićhistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Svetozar Gligorić

Svetozar Gligorić stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentSvetozar GligorićStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Svetozar Gligorić remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Svetozar Gligorić1923-2012

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Gligorić, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

Your color

Starting position optional

All chess legends

Start game locks these settings and begins the selected clock. Change setup unlocks them for a new game.

About Svetozar Gligorić

Svetozar Gligorić at a FIDE chess tournament

Svetozar Gligorić (1923-2012) carried Yugoslav chess for three decades and was one of the strongest non-Soviet players of the 1950s and 1960s. He won the Yugoslav championship a record eleven times, played four world championship Candidates cycles and helped turn the King's Indian Defense into an elite weapon. Warm and endlessly curious, he also wrote beloved books, including the definitive account of the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match, and became the game's most popular ambassador.

Record 11 Yugoslav titlesWon the national championship eleven times between 1947 and 1971

King's Indian pioneerMade the King's Indian Defense a main tournament weapon; systems bear his name

Original grandmasterOne of the 27 players awarded the first FIDE grandmaster titles in 1950

Chronicler of 1972His book on Fischer vs Spassky, The Chess Match of the Century, sold around the world

1923
Born in Belgrade
Svetozar Gligorić was born on 2 February 1923 in Belgrade and learned chess as a boy on the eve of the Second World War.
1947
Yugoslav champion
Won his first Yugoslav championship, the start of a record haul of eleven national titles.
1950
Grandmaster and gold
Named one of FIDE's 27 original grandmasters, then helped Yugoslavia win team gold at the Dubrovnik Olympiad on home soil.
1953
World championship Candidate
Played the great Zurich Candidates tournament, the first of four Candidates cycles across fifteen years.
1968
Candidates quarterfinalist at 45
Qualified for the Candidates matches and pushed Mikhail Tal in their quarterfinal before bowing out.
1972
The match of the century
Covered the Fischer-Spassky match in Reykjavik and turned it into a bestselling book read on every continent.
2002
Apostle of Fischerandom
Published Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?, arguing for shuffle chess decades after his playing peak.
2012
Dies in Belgrade
Died on 14 August 2012 at 89. Serbia mourned its most decorated player and the world's friendliest chess ambassador.