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I am looking in Svetozar Gligoric's games from 1963.
Tough year. World didn't recover from Cuban crisis when Kennedy was assassinated.
Fischer played blitz for peanuts between rounds of 2 summer US opens, and then won 11 out of 11 in round robin championship.
Gligoric was tired. He turned 40. Still young in body and soul (*he never smoked or drank too much, and was avid soccer player and loved swimming and tennis), but he got bored. He had a nice job as a journalist, and he still traveled much thanks to chess. He wasn't aware of it, but he missed his last chance for serious fight for WC in 1959. He was tired, bored, but the force of his healthy body and curiosity gave him energy to continue, almost as a ladies man in rich Californian circles, as GM Borislav Ivkov recently revealed in his late memoirs. Gligoric took par in Hastings New Year tournament, in First Piatigorsky Cup, in Sarajevo.. but he played as if he thought on something else. He played sharp, all right, with versatile repertoire, but without razor edge and novelties. He let his technique play for him as if he turned automatic pilot on.
I remembered his article in Chess Messenger from 1964, from Piatigorsky Cup. "Dallas still impose pressure on everyone due memories on assassination. Jetlegg kept me awake me for days, my eyes hurt from numberless TV channels, which I watched until snow showed on the screen. I couldn't find inspiration in my games, I played as with hangover..."
Gligorc's best moment in Dallas was victory against Petrossian with white in Breier's variation of Ruy Lopez, in the same variation Fischer was going to improve in next Piatigorsky Cup against Portisch.
Gligoric losy as white against Olafsson in 100 moves. The ending was the same one Carlsen managed o save against Nakamura.
K+R+ 2 P vs. K+N+ 2P
Gligoric vs. Olafsson
after 74 moves
Nakamura as white against Carslen didn't have patience to convert material advantage into whole point.
Gligoric qualified on zonal tournament but he knew it was nothing to feel good about it: he traveled roads well known and waited for poor opponents to defeat themselves.
Peak of the year for him was tournament in Moscow, where he wished to fight for 1st place after 11 rounds. But then his lack of theoretical preparation turned traitor: he tried Najdorf variation with black pieces against Tal and lost without fight.
Tal - Gligoric (Moscow 1963)
He ended 3rd in Moscow behind Smyslov and Tal, and ahead of KGB agent GM Antoshin, Keres, Szabo, young Hort etc.
In Sarajevo he made plenty of bloodless draws, but he played Ben Oni with black pieces against Shamkovich single and only time in his carrier.
Originally posted by @vanderveldeThere was a book on the First Piatigorsky Cup, I remember reading it in the public library when I was in grade school, this and the chess companion by Irving Chernev was the only 2 chess books in the entire place. Gligoric could have been a much stronger player I think, but like most folks, had to labor to make a living.
I am looking in Svetozar Gligoric's games from 1963.
Tough year. World didn't recover from Cuban crisis when Kennedy was assassinated.
Fischer played blitz for peanuts between rounds of 2 summer US opens, and then won 11 out of 11 in round robin championship.
Gligoric was tired. He turned 40. Still young in body and soul (*he never smoked or drank ...[text shortened]... Nxg4 31.hxg4 Bxg4 32.Rg3 Bxe2 33.Kxe2 Qxa3 34.Kf3 Rb2 35.Qe3 Qxa2 36.f5 Qb1 37.Qe8 Kh7
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Originally posted by @vanderveldeThis is a quality blog masquerading as a post. Nicely done, and thanks!
I am looking in Svetozar Gligoric's games from 1963.
Tough year. World didn't recover from Cuban crisis when Kennedy was assassinated.
Fischer played blitz for peanuts between rounds of 2 summer US opens, and then won 11 out of 11 in round robin championship.
Gligoric was tired. He turned 40. Still young in body and soul (*he never smoked or drank ...[text shortened]... Nxg4 31.hxg4 Bxg4 32.Rg3 Bxe2 33.Kxe2 Qxa3 34.Kf3 Rb2 35.Qe3 Qxa2 36.f5 Qb1 37.Qe8 Kh7
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