foto · Wim van Rossem / Anefo · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Portrait · GM
Aleksandar
Matanović
A grandmaster and Chess Informant co-founder who helped shape both chess history and the way we read games.
Years
1930-2023
Title
GM
City
Belgrade
FIDE ID
900230
Rating peak
2525 (FIDE Jan 1976, around 54th in the world)
Games in the archive
1
Aleksandar Matanović (1930–2023) was a grandmaster, national team player and co-founder of Chess Informant. The books studied by generations grew out of a long playing career. At Bled in 1950, the young Belgrade player had White against Gösta Stoltz.
Aleksandar Matanović - Gösta Stoltz · Bled, 1950
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0/79 · ← → ↑ ↓
0/79 · ← → ↑ ↓
?! inaccuracy? mistake?? blunderRight-click: arrows and circles
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Matanovic–Stoltz, Bled 1950: active rooks prepare a transition to queen and knight against queen and bishop.
Against Stoltz, Matanović enters a sharp Ruy Lopez with White and brings his rooks into play early.
At the 1958 Portorož Interzonal, Matanović faced Mikhail Tal, two years before Tal became world champion.
Aleksandar Matanović - Mikhail Tal · Interzonal Tournament, Portoroz, 1958
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0/113 · ← → ↑ ↓
0/113 · ← → ↑ ↓
?! inaccuracy? mistake?? blunderRight-click: arrows and circles
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Matanovic–Tal, Portorož 1958: a knight sacrifice opens the centre, but the game is only decided after a long endgame.
Matanovic became a grandmaster in 1955 and won three Yugoslav championships, in 1962, 1969 and 1978. One of his notable wins came against Mikhail Tal at the 1958 Portorož Interzonal. With 13.Nd5, he offers a knight, then sends the other to f5. The centre opens and a demanding struggle begins.
Against Wolfgang Uhlmann in Skopje in 1976, Matanović had White. The encounter comes from a later stage of his long tournament career.
Aleksandar Matanović - Wolfgang Uhlmann · Skopje, 1976
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0/105 · ← → ↑ ↓
0/105 · ← → ↑ ↓
?! inaccuracy? mistake?? blunderRight-click: arrows and circles
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Matanovic–Uhlmann, Skopje 1976: an active king and pawn breaks decide the bishop endgame.
Against Wolfgang Uhlmann in Skopje in 1976, Matanovic has White against the French Defence. Exchanges lead to a same-coloured bishop endgame, where both bishops travel on the same colour of square. Watch White's king reach d4 as the pawns gradually create opportunities to break through.
In 1966, Matanovic and his colleagues founded Chess Informant. Its system of symbols let readers of different languages follow the same annotations: ±, for example, indicates an advantage for White, while ∞ marks an unclear position. As an editor, he also worked on the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings and endgame volumes. His experience at the board became part of a wider effort to preserve games, compare ideas and make them available for study.