foto · Gerhard Hund · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Portrait · International Master (IM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
Alisa
Marić
A leading name in Serbian women’s chess: world title candidate, national team player and economics professor.
Years
10.
Title
International Master (IM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
City
Belgrade
FIDE ID
904180
Rating peak
2489 (July 1999)
Games in the archive
1
Alisa Maric and her twin sister Mirjana were born in 1970 and both earned the Woman Grandmaster title. Their shared start at the chessboard led to international success, and for Alisa, a contest for the right to challenge the women's world champion.
Alisa won the Yugoslav Women's Championship in 1986, aged sixteen. Years of national team appearances and games against leading international players followed. Her career includes both individual achievements and medals in team competitions.
One particularly interesting game comes from Lugano in 1988. Alisa is eighteen and has Black against Viswanathan Anand, a future world champion. In a Sicilian Defence, White sends his queen towards the kingside early. Black has defending to do, but also a plan of her own.
Viswanathan Anand - Alisa Marić · Open, Lugano, mart 1988.
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Move · · starting position
0/98 · ← → ↑ ↓
0/98 · ← → ↑ ↓
?! inaccuracy? mistake?? blunderRight-click: arrows and circles
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Anand–Maric, Lugano 1988: Black's rooks take over the c-file while central pawns create counterplay.
Watch Alisa double her rooks on the c-file before playing 30...c4. Opening the centre gives her pieces more room, and the pawn later reaches c3. Anand seeks checks around Black's king in the closing stages, but Alisa withstands them and wins. It is a useful example of how active counterplay can help a defender.
At the 1990 Candidates Tournament in Borjomi, Alisa shared first place with Xie Jun. Their 1991 match decided who would challenge the women's world champion; Xie Jun won 4½–2½. Reaching that match was one of the major achievements of Alisa's international career.
Away from competitive chess, Alisa earned a doctorate in economics and worked as a professor. She also served as Serbia's Minister of Youth and Sport from 2012 to 2013. The Lugano game remains a fine introduction to her chess: a defence that gradually develops threats of its own, all the way to a full point.