foto · Harry Pot / Anefo · CC BY-SA 3.0 NL · Wikimedia Commons
Portrait · GM
Petar
Trifunović
A doctor of law and five-time Yugoslav champion, with games featuring both patient manoeuvring and sharp tactics.
Years
1910-1980
Title
GM
City
Belgrade
Petar Trifunovic (1910–1980) was born in Dubrovnik, earned a doctorate in law and spent much of his life in Belgrade. He became a grandmaster in 1953 and won five Yugoslav championships. His reputation as a solid positional player gains interesting nuance when you explore his games.
At the 1935 Warsaw Olympiad, Trifunovic beat Miguel Najdorf with White. A Closed Sicilian develops into a struggle in which both kings leave their shelter. Tactical exchanges lead to an endgame, where Trifunovic finds his route to victory.
Petar Trifunović - Miguel Najdorf · Chess Olympiad, Warsaw, 1935
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Trifunovic–Najdorf, Warsaw 1935: a long struggle ends with a passed d-pawn in a knight endgame.
Trifunovic won national titles in 1945, 1946, 1947, 1952 and 1961. He took the last of those unbeaten at fifty-one. At Beverwijk in 1962, another tournament he won, his game against Manuel Aaron shows how an attack can grow from gradually improving the pieces.
Petar Trifunović - Manuel Aaron · Hoogovens, Beverwijk, 1962
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Trifunovic–Aaron, Beverwijk 1962: White's knights seek active squares, and the final 31.Bg8 creates a mating threat on h7.
The bishop on g8 takes h7 away from Black's king, threatening the queen's arrival on that square. It is a fine finish after lengthy manoeuvring. His game against Mikhail Tal in Havana in 1963 begins very differently: Trifunovic meets the King's Gambit with the Falkbeer Countergambit, striking early in the centre with ...d5.
Mikhail Tal - Petar Trifunović · Capablanca Memorial, Havana, 1963
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Tal–Trifunovic, Havana 1963: Black offers a knight on g3, captures the rook on h1 and then has to address his own king's safety.
Trifunovic brings his rooks into play and exchanges queens, making his material advantage more significant. These three games feature a passed pawn, a mating threat after careful manoeuvring and successful defence after taking material. Alongside competition, Trifunovic wrote and edited chess publications. He certainly had plenty of experience to draw on when explaining the game.