Tomorrow we support Serbia across four boards again. Before round one in Samarkand, we look back at the results that make the Olympiad special for Serbian chess: fifth place in Budapest, the women’s fine campaign in Dresden and individual board medals. Before those came a long Yugoslav tradition, with team gold and one extraordinary score of 12/12.
Round one starts on Wednesday, September 16, at noon in Serbia, CEST. Today’s opening ceremony is scheduled for 7pm in Samarkand, or 4pm in Serbia. Official schedule
Serbia: Budapest and Dresden to remember
Budapest 2024 brought Serbia fifth place in the Open. Eight wins, one draw and two defeats earned 17 match points, the same total as silver medallists USA and bronze medallists Uzbekistan. Tiebreaks decided the medals. Serbia finished with a memorable 3½:½ win over Ukraine in the final round. Final standings
For a standout women’s campaign, look back to Dresden 2008: Serbia finished seventh with 16 match points. In the last three rounds, the team beat China 2½:1½, drew 2:2 with Ukraine and lost 1:3 to eventual champions Georgia. The strength of that closing opposition adds perspective to seventh place. Women’s Olympiad 2008, standings and matches
Sedlak’s gold and Inđić’s bronze
The team’s final placing does not always tell the whole story. Two performances under Serbia’s flag deserve particular attention:
- Nikola Sedlak, Tromsø 2014: board-four gold with an unbeaten 6½/8, five wins and three draws. His performance rating of 2773 put him first on that board. Sedlak’s results · Medal winners
- Aleksandar Inđić, Baku 2016: board-four bronze with 8½/10 and a performance rating of 2786, behind Laurent Fressinet and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Inđić is also in the Samarkand squad, giving us a direct link between that podium and tomorrow’s games. ECU: board medals
Yugoslavia: Dubrovnik gold and years on the podium
We remember Yugoslavia’s achievements as a shared chess heritage. Historical tables record them under Yugoslavia; we follow independent Serbia’s results separately.
In the Open, Yugoslavia won 13 team medals: one gold, six silvers and six bronzes. The title came in Dubrovnik in 1950, and the last team bronze in Malta in 1980. Several generations of outstanding national-team players filled the years between those events. OlimpBase: Yugoslavia’s Olympiad record
The Dubrovnik gold-winning squad was Svetozar Gligorić, Vasja Pirc, Petar Trifunović, Braslav Rabar, Milan Vidmar Jr and Stojan Puc. Trifunović had the best result on board three with 10/13, and Rabar on board four with 9/10. Dubrovnik 1950, squad and results
Our choice from Gligorić’s individual performances is Munich 1958: 12/15 and the best result on board one. Max Euwe and Mikhail Botvinnik followed him in that board’s standings. Munich 1958, board results
The women: silver, bronze and twelve wins from twelve
Yugoslavia’s women won silver in Split in 1963, with Milunka Lazarević, Verica Nedeljković and Katarina Jovanović in the squad. Verica scored 12/12 on board two. Twelve games, twelve wins: a result worth mentioning even to friends who do not follow chess. Split 1963, individual and team results
Team bronze followed in Thessaloniki in 1988, won by Alisa Marić, Gordana Marković, Suzana Maksimović and Vesna Bašagić. The bronze-winning team Bašagić also took individual bronze among the reserves with an unbeaten 7/9. Board medals
Alisa Marić added board-one bronze in Elista in 1998 with 9/12, representing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. She now captains Serbia’s women, bringing personal experience of the Olympiad podium to her current role. Elista 1998, individual medals
Who continues the story tomorrow
The Serbian Chess Federation’s September 13 announcement names Alexey Sarana, Alexandr Predke, Aleksandar Inđić, Velimir Ivić and Bojan Maksimović in the Open squad, led by Ivan Ivanišević. The Women’s squad is Teodora Injac, Alina Bivol, Elif Mehmed, Sofija Pogorelskih and Jovana Srdanović, led by Alisa Marić. Federation: Samarkand squads
As supporters, we hope to reach the closing rounds looking towards the top of the standings again. First, we will follow all four games: a win on a lower board or a hard-earned draw can decide the match.
Tomorrow brings our guide to broadcasts and following round one. Until then, explore the Olympiad guide and the national team’s results and games.