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♞MADE IN BEOGRAD · MMXXVI

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CHESSIN · BEOGRAD · 2026#STOMACKO.TECH

Puzzles

Find the combination

23 puzzles · motifs from Serbian and Yugoslav games

The puzzle of the day: positions from Serbian and Yugoslav games.

Puzzles

All puzzles

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White to move.White to move: break down the black king's defence.

From Velimirovic's win over Sofrevski (1965).

Black to move.Black to move: win a piece.

Gligoric's finish against Petrosian (1970).

White to move.Queen sacrifice: find the blow that demolishes the defence.

From the game Ljubojevic - Korchnoi (Linares 1985).

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White to move.King hunt: drive the black king across the whole board.

Ivkov's finish from Bled 1961.

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White to move.Mate in three: both rooks to the eighth rank.

Matulovic's mate against Tringov (Siegen 1970).

White to move.A double knight sacrifice to open the centre and attack.

Matanovic's attack against Tal (Portoroz 1958).

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Black to move.Black to move: a passed c-pawn and the queen breaking through to d3, and White has to give up a rook just to stop the pawn.

The decisive breakthrough from Alisa Maric's win over Anand (Lugano 1988), where the passer on the c-file settles the game.

Black to move.Black weaves a mating net with the knights (threatening Qg2#).

Indjic's finish from the 2024 European Championship.

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White to move.A knight sacrifice on e6: opening lines and hunting the black king

Vuckovic - Marinkovic, Zlatibor 2006: White to move, taking the roof off the black king with one blow.

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White to move.A knight fork on f5: White attacks the queen and the bishop at the same time, and after the forced exchange the quiet Be3 traps the stranded black knight on e2 and wins a piece for a pawn.

Markus's finishing blow against Svidler in Tromso 2014: White to move (31.Nf5) and win a piece.

White to move.King hunt: with a rook sacrifice on h6 White opens up Black's kingside, and a series of checks (Rg6+, Qd5+, Rh6+, Rxh7+) drives the king into the open.

This is exactly how Sedlak beat Perunovic in Vrsac in 2008: find the rook sacrifice that starts the king hunt.

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White to move.Two connected passed pawns break through: the pawn on d7 is blocked by a rook, so the e-pawn marches up to open the way to promotion, and the final pin with Rc8 ties the queen to the king.

This is exactly how Damljanovic sent Kamsky home in Belgrade in 1991: let the passed pawns do the work (33.d7! then e6-e7), and Rc8 pins the queen at the end.

Black to move.A bishop sacrifice on g3 and a hunt for the white king: bait, open lines and a rook invasion via e2.

With this bolt from the blue (26...Bxg3!) Teodora Injac smashed the king's fortress on the road to the 2025 European crown.

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White to move.A king hunt. The bishop sacrifice 25.Bh6! tears down the last shield around the black king, and the white queen drives him with a series of checks from f8 all the way to b7, right across the board.

From Ivanisevic's win in the 2026 Belgrade First League: White to move (move 24) and start the king hunt.

White to move.A rook sacrifice and a king hunt: 27.Rc7!! (not a check, but threatening Qxa7 mate) smashes the king's shelter, and the series of checks Qxa7+, Qxb6+, Bb5+ drives the black king into the corner and a mating net.

Ivic's finest move at Wijk aan Zee 2026: the rook to c7 against the Dutch grandmaster L'Ami, the prelude to a king hunt.

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Black to move.A rook sacrifice and a king hunt: Black tears open White's queenside castled position and walks the white king into a mating net.

This is exactly how Milunka brought down the world champion Gaprindashvili: Black to move, the rook is sacrificed on c2 and the hunt for the white king begins.

Black to move.Black to move: White’s knight attacks a rook and a bishop. Find Sarana’s kingside counterattack and follow the game continuation.

So - Sarana, Baku 2023. Black relies on separated passed pawns on the d- and g-files and an active knight.

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White to move.White to move: remove a defender and find the queen invasion that ended Perunović’s game.

Perunović - Édouard, European Team Championship 2015. The puzzle starts before White’s 32nd move.

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White to move.White to move: with a double knight sacrifice on f6, break up the black king's cover and let the bishop dominate.

From Kovacevic's win over Gligoric (Niksic, 1997).

White to move.White to move: sacrifice a rook to remove the last defender, then use the other rook to drag the black king out into the middle of the board with check.

From Karaklajic's win over Robatsch (Smederevska Palanka, 1956): the man who gave his name to the Modern Defence is left without his king.

Black to move.Black is down material. Find the knight manoeuvre that maintains the balance and sets a tactical trap, then follow the game continuation.

Vaganian - Planinc, Hastings 1974/75. In the game White takes another pawn and allows a decisive queen check.

White to move.White to move, facing mate on h2. Find the series of checks that turns the tables and sets up a discovered attack.

The finishing blow from Vidmar's win over the future world champion Euwe (Karlsbad 1929).

White to move.White to move: a rook sacrifice on f7 tears open the king's cover, and the bishop and queen force mate.

From Gligoric's win over Tolush in the USSR - Yugoslavia match (Leningrad, 1957).