Monday
May262014
Dragoljub Velimirovic, 1942-2014
Monday, May 26, 2014 at 8:57PM
From ChessBase comes word of the passing of Yugoslav/Serbian grandmaster Dragoljub Velimirovic, one of the great masters of sacrifice of the mid-to-late 20th century. The article has a short summary of his career and presents one of the spectacular wins that made him a fan favorite in his heyday. He didn't possess the all-around strength of a Mikhail Tal, but if you're a fan of Tal's - especially of the early Tal - you'll love Velimirovic's games as well.
May he rest in peace, and may a new generation of chess fans discover this artist of the chessboard.
tagged Dragoljub Velimirovic
Reader Comments (2)
Somebody should write a book on Velimirovic' (contra-)Sicilian sacrifices.
In The Netherlands he is also know because of Donner's Ode to a Pawn:
http://closetgrandmaster.blogspot.com/2008/02/sweet-little-pawn.html
Velimirovic was one of the sparkling polysyllabi"ch" names of my chess childhood, along with Ljubojevic, Matanovic, Matulovic... Gligoric with only 3 syllables didn't count, and anyway V and L played the most daring attacks. Peace to his family.
[DM: Don't forget Albin Planinc/Planinec, who also played some truly dashing chess (despite his merely three syllable name.)]