A 22-year-old local hero wins the Bosna tournament

Sarajevo 1983 (Bosna)

1983 · Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Nikolic won with 10½/15

The 1983 Bosna tournament belonged to a home favourite. Predrag Nikolić, a 22-year-old from Bosnia, won Sarajevo's flagship international outright with 10½ points from 15 games, finishing a full point clear of the more experienced András Adorján and Jan Smejkal.

Dates
1983
Venue
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Format
International round-robin, 16 players
Winner
Predrag Nikolić, 10½/15

A breakthrough for Nikolić

Predrag Nikolić was born in 1960 in Bosanski Šamac, in the same republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina whose chess community stood behind the Bosna tournament. Winning Sarajevo's premier international at 22 was a landmark: it came in the year he secured the grandmaster title, and it marked his arrival among the sport's elite.

Nikolić would go on to rank among the world's leading grandmasters through the 1980s and 1990s, but the 1983 Sarajevo win — on home ground, against a strong international field — remains one of the defining early results of his career.

The finish

Nikolić's 10½/15 gave him clear first. András Adorján of Hungary and Jan Smejkal of Czechoslovakia shared second on 9½, with Bojan Kurajica — himself a former World Junior Champion and Sarajevo mainstay — fourth on 9. Sixteen players contested the single round-robin over fifteen rounds.

16
Players
120
Games
15
Rounds
10½
Winning score

Final Standings

10½/15
Nikolic won with 10½/15
# Player Score Record Games
1 Nikolic, Predrag 10½/15 +7 -1 =7
2 Adorjan, Andras /15 +7 -3 =5
3 Smejkal, Jan /15 +5 -1 =9
4 Kurajica, Bojan 9/15 +5 -2 =8
5 Ivanovic, Bozidar /15 +6 -4 =5
6 Sveshnikov, Evgeny /15 +5 -3 =7
7 Lputian, Smbat G 8/15 +5 -4 =6
8 Farago, Ivan 8/15 +3 -2 =10
=9 Dizdar, Goran /15 +3 -3 =9
=9 Gligoric, Svetozar /15 +3 -3 =9
11 Uhlmann, Wolfgang /15 +2 -2 =11
12 Kovacevic, Vlatko 7/15 +3 -4 =8
13 Drasko, Milan /15 +1 -5 =9
14 Kelecevic, Nedeljko /15 +0 -4 =11
=15 Bistric, Faruk 4/15 +1 -8 =6
=15 Osmanovic, Kemal 4/15 +1 -8 =6

Cross Table

Rank Player 12345678910111213141516
1 Nikolic, Predrag ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1
2 Adorjan, Andras ½ 0 1 0 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1
3 Smejkal, Jan ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 ½
4 Kurajica, Bojan ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1
5 Ivanovic, Bozidar 0 1 1 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 ½ 1
6 Sveshnikov, Evgeny ½ 0 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½
7 Lputian, Smbat G 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1
8 Farago, Ivan 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 1
9 Dizdar, Goran 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1
10 Gligoric, Svetozar 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1
11 Uhlmann, Wolfgang ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0
12 Kovacevic, Vlatko ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½
13 Drasko, Milan 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½
14 Kelecevic, Nedeljko ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
15 Bistric, Faruk 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½
16 Osmanovic, Kemal 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½

Each cell shows the row player's per-game results against the column player (in round order). ● = same player.