Aleksandar Matanovic
Notable Games

Aleksandar Matanovic

17 celebrated games · 510 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 510 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1947.08.12 Kostic, Boris vsMatanovic, Aleksandar 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 45 moves YUG-ch sf East Yugoslav championship semifinal 1947 — the earliest game in an archive that runs to 2002, and Matanović is seventeen, beating Boris Kostić, a grandmaster who had toured the world before the First World War. The h-pawn does it: 36...h3, 40...h2, and 41.Ng3 Rxg3 42.Rxg3+ Kf5 clears the way to 44...h1=Q.
  • 1952.11.29 Gligoric, Svetozar vsMatanovic, Aleksandar 0-1 Queen's Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Traditional Variation, Main Line 80 moves YUG-ch08 Yugoslav Championship 1952 with Black against Svetozar Gligorić, the country's leading player. Eighty moves of rook ending: Matanović gives up his own passer with 61...Rxc7 62.Rxb6 Kxd5 to activate the king, and 71...e4 72.Rd8+ Kc5 finally forces the pawn through at 80.Kd2 e3+.
  • 1955.11.11 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsGeller, Efim P 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Classical Variation 41 moves Zagreb Masters (Glavni) Zagreb 1955 against Efim Geller, later a six-time Candidate. Matanović sacrifices a piece into the Rauzer — 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Qxf4 d5 15.Nxd5 — and never lets go: 24.Bxf7+ Kxf7 25.Rxb7+ Ke8 26.Re1+ drags the king into the open, and the two rooks hunt it to 41.Bf2.
  • 1955.11.19 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsBarcza, Gedeon 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Pilnik Variation 126 moves Zagreb Masters (Glavni) Zagreb 1955 again — 126 moves, the longest game in the archive, against the Hungarian grandmaster Gedeon Barcza. Rook and bishop against rook for the last sixty, the hardest theoretical ending there is, and Matanović eventually finds the net: 122.Bf2+ Kg2 123.Be3+ Kh1 124.Kf3 and 126.Ra8.
  • 1956.06.21 Keres, Paul vsMatanovic, Aleksandar 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense 43 moves Match/Nation YUG-URS 26-38 Yugoslavia–USSR match 1956 with Black against Paul Keres. Matanović runs a c-pawn while Keres attacks: 38...c2, and 40.Nd6 c1=Q+ 41.Kh2 Qc7 forces the queens together, so 42.Qxf6+ Kg8 43.Re7 Qxe7 comes with everything defended.
  • 1958.08.10 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsTal, Mikhail 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation 57 moves Interzonal-04 Portorož Interzonal 1958 against Mikhail Tal — who won that Interzonal on his way to the world title two years later. Matanović plays the piece sacrifice 13.Nd5 exd5 14.Nf5 against Tal, and the game runs to 57.Re7.
  • 1958.08.16 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsSzabo, Laszlo 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation 58 moves Interzonal-04 Six days later at the same Interzonal, László Szabó — a study player here and a three-time Candidate. The rooks come to the queenside, the a-pawn starts running at 42.Rxa5, and 49.a5, 55.a6 and 58.a7 finish a textbook rook-and-pawn conversion.
  • 1958.09.10 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsLarsen, Bent 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack 64 moves Interzonal-04 Portorož again, three weeks later — Bent Larsen, also a study player here, playing the Dragon and giving the exchange with 15...Rxc3 in the Yugoslav Attack. Matanović takes it, defends, and trades into a king-and-pawn ending at 55.Rxf5 exf5+ that he wins by one tempo: 62.Kxd5, 64.Kxb4.
  • 1961.05.15 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsStein, Leonid 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation 57 moves Match/Nation YUG-URS 28,5-31,5 Yugoslavia–USSR 1961 against Leonid Stein, soon a three-time Soviet champion. Matanović sacrifices the knight back at 55.h6 Bxf2 to clear the h-file, and 56.h7 Bxd3 57.h8=Q+ arrives with the black bishops still scattered across the board.
  • 1961.09.10 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsOlafsson, Fridrik 1-0 Alekhine Defense 34 moves Bled 30th Anniversary Bled 1961 against Friðrik Ólafsson — a study player in this archive and Iceland's first grandmaster. Thirty-four moves: 22.f5 and 23.fxe6 break the centre, 28.Rxd5 Bc3 29.Rd8 wins the exchange, and 30.Rxf8+ Qxf8 31.Qxd3 leaves nothing to play for.
  • 1963 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsVasiukov, Evgeni 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense 19 moves Match/Nation YUG-URS Yugoslavia–USSR 1963 against Evgeni Vasiukov, and nineteen moves is all it takes. Black plays 12...g5 and never castles safely: 16.Bxg5 f5 17.Nf6+ Nxf6 18.Bxf6 leaves the rook on h8 and the king in the middle, and 18...O-O-O 19.Rxe7 simply takes the bishop.
  • 1963.10.30 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsGligoric, Svetozar 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense 66 moves Alekhine Memorial Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1963, Gligorić again and this time with White. Sixty-six moves that end in one of the purest races in the archive: the rooks come off at 58.Rc3 Rxc3+ 59.Kxc3, and 63.a4 Kxh3 64.a5 g4 65.b5 g3 66.bxa6 queens one move first.
  • 1965.09.22 Portisch, Lajos vsMatanovic, Aleksandar 0-1 English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Indian Formation 38 moves ZSK International-07 Erevan Yerevan 1965 with Black against Lajos Portisch, later eight times a Candidate. The knight tours the queenside checking — 23...Nc2+, 24...Na3+, 26...Ne3+ — wins the exchange at 28...Nxg3, and the position never recovers: 37...O-O on move thirty-seven, castling into a won game.
  • 1967.03.30 Larsen, Bent vsMatanovic, Aleksandar 0-1 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation 74 moves Monaco Grand Prix-01 GM Monaco 1967 with Black against Larsen, at the start of the year in which Larsen won four supertournaments. Seventy-four moves: 60...Nc5+ 61.Rxc5 bxc5 gives the knight to keep the a-pawn, and after 68...Qxe4+ 69.Kxe4 the rooks hold the passers until 74...Re5.
  • 1969 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsPetrosian, Tigran V 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed 69 moves Match/Nation YUG-URS Yugoslavia–USSR 1969 against Tigran Petrosian, who held the world title from 1963 to 1969. Sixty-nine moves: Matanović gives back everything to stop the b-pawn — 63.Nd2 b2 64.Bxc4 Bxd2 65.Ba2 — and the f- and g-pawns walk home behind the bishop, 67...b1=Q 68.Bxb1 Kd5 69.Kf5.
  • 1978.10 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsIvkov, Borislav 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid 36 moves YUG-ch33 plof Matanovic-Ivkov +1-0=5 The 1978 Yugoslav Championship play-off with Borislav Ivkov — also a study player here — which the record books +1−0=5 to Matanović. This is the one decisive game: 26.Nxe5 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Rxe5 28.Rxe5 Qxe5 29.c4 opens both files at once, and 31.Nc4 and 32.Nb6 trap the position in a knot.
  • 2002.08.21 Matanovic, Aleksandar vsBochaev, Mark 1-0 Zukertort Opening: Queen's Gambit Invitation 40 moves Botvinnik Memorial-B Botvinnik Memorial 2002, the last game in the archive — Matanović at seventy-two, thirty-six years after founding *Chess Informant* and beginning the *Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings*. A quiet English: the knights are traded off, 31.Ng4 Bxg4 32.Qxg4 fixes the light squares, and 37.Rd5 and 40.Rd6 walk in.
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