Borislav Ivkov
Notable Games

Borislav Ivkov

20 celebrated games · 993 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 993 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1949.11.07 Ivkov, Borislav vsJanosevic, Dragoljub 1-0 Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation 45 moves YUG-ch05 Yugoslav Championship 1949 — the earliest game in an archive of nearly a thousand wins that runs to 2013, and Ivkov is sixteen. Forty-five moves that come down to a king race: 34.f6+ Rxf6 35.Nxf6 Nc6+ 36.Kc5 Nxa7 gives up the rook, and 40.Kxa7 Kxd6 41.Kxa6 Kc5 42.Ka5 wins the opposition and the b-pawn.
  • 1950.10.10 Ivkov, Borislav vsRellstab, Ludwig Sr 1-0 Petrov's Defense 98 moves Bled International Bled 1950 against the German master Ludwig Rellstab — ninety-eight moves, the longest game in the archive. The last forty are bishop and knight against a lone bishop, one of the hardest wins there is: Ivkov walks the g-pawn to g7, keeps the black bishop off the queening square, and finally boxes it in with 96.Kg5, 97.Nh6 and 98.Ng4.
  • 1951.06.12 Olafsson, Fridrik vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Dutch Defense: Classical Variation 63 moves World U20-ch01 The first World Junior Championship, 1951 — the event Ivkov won, becoming the inaugural World Junior Champion. This is Friðrik Ólafsson, a study player here and later Iceland's first grandmaster, beaten with Black in a Classical Dutch: 53.Ke3 Nc4+ 54.Kxd3 Ke5 activates everything, and 61...b3 62.Kc3 b2 63.Kxb2 Kd4 leaves the kingside pawns unstoppable.
  • 1951.06.17 Larsen, Bent vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Boleslavsky Variation 32 moves World U20-ch01 Five days later at the same World Junior Championship, a sixteen-year-old Bent Larsen — also a study player here. The whole game is one pawn: 9...a5, 10...a4, 11...a3 and 12...axb2, and after 19...Rxa2 20.Bc4 Ra1 21.Rxa1 the pawn promotes on a1 anyway, ten moves after it started.
  • 1954.10.31 Ivkov, Borislav vsPetrosian, Tigran V 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Traditional Variation 44 moves Belgrade Belgrade 1954 against Tigran Petrosian, nine years from the world title — the first of five World Champions Ivkov beats in this archive. Petrosian gives the queen for a rook with 25...Qxf2+ 26.Kxf2, the rest comes off at 29.Rxc5 and 30.Rxd7+, and Ivkov walks his king the length of the board: 33.Kf3, 34.Kg4, 43.Kd3, 44.Kc4.
  • 1956.01.02 Ivkov, Borislav vsTaimanov, Mark E 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Classical Variation 33 moves Christmas Congress 1955/56-31 Premier Hastings, January 1956, against Mark Taimanov — a study player here and later a Candidate. The queens are gone by move thirteen and the rook is on the seventh by move fourteen: 13.Qxd7+ Kxd7 14.Rxf7 Kc6, and the knight and passed pawns finish it at 31.c5 Bxb6 32.axb6 Ke7 33.Rxa6.
  • 1959.04.22 Fischer, Robert James vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation 52 moves Santiago de Chile International Santiago de Chile 1959 with Black against a sixteen-year-old Bobby Fischer, in the year Fischer first played the Candidates. A Winawer in which Ivkov gives back the piece to trade queens — 38...Qxd4+ 39.Qxd4 Nxd4 — and then the a-pawn decides it: 43...a5, 44...a4, 50...a3, 52.Rb1 a2.
  • 1961.09.29 Ivkov, Borislav vsPortisch, Lajos 1-0 French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation 31 moves Bled 30th Anniversary Bled 1961 against Lajos Portisch, later eight times a Candidate — a Winawer where Ivkov takes everything on offer. 9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qxh7 grabs two pawns and gives up castling, 19.Qe6 Qxe6 20.Nxe6+ trades into the attack rather than out of it, and the rooks chase the king from d8 to a6: 28.Re7+, 29.Rc7+, 30.Rb1+, 31.Rc6+.
  • 1961.09.30 Najdorf, Miguel vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Benoni Defense 37 moves Bled 30th Anniversary The very next day at Bled, Miguel Najdorf — twice a Candidate and the man whose name is on the most-played Sicilian of all. Ivkov gets a pawn to f3 and lets it sit: 22.Rf2 f3 23.Bc3 Bxc3 24.Nxc3 fxg2+ 25.Kxg2 Rxf2+ strips the king, and 34...Bxh3 35.Qxh6 Rf1+ 36.Kh2 Qf4+ 37.Kxh3 g4+ mates next move.
  • 1963.09.08 Ivkov, Borislav vsTal, Mikhail 1-0 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Yugoslav Variation 42 moves Capablanca Memorial-02 Capablanca Memorial, Havana 1963, against Mikhail Tal, three years after his world title. A fianchetto King's Indian in which Tal's d-pawn reaches d2 and dies there: 29.Red1 Nd4 30.Bd3 Nxf3+ 31.exf3 Rxd3 32.Rxd2 wins it, and Ivkov's own passers run the other way — 39.b5, 40.b6, 42.c6.
  • 1964.11.14 Benko, Pal C vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation 24 moves Olympiad-16 Final A Tel Aviv Olympiad 1964 with Black against Pál Benkő, later a Candidate — twenty-four moves and mate on the board. 16.b5 Rxc7 gives up the exchange to break the bind, 19.Bxb5 Rxc1 20.Qxc1 Bb7 turns the long diagonal on the white king, and 23.Qd3 Rc1+ 24.Ke2 Nf4 is mate.
  • 1965.04.21 Gligoric, Svetozar vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Bernstein Defense 36 moves Zagreb Peace Zagreb 1965 with Black against Svetozar Gligorić, Yugoslavia's leading player for three decades — and in a Nimzo-Indian line the record itself calls the Gligorić System. Ivkov throws a knight at f3 and never retrieves it: 21...Nxf3 22.Rg1 Bg4 23.Rxg4 Qxg4, 25...Nxh2, and after 28.Qxf3 Nxf3 the knight simply eats the queenside.
  • 1965.09.01 Ivkov, Borislav vsSmyslov, Vasily V 1-0 Slav Defense: Exchange Variation 59 moves Capablanca Memorial-04 Capablanca Memorial, Havana 1965 against Vasily Smyslov, eight years after his world title. An Exchange Slav ground out over fifty-nine moves: the rooks come off at 42.Rc8 Rxc8 43.Nxc8, Smyslov's knight goes hunting pawns, and Ivkov's queenside runs faster — 50.b5, 56.bxa6, 57.a7, 59.a8=Q.
  • 1965.09.08 Fischer, Robert James vsIvkov, Borislav 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense 53 moves Capablanca Memorial-04 The same Havana tournament, a week later — and Fischer was not in Havana. Refused permission to travel to Cuba, he played the whole event by teletype from the Marshall Chess Club in New York. Ivkov beats him with Black in a Closed Ruy Lopez: 41...Rg1+ 42.Rxg1 Nxg1 trades into a knight ending, and 49.Kxe4 Ng5+ 50.Kf4 Nxh3+ collects the last pawns.
  • 1966.11.12 Ivkov, Borislav vsByrne, Robert Eugene 1-0 French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation 20 moves Olympiad-17 Final A Havana Olympiad 1966 against Robert Byrne, later a US Champion and a Candidate — twenty moves, and the queen is trapped in the middle of the board. Byrne wins a pawn with 16...Qxc2, walks to 17...Qe4, and 18.Qa3 f6 19.f3 Qxe2 20.Rd2 catches the queen with a rook move that attacks nothing else.
  • 1967.11.04 Ivkov, Borislav vsKorchnoi, Viktor Lvovich 1-0 Bogo-Indian Defense 60 moves Interzonal-07 Sousse Interzonal 1967 against Viktor Korchnoi, later twice a World Championship challenger. Sixty moves: Ivkov gives back the c-pawn with 47.c6 Rb1 48.Ra7+ Kd6 49.Rd7+ Kxc6 to win the bishop at 50.Rxd8, and the rook-and-bishop ending is converted by walking the king in — 58.Kd5, 60.Kd6.
  • 1968.11.30 Ivkov, Borislav vsPetrosian, Tigran V 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation 33 moves Palma de Mallorca Gran Torneo-04 Palma de Mallorca 1968, Petrosian again — and this time Petrosian is the reigning World Champion, five years into a title he held until 1969. Thirty-three moves: 24.c5 bxc5 25.bxc5 opens both files, 26.Nd5 plants the knight, and 32.Qc2 Nh5 33.Ne7 forks its way through a position with nothing left to defend it.
  • 1970.06.29 Ivkov, Borislav vsKarpov, Anatoly 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense 29 moves Caracas Caracas 1970 against a nineteen-year-old Anatoly Karpov, the reigning World Junior Champion, four years from becoming World Champion — beaten by the first World Junior Champion of all. The white queen goes to the corner behind the black king: 18.Qh7+ Kf8 19.Ne4, 22.Qh8+ Ng8 23.Bh7, and 24.Nf5 exf5 25.Qxg8+ Ke7 26.Rxe5+ hunts the king down to 29.Rxe8.
  • 1974.07.22 Ivkov, Borislav vsTimman, Jan H 1-0 Alekhine Defense 25 moves IBM IBM tournament, Amsterdam 1974, against Jan Timman, soon to be the West's strongest player. Twenty-five moves of Alekhine's Defence: 16.Bxe5 f6 17.Bd6 fxg5 18.Bxb4 Qxb4 wins the piece back, and 19.Nd6+ Ke7 20.Rf7+ Kd8 21.Qxg5+ Kc7 22.Nb5+ Kc8 drives the king across the board to 25.Qxg7+.
  • 2013.10.19 Ivkov, Borislav vsRadovanovic, Mihajlo 1-0 Zukertort Opening: Sicilian Invitation 48 moves Belgrade-chT Belgrade team championship, October 2013 — the last game in the archive, sixty-four years after the first, with Ivkov at eighty. He plays a quiet fianchetto, keeps the bishop pair, and wins the ending with the pawns: 40.a5, 42.a6, 43.f4, 44.g4, 45.f5, 46.h5 and 48.Rh2.
EXPLORE ALL 993 GAMES