Dragoljub Minić was a Yugoslav Grandmaster of chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

.

He won the championship of Yugoslavia

Yugoslav Chess Championship

The Yugoslav Chess Championship is a tournament with great tradition, held to determine the national champion. It was a very strong event especially in the period 1945–1991, when it represented players from six federal republics, today independent countries....

 in 1962 (joint with Aleksandar Matanović

Aleksandar Matanovic

Aleksandar Matanović is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was born in Belgrade.Awarded the GM title in 1955, he was junior champion of Yugoslavia in 1948 and Yugoslav national champion in 1962 , 1969 and 1978...

). His chess career was primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. He represented Yugoslavia in many competitions, including the 1962 Varna Olympiad

15th Chess Olympiad

The 15th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between September 15 and October 10, 1962, in Varna, Bulgaria.-References:* OlimpBase...

, where he scored 6.5 out of 8 games for Yugoslavia, which finished second to the Soviet Union, and the 1970 Siegen Olympiad

19th Chess Olympiad

The 19th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open team tournament and the Annual Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, took place between September 5 and September 27, 1970, in the small town of Siegen, West Germany.-Tournament report:...

, where he scored 8.5 out of 10 for Yugoslavia, which finished third behind the Soviet Union and Hungary. Minić also served as a second to Svetozar Gligorić

Svetozar Gligoric

Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...

 and Ljubomir Ljubojević

Ljubomir Ljubojevic

Ljubomir Ljubojević is a Grandmaster of chess. He was born on November 2, 1950, in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia . Ljubojević was awarded the International Master title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav champion in 1977 and 1982. He won the 1974 Canadian Open Chess Championship...

, Yugoslavia's most prominent grandmasters. Minić was famous for his knowledge of the game and great analytical ability. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1964, and the Honorary Grandmaster title in 1991.

Minić was a virtuoso of the Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...

, which he played with great skill from either side of the board. Here is a sharp tactical win by him over Yugoslav

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 grandmaster Albin Planinc

Albin Planinc

Albin Planinc, also spelled Planinec was a Slovenian chess Grandmaster.He was born in a working-class family in Briše near Zagorje in the Central Sava Valley, in German-occupied Slovenia....

:
Planinc-Minić, Vidmar Memorial, Ljubljana/Portorož 1973 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.O-O-O b5 10.e5 Bb7 11.Qh3 dxe5 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Qxe6+ Be7 14.Bxb5 axb5 15.Nxb5 Qc6 16.Nd6+ Kd8 17.fxe5 Kc7 18.Qxe7 Rxa2 19.Rd4 Ra1+ 20.Kd2 Qxg2+ 21.Kc3 Qf3+ 22.Kb4 (see diagram) Ra4+!! An amazing move, giving up the rook

Rook (chess)

A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...

 just to gain a tempo

Tempo (chess)

In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...

 for the attack. 23.Kxa4 Bc6+ 24.Kb4 Rb8+ 25.Kc4 Nd5 26.Ne8+ Rxe8 27.Qd6+ Kb7 28.Rxd5 Qxh1 29.Ra5 Qe4+ 30.Kb3 Rxe5 31.Bd8 Qf3+ 32.c3 Qf7+ 33.c4 Re3+ 34.Kb4 Qf8 35.Qxf8 Nxf8 36.Rf5 Rf3 37.Rh5 Ne6 38.Be7 h6 39.Bd6 Rd3 40.Be5 Re3 41.Bg3 Be8 42.Ra5 Re2 43.b3 g5 44.Rf5 h5 45.c5 Re4+ 46.Kc3 Kc6 47.Bd6 Re3+ 48.Kc4 Rxb3 49.Re5 Rf3 50.Kb4 Bd7 51.Re2 Nd4 52.Ra2 Kd5 53.Ka5 Rb3 54.Rd2 Kc4 0-1

External links

• The Week in Chess 546, Mark Crowther (25 April 2005)
• Indochess, May 7, 2005, Bobby Ang, "Chess Piece: Milestones"