Gligoric Beats Smyslov and Wins Fame

Svetozar Gligoric (pictured) was born February, 2, 1923. He was the Yugoslav champion many times and competed to seek the world championship. He first became famous in 1947 for his first place undefeated finish at Warsaw 1947 where he defeated Vasily Smyslov. Gligoric had seven wins and two draws for a score of 8/9. Boleslavsky, Pachman, Smyslov, and Sajtar were next with six points each.

Smyslov (1921-2010) was considered the second best in the world at the time. He played for the world championship four times from 1948-1958, won it in 1957, and continued to seek it for another generation. Gligoric modestly stated that he did not defeat another Soviet grandmaster for five years.

The Smyslov-Gligoric encounter from Warsaw 1947 is shown. The opening is the Catalan, which is characterized as a double QP opening with White playing c4 and g3. There are game references, especially featuring each of the players. I have added comments and credited guests, particularly Gligoric.