She is remembered for the integrity that she displayed in the last round of the candidate tournament in Sukhumi in 1964. American Gisela Khan Gresser offered her a draw before the game was played.
All Lazarevic had to do was agree to play a short draw and she would have become the challenger to the champion Nona Gaprindashvili. But, she refused Gresser’s offer and lost the game. As a result the Soviet players Tatiana Zatulovskaya and Alla Kushnir tied her for first.
Lazarevic finished second in the playoff match which was won by Kushnir who went on to lose badly to Gaprindashvili, 4.5-8.5.
Born in Santarovac, Yugoslavia, Lazarevic was taught chess by her father at the age of fourteen and quickly became recognized as a talented player.
She soon became Yugoslavia's leading female player and she won Yugoslavia’s Women's Championship eleven times between 1952 and 1982.
During that period her main rival was Vera Nedeljkovic. Her husband, Dr. Srecko Nedeljkovic, an IM, was noted for his significant achievements in the medical field in the cardiovascular field where he collaborated with the world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey.
Lazarevic was known for her exciting and imaginative style, but, as might be expected, there were occasions when he style caused her to overplay the position, particularly against weaker players. According to British player and wuthor Anne Sunnucks, this often robbed Lazarevic of a first prize.
She played in four zonal tournaments; she tied for third at Herceg Novi in 1954, tied for second at Venice in 1957, tied for first at Vrnjacka Banja in 1960 and finished third at Bad Neuenahr in 1963.mHer best result was the aforementioned tie for first in the Women's World Championship Candidates Tournament in Sukhumi 1964.
Lazarevic was awarded her WIM title 1954 and her WGN title in 1976. Additionally, she was awarded the International Arbiter title in 1970.
Lazarevic, who Anne Sunnucks described as an attractive redhead, spent many years working as a journalist and wrote articles on Garry Kasparov and Boris Spassky for New In Chess magazine.
She semi-retired from chess in the 1980s, did occasionally play in tournaments up intil 2008. She died in Belgrade on December 15, 2018 at the age of 86. You can watch an interview with her on Youtube HERE
In the following game from the 1953 Yugoslav Women’s Championship she defeats Lidija Timofejeva (1906-1991), the Yugoslav Women's Champion in 1947, 1948 and 1949.
[Event "Yugoslav Women's Champ, Opatija"]
[Site "Opatija YUG"]
[Date "1953.09.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lidija Timofejeva"]
[Black "Milunka Lazarevic"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "1953.??.??"]
[Source "Perpetual Check"]
{A84: Dutch Stonewall} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 f5 {The Dutch
Stonewall enjoyed a resurgence of interest in the 1980s and 1990s when lGMs
Artur Yusupov, Sergey Dolmatov, Nigel Short and Simen Agdestein used a system
where black plays an earlier ...d5 and places his dark-squared B on d6. Of
courdse tis was unknown in 1953 and among those who used the classical Dutch
Stonewall were Tarrasch, Alekhine, Botvinnik, -Bronstein, Smyslov, Larsen,
Korchnoi and Tal.} 5. Ne5 {Normal moves are 5.Bd3 or 5.Nc3} Nf6 {Originally
the Stonewall had a reputation for giving black good attacking prospects, but
after white found ways to deal with the attacks attention turned to a more
positional approach.} 6. Be2 Bd6 7. f4 (7. g4 {This ambitious moves is
interesting, butit didm't work out well for white in Chapliev,A (2314)
-Lugovskoy,M (2331) Krasnodar RUS 2011} Ne4 8. Nd2 O-O 9. h4 Nd7 10. f4 Ng3 11.
Rh3 Nxe2 12. Qxe2 c5 {A messy position, but black is somewhat better.}) 7...
Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nd2 (9. Nxd7 Bxd7 10. Nd2 Ne4 11. Nf3 Qf6 12. Qe1 {with
fully equal chances. Wermuth,F-Uherek,M Znojmo 2004}) 9... Ne4 10. Ndf3 Ndf6
11. Qe1 Bd7 {It's hard to imagine anything terribly exciting being birthed out
of this position.} 12. Qh4 {Kudos to white for trying to get some kind of
attack going, but black has a rock solid defense.} Be8 13. Ng5 Nxg5 14. Qxg5 (
14. fxg5 {leads nowhere after} Ne4 15. Nf3 {and the P on g5 is a liability.})
14... Be7 15. Qg3 Ne4 16. Qh3 {White's attempt at attacking has comer to
nought and now the Q should have retreated to e1 becuse on h3 it is exposed to
harassment.} Rf6 {[%mdl 32] Get ready for some action!} 17. g4 {White is still
dreaming of an attack,. Instead she should have tried moving the Q back to h4
and fleeing to e1.} Rh6 18. Qg2 fxg4 19. Bxg4 {You know that capturing this P
with either piece simply cannot be good. White is now on the verge of losing.}
(19. Nxg4 Rg6 20. Qh3 c5 {busts open the position and leaves white in a
difficult situation.}) (19. cxd5 cxd5 20. Bd3 Bd6 21. Bxe4 dxe4 22. Bd2 {
is the best white has, but her position is not very promising.}) 19... Bd6 {
Well played! The idea is to eliminate white;s one well placed piece, the N on
e5.} 20. Qf3 (20. Kh1 {is a better defense.} Qh4 21. Nf3 Ng3+ 22. Kg1 Qxg4 23.
hxg3 {Black is better.}) 20... Qh4 {Launching a deisive attack.} 21. h3 Bh5 22.
Bxh5 Rxh5 23. Kh2 Rf8 24. b3 {There is nothing to be done. White's choices are
resign or make meaningless moves.} (24. Rg1 Bxe5 25. dxe5 Ng5 {ends the game.})
24... Bxe5 {With the N gone white is totally helpless.} 25. dxe5 Rg5 {[%mdl
512] A key square that black can utilize because of the pin on white's Q.} 26.
Rg1 {Prevents Rg3.} Rxg1 27. Kxg1 {Black isn't done utilizing g5...} Ng5 {
[%mdl 512]} 28. Qh1 Nxh3+ 29. Kg2 Qg4+ 30. Kf1 Rf5 {White is, in effect,
playing without her R and B.} 31. Bb2 {Black niw has a tactical finish that
mates in 8.} Nxf4 {[%mdl 512]} 32. exf4 Rxf4+ 33. Ke1 Re4+ {Good enough.} (
33... Qg3+ 34. Kd1 Rf2 35. Qf1 Rxf1+ 36. Kc2 Rf2+ 37. Kb1 Qg6+ 38. Kc1 Qg1#)
34. Kd2 Qe2+ 35. Kc1 Rf4 {White resigned. A whirlwind attack by Lazarevic.} 0-1
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