Dr. Srecko Nedeljkovic

    Dr. Streko Nedeljkovic (December 4, 1923 - January 2, 2011) was the outstanding cardiologist of Serbia. He received his medical degree in 1952 from Belgrade, specializing in internal medicine. became the principal investigator of the Serbian component of the Seven Country Study. The study investigated the relationship between die. Nedeljkovic was also well known in Yugoslavia for other studies and he was active in international cardiology as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, international exchanges with Baylor College of Medicine and Chairman of the Annals of the World Congress of Cardiology. 

    In the chess world he was an International Master. He learned the game at the age of 13 and his first teacher was his older brother. After World War II he moved to Belgrade where he achieving his first chess success in 1946 when he finished second in the championship of the Yugoslav People’s Army. He received the National Master title for his results in the indi finals of the 1949 Yugoslav Championship. His IM title came after he finished second behind Arthur Bisguier in Vienna, 1951. 

    Nedeljkovic was associated with the Yugoslav national team for 30 years as a player, coach and captain. Yugoslav players that he trained won gold medals in the 1950 Dubrovnik Olympisd, the 1966 Havana Olympiad and at the Olympiad in Buenos Aires in 1978. In 1947, he was the founder of the Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) chess club in Belgrade, of which he was a lifelong member. 

    From the mid-1950s to the end of the 1960s his wife, Vera Nedeljkovic (1929-2023) was a top female player who was the Yugoslav women's champion six times as participated in the Women's World Championship Candidates Tournament five times. In 1977 she was awarded the Women's Grandmaster title. 

 

[Event "Yugoslav Semifinal East"] [Site "Belgrade YUG"] [Date "1946.07.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Srecko Nedeljkovic"] [Black "Petar Carev"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D19"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1946.??.??"] [Source "Perpetual Check"] {D19: Slav Defence} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nd3 Bd6 12. e4 e5 13. dxe5 { This is all book so far and 13.dxe5 is better than 13.d5} (13. d5 Nb6 14. Bb3 cxd5 15. exd5 Nbd7 16. Be3 {Black stands weell and eventually won. Vargas Maliqueo,I (2209)-Alonso,S (2466) Santiago de Chile CHI 2008}) 13... Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bd3 Re8 16. f3 Qa5 17. Qc2 Nh5 18. Ne2 Bc7 19. f4 {Aggressive, but risky. A solid move was 19.Bd2} Nf6 20. Ng3 Ng4 {This attack on f2 and along the diagonal after ...Ba6 does not work out well. 20...Rad8 was a good alternative.} 21. Kh1 {Avoiding a bit of tactics.} (21. Bd2 Qb6+ 22. Kh1 Rad8 { is equal.} (22... Nf2+ {is deceptive.} 23. Rxf2 (23. Kg1 {meets with disaster.} Nh3+ 24. Kh1 Qg1+ 25. Rxg1 Nf2#) 23... Qxf2 24. Rf1 Qb6 25. f5 {with an excellent position.})) 21... Qb6 {There is nothing to be had on this diagonal and the attack on f2 so it was still best to play 21...Rad8.} 22. Qe2 {It's hard to believe that black's position is so bad that white is just a few moves away from winning.} Nf6 23. Be3 Qb4 {The attack black thought he had was an illusion and npw white has a decisive attack.} 24. f5 Bxg3 25. fxg6 Be5 { This meets with a quick end. He could have put up a manly defense with the obvious 25...hxg6 when white stands well, but he does not have a forced win.} 26. gxf7+ Kxf7 {Black has left his K faally exposed and Nedeljkovic begins to deliver sledgehammer blows.} 27. Bc4+ Kf8 28. g4 b5 {He could have held out a bit longer with 28...h6} 29. axb5 cxb5 30. Bd5 h6 31. g5 {Taking the R does not even come under consideration; white is going after the K.} hxg5 32. Qh5 { Threatening nate in f7.} Ke7 {Trying to flee, but there is nowhere to go.} 33. Qf7+ Kd6 34. Ra6# {An impressive final attack by Nedeljkovic!} 1-0