Svetozar Gligorić sample game below). Theoretically significant variations in the King's Indian and Ruy Lopez are named for him. His battles with Bobby Fischer in the King's Indian and Sicilian Defense (particularly the Najdorf Variation, a long-time Fischer specialty) often worked out in his favor. As a commentator, Gligorić was able to take advantage of his fluency in a number of languages and his training as a journalist, to produce lucid, interesting game annotations. He was a regular columnist for "Chess Review" and "Chess Life" magazines for many years, his "Game of the Month" column often amounting to a complete tutorial in
Ruy Lopez careful play White is held to gain an advantage. The best moves are 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.d3 c6 7.Ba4 Ne7. This defence was published in 1843 in Paul Rudolf von Bilguer's "Handbuch des Schachspiels" and explored by Henry Bird in the late 19th century. Bird played it as Black at least 25 times, scoring +9 =3 −13 (nine wins, three draws, thirteen losses). Bird's Defence was later used a few times in tournament play by Siegbert Tarrasch, Boris Spassky, and Alexander Khalifman. Although it is still sometimes seen as a surprise weapon, no strong master since Bird has adopted