'Uncle Bora'. A Quick Look at Boris Kostic.
Afternoon everyone.
Yes I am back with another of the forgotten and neglected. I don't expect anyone else to be interested, but it gives me something original to do on a Sunday afternoon - the alternative being to churn out the Short - Timman King march for the umteenth time, but someone beat me to doing that!!
A short while ago the inimitable @batgirl posted a brilliant article here
One name in there was the then veteran Boris Kostic, so I have spent a couple of hours putting this short article together as a kind of small introduction to him.
In my Library is an old Chess Informant book.
It's a really cool book, and the nicest thing is that it has some great personal biographies on the main players featured in it.
The best of all is the one on Kostic. I will give a couple of extracts.
''Bora Kostic was born in Vrsac on 24th February 1887 and died on 3rd of November 1963 in Belgrade. Though well educated he never had any job except that of playing chess......
During the war, when SS commander Schiller asked him to play in the 'Free europe' tournaments and thus contribute to the glory of the Nazi regime, he refused. Nothing could make him change his decision, even the promise of an easier life, prizes and other benefits; a true patriot, he preferred to go to a concentration camp.'
From Dragoljub Janosevic :-
It was the last day of 1944. As a soldier I found myself in Vrsac where I did not know anybody. I started to enquire about Kostic's address, and at once went to see him. It was an awful snowstorm - the snow was waist-high in places......
There I got another shock; the windows were wide open and the wind was blowing snow into the room....
In the morning , another surprise; Uncle Bora, naked to the waist, ran about the garden, stopping from time to time to rub himself with snow. His skin was as red as a boiled lobster!......
Evena t a very advanced age he would start a whole series of simultaneously played games traveling from one place to another.
Owing to his excellent memory he was in his time one of the world's best at 'blindfold' games and was also very good at languages. he spoke fluently a dozen languages as different as Russian, English, Hungarian, Hebrew.
Careless about his appearance and conventions in general, he neglected his health, relying completely on his natural vitality. However..... a mere scratch on his foot became infected and he died of blood poisoning.''
There is a lot more, but time constraints prevent me quoting it all. He was a fascinating character.
I will give a few games, some of which I hhave added brief notes to, and some pictures.
I hope that this little post will inspire one or two of you to look a little deeper, and that 'Uncle Bora' will be remembered.
he is best remembered for losing a one - sided match against the great Capablanca, and a nice photo survives.
Some chess - I have just posted them in the order that I come to them. Apologies for the lack of time - I had intended to do more, and better, but life is what life is!
Sava Gerdeci - Kostic. 1912.
The young future world champion Max Euwe, had a bad tournament at Budapest in 1921. a learning experience. Kostic gave him a terrible beating.
And a bit of fun to finish with. I won't add any variations, in the hope that you will just study it for yourself, and enjoy it. Sparkling chess, where the pieces are alive and full of joy.
The Statue of Kostich in the park in Vrsac ( Vrsc)
I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into the legacy of one of the forgotten. Apologies for it's brevity - feel free to add to it's content in the comments. There is much that an be added! He was a remarkable man, and a true chess lover - one who deserves to be remembered.
Cheers, Simaginfan.
