The first mention of playing chess in Croatia dates from 14th century, more precisely, from 1385 in the city of Zadar. Thomas Hyde, an English orientalist from 17th century, travelled through Croatia, and mentioned that the correspondence chess had been played between Croatian and Venetian merchants in 1650, more precisely, beween the Dubrovnik and Venetian merchants. It is the oldest mention of the correspondence chess in history. This fact can be found in his book “De ludis orientalibus” (On Eastern Games), published in Latin in 1694.

In Croatia there are 162 registered players of correspondence chess (30 of them active). Until the advent of computers, chess moves were sent by snail mail, and sometimes one had to wait for a few months for a single move. It is not surprising that such a game could last for several years. Since 1990s the speed of the correspondence chess has been revolutionarized due to the possibilities of electronic communication, and its duration is comparable to that of the “usual” chess game. Information by the courtesy of dr. Zvonko Krecak, Croatian physicist, who is the president of the Croatian Correspondence Chess Association (Hrvatska udruga dopisnog saha) since 1987 (continuously till 2010 when these lines are written).

Ognjen Cvitan, Croatian chess grandmaster, earned the International Master title by winning the 1981 World Junior Championship for competitors under the age of 20.

In Croatia there is a Chess Street, the only one in the world. Aleksandar Lysenko, Russian international chess master, is the author of an article “In the Chess Street” published by the well known Russian chess journal “64 Chess Survey”, Moscow 1996. The article deals with the Chess Club in the Chess Street in the town of Ravna Gora in Croatia. He wrote: “It is good that such a street exists, but it is a pity that the street is not in Russia.”

Valentina Golubenko and Ivan Šaric won the titles of world youth chess champions for 2008 in the category up to 18 years, at the competition organized in Vietnam. With two gold medals and one bronze, Croatia was ranked third at the World Competition, after India and Vietnam, and before China, Russia, USA, Germany etc.

Ivan Saric, world chess champion for 2008 under the age of 18, with Croatian Coat of Arms Croatian Chess Federation

We feel it necessary to mention Gari Kasparov, a famous Russian chess player, the former champion of the world. He played as a member of chess teams of Vukovar (in exile from 1991 to 1998) and Sarajevo. Upon his request, Gari Kasparov has been granted Croatian citizenship in February 2014.