Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a publishing company from
Belgrade (Serbia, former Yugoslavia) that periodically (since 2012, four volumes per year) produces a book entitled ''Chess Informant'', as well as the ''
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of Chess theory#Opening theory, opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Che ...
'', ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings'', ''Opening Monographs'', other print publications, and software (including electronic editions of most print publications).
Aleksandar Matanović and Milivoje Molerović founded the company in 1966 for the purpose of offering the rest of the world the sort of access to chess information enjoyed by Soviet players. The company has sold three million books in 150 countries, according to its website.
[Chess Informant website](_blank)
, "About Us" section
Chess Informant published two issues per year in 1966–1990, three issues per year in 1991–2011 and four issues per year since 2012. Each issue offers several hundred games or fragments of games from master play, mostly annotated by the players themselves. A board of leading players selects the best games of each issue, and these are republished in the next issue often with more extensive annotations. Each issue since ''Chess Informant 5'' has included a combinations section with problems from recent play. A similar
endings section has also become a standard feature.
For two decades prior to the emergence of computer databases, ''Chess Informant'' publications were a leading source of games and analysis for serious chess players. The publication routinely appears in the bibliography of texts on specific chess openings and other chess texts. Former world champion
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...
asserted, "We are all children of ''Informant''" and then explained that his own development as a chess player corresponded with the ascent of ''Chess Informant''s popularity. Other world champions, including
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...
,
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
, and
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...
, attest that ''Informant'' is central to their tournament preparation.
From millions of games played at some of the most important tournaments at the globe, more than 110,000 games have been published in first 112 volumes of ''Chess Informant'' series (1966–2011). Among contributors there were more than 5,000 notable chess players including all the world champions from
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
to Anand.
The ''Chess Informant'' system of codes for the classification of chess openings, and its
system of symbols have set the international standard for organizing chess information and communicating this information across language barriers. The system of codes is explained in ten languages on the front of each issue of ''Informant'', the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', and other publications.
On April 1, 2008, Chess Informant issued its one-hundredth issue.
Starting from Volume 113 (2012), Chess Informant has introduced major changes in its structure, including several authors' columns written in English, e.g. "Garry's choice" by Garry Kasparov, "Top Five" by selected top grandmasters, "Labs- theoretical surveys" by ten selected grandmasters, etc.
Kasparov – picking games for the ''Chess Informant''
/ref>
See also
* List of chess periodicals
References
External links
Chess Informant
{{Authority control
Chess publishing companies
Chess in Serbia
1966 in chess
Publishing companies established in 1966