Mario Bertok (2 September 1929 – 20 August 2008) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and sports journalist, writing for the ''

Sportske novosti ''Sportske novosti'' () is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb. It was established on 9 August 1945 as ''Ilustrirane fiskulturne novine'' weekly newspaper. Several months later, on 10 December 1945, its name got changed to ''Narodn ...

'' daily sports newspaper. He was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. Bertok earned the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...

title in 1957. He represented Yugoslavia on board four at the 1960

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

, scoring +5=5−3. A second-place finish in the 1960 Yugoslav Championship earned Bertok a berth in the 1960 Budapest Zonal where he placed 2nd, taking third after a playoff. At the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal he finished 17th. His best international result was Rovinj-Zagreb 1970 where he finished 9th=. Bertok's wife was a well-known Yugoslav actress

Semka Sokolović-Bertok Semka Sokolović-Bertok (22 December 1935 – 4 March 2008) was a Bosnian and Croatian actress. She also was a competitive chess player in her youth, winning the Croatian Chess Juniors Championship eight times. Personal life Semka was a descend ...

(1935–2008), who herself was a competitive chess player in her youth. On 20 August 2008, Bertok was reported missing after a few hours of swimming off the shores of

Jarun Lake Jarun (local pronunciation: ) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of Zagreb, Croatia. It was named after Lake Jarun, formed by the Sava River, now located on the southern edge of the neighborhood. Lake The lake is the location of the Jarun ...

; his body was recovered from the lake later the same day.

References

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External links

* * 1929 births 2008 deaths Croatian chess players Yugoslav chess players Chess International Masters Sportspeople from Zagreb Croatian sports journalists Accidental deaths in Croatia 20th-century chess players Deaths by drowning 20th-century journalists Journalists from Zagreb {{Yugoslav Chess Championship