Suat Atalık (born October 10, 1964) is a Turkish-Bosnian

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster. He is a three-time Turkish Chess Champion and the first Turkish chess-player ever to obtain title of chess Grandmaster.

Chess career

He was born in Turkey in 1964, represented Turkey in the

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...

in 1983, and was their top board for several

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 FIDE Onli ...

s. Despite this, and his current residence in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, he had disputes with chess organizers in his country, so he declared himself to be a resident of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, his ancestral home. In 1997, Atalik tied for first place at the U.S. Masters Chess Championship. During the

2000 Chess Olympiad The 34th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to all players. and women's tournament, took place between Oc ...

, Atalik insisted on playing for

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

rather than Turkey. As a result, the organizers of the Olympiad banned him from the competition. After the selection of the new national chess federation he returned to the Turkish national team. In 2003, he took first at

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

. In 2007 he tied for first with

Michael Roiz Michael Roiz (, ; born 12 October 1983 in Russia) is an Israeli chess Grandmaster. Career He learned to play chess at the age of 7. At 9, he finished 2nd in the national championship under-10 category. In 1995 he moved to Israel, becoming an IM ...

at the Gorenje

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

Tournament. Atalık won the 3rd and 4th Mediterranean Chess Championships in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, Turkey and

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, respectively. He was the only Grandmaster registered in the

Turkish Chess Federation The Turkish Chess Federation (, TSF) is the governing chess organization within Turkey. The TSF was founded in 1954, and became a member of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE in 1962. The federation was integrated into the General D ...

in Turkey beginning in 1994 and ending in 2005, when Mikhail Gurevich took up residence there.

Notable games

Suat Atalik vs Gyula Sax, Maroczy mem 1997, Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical, Noa Variation, San Remo Variation (E37), 1-0Florian Handke vs Suat Atalik, 16th open 2000, King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Donner Defense (E94), 0-1Zurab Sturua vs Suat Atalik, Bled Olympiad 2002, Slav Defense: Chameleon Variation, Advance System (D15), 0-1Suat Atalik vs Pablo Zarnicki, Bled Olympiad 2002, Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian. Classical Variation (E12), 1-0

Personal life

He attended Galatasaray Lycee and studied

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

. On November 11, 2005 he

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

22-year-old woman grandmaster Ekaterina Polovnikova from Russia. Former

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

challenger

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...

, who also played in the World Junior Championship in 1983, was his

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

. He has a son named Vadim, born in 2006.

References

External links

* * *
Chessbase News Reports: Grandmaster Atalik marries Woman Grandmaster Ekaterina Polovnikova

Video Interview with Suat Atalık
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atalik, Suat 1964 births Living people Turkish chess players Bosnia and Herzegovina chess players Serbian chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Turkish people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Chess players from Istanbul Galatasaray High School alumni Boğaziçi University alumni https://fidelists.blogspot.com/2008/04/january-1998-fide-rating-list.html?m=1 https://tsf.org.tr/guncel-haberler/736-bebek-atalk-dodu