Dimitrije Bjelica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dimitrije Bjelica (born November 8, 1935 in Vrbica Gornja, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian (formerly Yugoslav) chess FIDE Master who can be found in the Guinness Book of Records for playing a 312-board simul in Subotica in 1997 (score: +219 −1 =92). He also played a record-breaking 56-game blindfold simul (+51 −1 =4) in the same year in Herceg Novi. Bjelica is also one of the most prolific chess authors in the world, with over 80 books in 180 editions and 55 videos and CDs to his name. He has organised many big events and was the arbiter at tournaments like Linares.

Dimitrije Bjelica is the author of thousands of published newspaper and magazine articles about chess. Based in Belgrade, he has interviewed at one time or another virtually all of the world's leading chess players. For over 50 years, any time an important chess event is held anywhere in Europe, Bjelica has been there.

Bjelica is known for his annual awards of "Black Oscars" in chess. The most frequent winners of these Black Oscars are Aleksandar Matanović, Georgios Makropoulos, Florencio Campomanes and Geurt Gijssen. He also awards White Oscars, which most often go to Anatoly Karpov and Borislav Ivkov.

Dimitrije Bjelica is the father of Serbian writer Isidora Bjelica.