Interview with Grandmaster Alex Colovic

Grandmaster Aleksandar Colovic was born in Skopje, Macedonia in 1976 and was taught chess by his father at age 6. Classic chess books such as Nimzowitsch's My System and Reti's Modern Ideas in Chess formed the background for his chess knowledge. These books were translated from Russian by his father. At age 11, he won his first tournament - the Skopje Junior Championship. Colovic was awarded the International Master title in 1998 and the Grandmaster title in 2013. Colovic credits studying Capablanca's games intensively over multiple months as having taken his game to a new level.

Some notable achievements are his top individual performance on Board 4 at the 2015 European Club Cup with 5.5/7 and winning the 2005 Malaga Open. He has played in three Olympiads and twice at the European Team Championship. Colovic has coached the Macedonian Women National Team and the Italian club Caissa Pentole Agnelli. He has also coached IM Marina Brunello (gold medal at the Batumi Olympiad) and IM Francesco Sonis (Under 16 European Champion). He was elected as General Secretary for the Association of Chess Professionals in 2016, and was elected President of the ACP Board in 2019. Colovic is a member of the FIDE Fair Play Commission. He holds a BA in English Language and Literature and can speak seven languages (Macedonian, English, Serbian, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish and Russian).

I first came across his website a couple of years ago and enjoyed his articles which blended personal reflection on chess history and psychology, and provided free high-level educational material on chess concepts. He also published instructive chess articles on thechessworld which I also enjoyed.

Recently @alexcolovic published here on Lichess, which gave me the idea for this blog.

I had the pleasure of conducting an insightful interview and I am glad to present it to you:

1) What do you consider to be your best game in terms of aesthetics, and your best game in terms of sporting achievement?

In terms of aesthetics, I'm very happy with my game vs. Lymar from Balaguer in 2005, where every single move had a clear purpose, something that reminded me of Capablanca. Alas, it's not available in the databases. As for my sporting achievement, definitely my win vs. Korneev in Benasque 2007, where the win with Black in the Najdorf's Poisoned Pawn practically ensured my final GM norm.

2) Who are your favorite chess players?

Capablanca, Fischer, Carlsen, though I've learned chess from all the World Champions.

3) What was the greatest advice that a coach or mentor gave you?

I never had a coach or mentor, so all the advice came from the books I read. I've always liked the less common advice, not the overly used one, for ex. There is no way one can beat a strong player if one is afraid of him, or Play a boring game to the end and funny things start to happen.

4) Would you prefer to play chess in the past, where there were no computers? Or do you prefer having computers.

I actually played chess in the past without computers, so I can compare. Personally, using a computer helped me get better and understand chess more deeply. As for opening preparation, nowadays it affects only the top 10 or so, everybody else has no problems with the vast amount of opening theory.

5) How important is psychology in chess at the GM level? Are you and your opponents very aware of each other's body language, or are players more focused on the game?

Yes, very important. I came to realise that I lost that ability at some point, to read my opponents (which I was very good at in the past) and as a result my strength dropped and decisions became weaker.

6) What is the attitude at the GM level. Are people friends, are their intense rivalries or is it more neutral and professional?

It's tricky. It depends on the people I guess, but generally it's hard to be friends with somebody you want to beat on a daily basis. So if friendships exist, and they do, it's usually between players who don't meet each other often over the board.

7) Do you think there is a relationship between the way people play chess and their personalities?

Yes, there is, but sometimes it can be the opposite of what people expect. Sometimes a calm and shy personality can be a wild sacrificial beast at the board.

8) What is your favorite place that you've been in the course of your tournament travels?

Too many to mention! I've travelled all over the world and every place is special for some reason.

9) What is a classic chess game that you really admire?

All the games by Capablanca! A wealth of instructive material that one can actually understand!

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Thanks again to Grandmaster Colovic for his insightful discussion.

If you want to explore more then here are some links where you can follow his posts or check out his educational material:

Personal Links:

Lichess - Coaching Page
Substack - Personal reflections on chess and instructive educational material.
Youtube - Good opening lines to stun your opponents.
X - Follow his posts.
The Method - The Method is a practical training system for players who want a clear, repeatable approach to chess improvement.
Chessable - Dozens of helpful courses. Winner of The 2021 Chessable Author of the Year Award.

Other Links:
Alex Colovic, FIDE
Alex Colovic, Wikipedia
An Interview with GM Alex Colovic, Chessable, Sean Marsh, 2020
Interview with Alex Colovic on "Capablanca's Endgame Technique", Daniel King, 2024
Alex Colovic, thechessworld articles.