Dragoljub Velimirovic was a former Yugoslav – Serbian, chess grandmaster whose international career was handicapped by political intrigues and his outspoken temperament. During the heyday of the USSR as the greatest national chess power, the former Yugoslavia was capable of running the Soviet Union a good second. Dragoljub Velimirovic posed a real threat to the men from Moscow. Velimirovic was born in 1942 to a prominent family from Valjevo, in the former Yugoslavia. He was introduced to chess at the age of seven by his mother, Jovanka Velimirovic, one of Yugoslavia’s leading female chess players. He died at the age 72, being one of the last players to develop a system or strategy that is so inventive it bears its creator’s name. It is a feat that is unlikely to be repeated in the modern era, when computer-based games and databases so thoroughly dominate competition that it is almost impossible to come up with something new. That does not mean that players were more talented or courageous in the decades when Velimirovic was in his prime. Velimirovic, who became a grandmaster in 1973, was never among the 20 top-ranked players in the world. And that was when there were only 200 or so grandmasters; today, there are about 2,400. The Life and Games of D.Velimirovic: Volume 1 by George Mohr & Ana Velimirovic-Zorica (Velimirovic’s daughter) is a treasure of exciting games and new information on the ‘forgotten genius’ sometimes known as ‘Mr. f5’ (due, of course, to the number of knight sacrifices he made on that particular square).  There are sparkling games from the period 1958-1975; volume two will obviously bring Velimirovic’s story to its conclusion.  One part of the index is devoted to ‘Typical Sacrifices’ which should be enough to tell the reader exactly what sort of games to expect, not just in the subject’s favorite anti-Sicilian variation, but also, for example, in the King’s Indian and Benoni defenses.  Even Leonid Stein, one of the Soviet Union’s strongest players at the time, could not survive going toe-to-toe in the Velimirovic Variation. Both of the above games are given the full analytical treatment in the book, of course – alongside a detailed story of Velimirovic’s life, complete with rare photographs.    Oh, yes; there is definitely a lot more to his story than 8.Qe2 and 9.0-0-0 and this fine book deserves to reach a wide audience, even if just for the sheer entertainment value on offer.     Sean Marsh, Spring 2024 Forward Chess Georg Mohr was born in Maribor, Slovenia in 1965 becoming a Grandmaster in 1997. He joined as a member of the FIDE Trainers Commission from 2002, becoming a FIDE Senior Trainer in 2004 and a FIDE International Organizer in 2011. Georg has been a professional chess trainer for many years. He was coach and captain of Slovenian national team from 2003 – 2010 and since 2011 he has been Turkish national youth trainer. He is a chess writer and was editor of Slovenian chess magazine Šahovska Misel from 1999 and editor of Fide Trainers Commission trainers’ surveys. He is also an organiser of chess events acting as tournament director of the European Club Cup (Rogaška Slatina 2011), the World Youth Championship (Maribor 2012) and the World Senior Championship (Bled 2018). This is his fourth book for 'Thinkers Publishing'. Born in Belgrade in 1973, Ana Velimirovic-Zorica exhibited a fondness for mathematics from an early age. She learned numbers and addition much earlier than letters and reading. Ana graduated from the Mathematics High School in Belgrade with excellent results. Following that, she pursued her education at the Faculty of Mathematics, specializing in Theoretical Mathematics and Applications. During her undergraduate studies, she maintained an average of 9.00, and during her master's studies, she achieved an average of 9.20. Mathematics has always been and continues to be her passion, although unfortunately, it is not her profession. Nevertheless, she has found a way to stay connected to it by successfully preparing students for admission to technical faculties at the University of Belgrade, as well as assisting students of the University of Belgrade in their exam preparation. Currently, she is employed as a leading reporting coordinator in the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance. In her daily work, she utilizes the latest information technologies. Outside of work, she is a devoted fan of art, sports, and nature. She is happily married and resides in Belgrade.