CHESS PLAYERS from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Bosnian, Herzegovinian Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Predrag Nikolić (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 43.23, Predrag Nikolić is the most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Predrag Nikolić (born 11 September 1960 in Bosanski Šamac) is a Bosnian Serb chess grandmaster.

2. Zdenko Kožul (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 38.53, Zdenko Kožul is the 2nd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Zdenko Kožul (born 21 May 1966) is a Croatian chess player. He holds the title of Grandmaster and was the 2006 European champion.

3. Ivan Sokolov (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 37.32, Ivan Sokolov is the 3rd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Ivan Sokolov (Cyrillic: Иван Соколов; born 13 June 1968) is a Dutch-Bosnian chess player and writer. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE in 1987. Sokolov won the 1988 Yugoslav Championship and in 1995 and 1998 the Dutch Championship. Before earning the GM title, he became a FIDE Master in 1985 and an International Master in 1986. In 1987 and 1993, he won the Vidmar Memorial. In 2000, he won the 1st European Rapid Chess Championship in Neum edging out on tiebreak Alexey Dreev and Zurab Azmaiparashvili. Following his playing career, Sokolov has become a successful chess trainer. From 2013 - 2016, he worked as a coach and second for Salem Saleh and served as the trainer of the United Arab Emirates national team. In 2016, he left his job in the UAE to coach Iran's national team, a position that included extensive work with Alireza Firouzja. Sokolov became the coach of the Uzbek national team in May 2022, leading them to victory in the Chennai Olympiad later that year.