Juraj Nikolac

Juraj Nikolac (born 22 April 1932) is a Croatian, formerly Yugoslav, chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 1979. He previously held the International Master (IM) title since 1975. Nikolac was born in Metković and is a retired physics teacher.

Juraj Nikolac

Juraj Nikolac, Wijk aan Zee 1979
Personal information
Born	(1932-04-22) 22 April 1932 (age 93) Metković, Yugoslavia
Chess career
Country	Yugoslavia; Croatia
Title	Grandmaster (1979)
FIDE rating	2434 (October 2025)
Peak rating	2500 (January 1988)
Peak ranking	No. 105 (January 1978)

He finished 3= behind Aleksandar Matanović in the 1978 Yugoslav championship. His international tournament successes include:

• 4th, Zagreb, 1973
• 2=, Zagreb - Rovinj, 1975
• 2=, Wijk aan Zee B, 1976
• 1=, Amsterdam B, 1977
• 1st, Vrnjacka Banja, 1978
• 2nd, Dortmund, 1979
• 2nd, Oberwart, 1985
• 1st, Bled, 1986
• 1=, Linz, 1986
• 1st, Maribor, 1987

He is the author of a number of theoretical studies. With the death of Aleksandar Matanović in August 2023, Nikolac became the oldest living grandmaster in the world, until February 2024 when Andreas Dückstein and Iivo Nei were given honorary grandmaster titles.^[1]