Zdenko Kožul

Zdenko Kožul ( born May 21, 1966 in Bihac, Yugoslavia ) is a leading Croatian chess master. In 2006 he was European champion.

Life

Kožul carries since 1989 the Grand Master title. He was 1989 and 1990 champion of Yugoslavia. He was a longtime member of the ŠK Bosna in Sarajevo, with which he participated several times at the European Cup for club teams. First Kožul took after the collapse of the Yugoslav confederation Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia later. In the FIDE World Chess Championship by knockout system in 2004 in Tripoli, he got up in the second round.

Chess Olympiads

Kožul took from 1990 to 2008 in ten Chess Olympiads. He played for Yugoslavia in 1990, at the 1992 Chess Olympiad in Manila for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and from 1994 to the Chess Olympiad in Dresden in 2008 for Croatia. In 1990, he won a bronze medal on the third board.

European

Kožul won the 7th European Championship in Chess Turkish Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk Kuşadası before the Bulgarians and Kiril Georgiev and other 135 players in April 2006. After 11 rounds with 8.5 points Kožul had half a point ahead of the favorite Ivanchuk. Kožul was with his Elo rating of 2606 as an outsider, as it has been on the starting list only ranked 17. In the occupied with many grandmasters tournament in the Swiss system, in which, however, the absolute Topspitze was absent, Kožul scored 6 wins and 5 draws. For his victory, he received a prize of 7,000 euros.

He had his highest ever Elo rating of 2640 in October 2004.