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Chess Informant (Šahovski informator) is a publishing company that produces a magazine of the same name, as well as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings, Opening Monographs, other print publications, and software (including electronic editions of all most print publications. Founded in 1966 by Aleksandar Matanovic and Milivoje Molerovic for the purpose of offering the rest of the world the sort of access to chess information enjoyed by Soviet players. They have sold three million books in 150 countries, according to their website.^[1]

Chess Informant published two issues per year 1966-1990, and since 1991 publishes three issues per year.^[2] Each issue offers several hundred games or fragments of games from master play, many annotated by the players themselves. A board of leading players selects the best games of each issue, and these are republished in the next issue often with more extensive annotations. Each issue since Chess Informant 5 has included a combinations section with problems from recent play, and a similar endings section has become a standard feature.

Prior to the emergence of computer databases, Chess Informant publications were the leading source of games and analysis for serious chess players.^[3] The publication routinely appears in the bibliography of texts on specific chess openings^[4] and other chess texts.^[5]

The Chess Informant system of codes for the classification of chess openings, and their system of symbols have set the international standard^[6] for organizing chess information and communication this information across language barriers. The system of codes is explained in ten lenguages in the front of each issue of Informant, the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, and other publications. Former world champion Garry Kasparov asserted "We are all Children of the Informant," ^[7] and then explained that his own development as a chess player corresponded with the ascendance of Chess Informant's popularity. Other world champions, including Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik, and such leading players as Vishwanathan Anand attest that Informant is central to their tournament preparation.^[1]

1. ^ ^{a b} Chess Informant website, "About Us" section
2. ^ David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford UP, 1996), p.251.
3. ^ Edward Winter laments them as a "convenient research prop" that fuel ignorance of history. Kings, Commoners, and Knaves, p. 297.
4. ^ John Watson, Play the French, 3d edition, p. 4; Graham Burgess, Winning with the Smith-Morra Gambit, p.4; Glenn Flear, The Ruy Lopez Main Line, p. 4.
5. ^ Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors, Part IV, Fischer, p.493.
6. ^ See, for example, Artur Yusupov, The Petroff Defence, Progress in Chess, vol. 1 (Zurich: Edition Olms, 1999); also Bruce Pandolfini, "A Fiery Cauldron of Competition," Chess Life (July 2006), p.45 (referring to the widely understood +- as "Informant speak").
7. ^ The Best of Chess Informant: Garry Kasparov

• Chess Informant website