Five years after Niksic (1978) the chess organizers in Yugoslavia were ready to announce a new event. Fourteen players were invited, including six from 1978: Timman (who shared the win with Boris Gulko), Gligoric, Andersson, Ljubojevic, Ivanovic, and Vlastimil Hort. The addition of ex-World Champions Spassky, Tal and Petrosian, the veteran Larsen, and the promising stars Miles, Seirawan, Nikolic and Sax ensured an exciting mix of players. The organizers also tried to get ex-World Champion Robert James Fischer to participate, but found his demand of $30,000 too high. In August the organizers brought forward the scheduled start date in order to accommodate Kasparov and Portisch, who would also be able to play. Hort's withdrawal the day before the start was a setback, but there remained a stellar group of players. Now with 15 participants one player received a bye each round. Tournament category: 14 (average rating 2592). First price was $4,000, and the total cost of the tournament was about $48,000. The tournament was held in celebration of Gligoric's 60th birthday.

Nikšić was in 1983 a town with 50,000 people, of which 20,000 were students. With the added support of 70 sponsors, the organizers were able to secure funding normally reserved for football, the town's other passion. The participation of Kasparov created a media buzz, and another matter involving the young, rising star also grabbed a share of the headlines. The FIDE President Florencio Campomanes had neglected the wishes of both Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi by ordering them to play their Candidates semifinal match in Pasadena, USA rather than in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Kasparov had been ordered by his chess federation not to go to Pasadena, with the result that he had not turned up there on 6 August, and had forfeited the match. While the Soviets lobbied for a reversal of the forfeiture at the FIDE congress, Kasparov got a call from WGM Milunka Lazarevic, one of the Nikšić organizers. She was sincerely worried and invited him to this tournament, which would involve many of the major players of the time, but not the World Champion himself, Anatoly Karpov. The 20-year-old Kasparov had already climbed to second place in the world ranking, and this was a good time to prove that he deserved a shot at the world title.

Kasparov brought with him Viktor Litvinov, a KGB lieutenant colonel. He was not a professional trainer or a "chief coach", but he played chess and took care of Kasparov's interests. Kasparov had been in a good mood at a recent press conference in Moscow, and in Nikšić he played as if he did not worry about the Candidates match at all. He was reportedly angry when Larsen guessed that he would finish only fifth, but Larsen was truly impressed, and joking as usual. The weather was hot during the first half of the event, and according to Larsen, the ventilation was no good. Kasparov started out with two wins (including one with Black against Seirawan in Round 1) and a draw. The game with Portisch in Round 4 was typical of others, in that it elicited noisy outbreaks of applause from the normally staid chess audience. Shelby Lyman wrote that Kasparov's ability to defeat leading grandmasters is reminiscent of Bobby Fischer. Portisch may have felt something was wrong, but could not have anticipated 21.Bxg7! Kxg7 22.Ne5!, after which Portisch could not defend his exposed king.

Kasparov's next victims were Ljubojevic, Ivanovic and Larsen: 6.5/7. An inevitable setback came in Round 8, when he pondered too long in a good but complex position against Spassky and lost on time. It was the only game that Kasparov lost, and an example of how psychology can trump objectivity. He was back to winning ways the very next day, before rounding off with three draws and another two wins.

Miles was close behind Kasparov early on and had an edge in their individual game, but a string of tough adjournments set him back. He and Portisch fought bravely for a high placing. Larsen was also dogged with adjournments, yet continued to play forcefully in every game. The Dane's second place was a surprise to some but not to himself. He had been sick in Linares (1983) and finished last, but had moved from the Canary Islands, married a woman from Argentina and now lived there, with his health having seemingly improved. He lost to Miles and Kasparov but won six games. Spassky and Andersson played more solidly and quietly, to assure themselves of a good placing, while entertaining little risk along the way. Seirawan scored well with the White pieces, but he lost almost everything as Black. Tal did not seem inspired, and Petrosian even less so. It appeared that they both suffered in the heat. Timman performed as expected, but not beyond, whereas Ljubojevic disappointed. He had not played much recently, and his rating and the expectations of fans made him nervous.

The last round was unusually hard-fought. Kasparov was determined to defeat the birthday boy, and Petrosian tested Andersson with an ambitious opening that did not suit his normally cautious style. It backfired badly. Timman and Seirawan sparred with each other for 12 hours, only to arrive at a 102 move draw.

After the event there was a blitz tournament in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, and the organizers surprisingly invited Korchnoi. There was keen interest in who would shake Korchnoi's hand, as his defection to the West in 1976 and subsequent boycott had reduced his status to persona non grata in some Soviet chess circles. But everything went as normal and his handshake with Kasparov even brought applause from the spectators. Kasparov won both games against Korchnoi, and the double round blitz tournament ended: Kasparov 13.5, Korchnoi 10.5, Tal 9.5, Ljubojevic 8.5, Timman 8, Spassky 7, Sax 6, Larsen 5.5, Ivanovic 3.5.

On Kasparov's forfeit of the Candidates match, Karpov sent a letter to the grandmasters in Nikšić on 9 September, pointing out it was in the interest of world chess that the semifinal matches be decided at the chess board, and asking for their support through FIDE's Grandmasters' Council. Chess journalist Alexander Roshal collected the signatures of the grandmasters present, who were agreed that both semifinals should have the forfeits rescinded and be decided by normal means. Kasparov and Korchnoi met and discussed the problems of staging the match a few days later in Herceg Novi. In conclusion, they made a declaration to FIDE stating that they wished to play the match, asking that it should be rescheduled. Korchnoi was willing to play and have the forfeit cancelled, and in exchange, the Soviet Chess Federation should end the boycott against him.

The Grandmasters' Council, represented by Raymond Keene, Gligoric and Timman, also pledged its support. Finally, chess history was set back on course at an October 4 meeting of the Central Committee of FIDE, when Campomanes announced that he was rescinding the forfeits. The USSR Chess Federation made an apology to FIDE, and paid a hefty fine. Then, in November, the Kasparov - Korchnoi Candidates Semifinal and Smyslov - Ribli Candidates Semifinal both took place in London.

Meanwhile, on 26 September, Kasparov arrived in Barcelona, Spain to collect the Chess Oscar for 1982, awarded by the International Association of the Chess Press. He got a total of 1021 points, followed by Karpov with 943 points and Andersson with 594 points.

Tournament books: Međunarodni šahovski turnir Nikšić '83, ed. by Bogoljub Poleksić et al. (Šahovski Klub "Celik", 1983. 87 pp.); Niksic 1983, ed. by Robert Wade (GM Editions/C. Laird, London 1983. 29 pp.).