Longtime UTD Chess Coach Milovanović Dies

Rade Milovanović, who coached the UT Dallas chess team for 20 years, passed away on Feb. 3 at age 69.

Milovanović emigrated to the U.S. from the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998. He held the rank of international master, the second-highest honor to grandmaster in chess. UT Dallas won the President’s Cup four times and the Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Championships 10 times during Milovanović’s tenure.

“Rade Milovanović was a highly respected member of the U.S. college chess community,” said Jim Stallings, director of the UT Dallas chess program. “For over two decades, his leadership and development of the chess team resulted in many championships that made the University a preeminent name in the sport.”

Julio Catalino Sadorra, current UT Dallas chess coach, played under Milovanović, then succeeded him in the role. He said that Milovanović will be forever remembered in the college chess community.

“Coach Rade was more than a team coach to me,” Sadorra said.

“He was a guide and friend since my first year as a chess scholar back in 2009. Calm, jovial and caring, he eventually became like my grandfather over the years.”

Denis Kadrić, who played chess at UT Dallas from 2014 to 2018, called Milovanović “one of the most influential people in my life.”

“He changed the way I look at life,” Kadrić said. “I will always be grateful to him and he will always be my coach.”

The University of Texas at Dallas

800 W. Campbell Road, Richardson, Texas 75080-3021
972 883-2111

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