09.05.2025. ŠK Pula coach Veselin Ilić received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Pula thanks to his many years of work with young people and the numerous results that the chess club Pula has achieved over more than 30 years of his work.
From individual to team achievements that kept piling up over the years (you can learn more about them on Povijest kluba – ŠK Pula), in an interview with Ilić we discover what his source of motivation was all these years, what personally fulfilled him, and what his plans are for the upcoming period.
“When you are remembered for good things, that is the real reward”
When asked how he feels about this award, Ilić casually replied:
“I’m glad I received this award. Around 100 people called me. Some of them I haven’t heard from in years, a few said they really made an effort to find my number to call me, and that meant a lot.”
Further explaining, he emphasizes what he considers his biggest personal accomplishment:
“Over 1,200 children have passed through this club since I became a coach. Some of them are now parents themselves. When we meet, the conversations are always full of cheer and reminiscing about the moments they had at the club. When people remember you for good things, that is the real reward.”
Regarding the results he has achieved over all these years, he says:
“There were quite a few gold medals in individual championships, but team results are much more enjoyable. We also had a lot of 4th places, the so-called wooden medal because of Buchholz. It was often by a hair’s breadth. I remember once Romia Gregorović finished fourth with 7 out of 9 points. Often, that’s more than enough for second place. Through all these competitions, I experienced great satisfaction, seeing not only the joy of the children but also of their parents.”
“I believed in them.”
Through his training sessions, which he describes as a “mix of work, jokes, and rest,” Ilić strives to create an environment where young people would feel fulfilled. His work has always involved large groups and a blend of different generations. Although this is quite demanding, he notes:
“It’s a pleasure to work with kids who want to learn. It’s a mutual joy.”
Regarding the reason for his success, he believes the key is simple:
“I believed in them.”
Whenever someone shows exceptional interest, as was recently the case with two young chess players, Lovro Mucić and David Mandalinić, Ilić would readily spend weekends with them outside the usual training schedule whenever they could come to the club.
About chess and future ventures
Besides his interest in the success of young players, what kept him in chess was his love for the game itself. He describes its beauty and complexity with an interesting anecdote:
“What is fascinating about chess? Once, I gathered a few people with me, one of whom was a doctor of mathematics, and just for fun, we wanted to find out how many possible positions there are in chess. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t come up with a formula to calculate it. Even today, with all the computers, it is considered that the number of possible positions is somewhere between 10 to the 90th and 10 to the 150th power. I sincerely hope it will be calculated someday.”
Considering the young players currently in the club, Ilić does not plan to give up on new ventures. Andrej Stojković and Luka Karlović have already proven themselves as strong players in various tournaments. Besides them, about twenty children are currently training at the club, some of whom will probably rise to prominence. With confidence, he states:
“My great motivation is to attack the title of Croatian champions with the cadets again in two or three years.”
As we can see, there is still much to expect from young teams of ŠK Pula, whose coach maintains the same passion for the game, training, and guiding new players as he has done for all these years.