At 13 he began to frequent a local chess club and when he was 20 he played in the Yugoslav championship at Titograd, earning the Master title.

Thereafter he enrolled in a language course at the University of Zagreb, stopping for a few years to play chess.

After finishing the studies and having got an employment in the Center of Physical Culture of Zagreb, in 1977 he fully resumed his chess activity, earning the International Master title in 1978.

In 1980 he received the first Grandmaster norm after he won a tournament in Smederevska Palanka.

In 1985 he came equal first in the Championship of Yugoslavia, but lost the play-off match with GM Slavoljub Marjanović.

In the same year he won a zonal tournament in Kavala (Greece), obtaining the full Grandmaster title.

He advanced to the next phase of the World championship, which was played in the Mende-Taxco Interzonal, where he placed 6th-7th out of 16 players (Jan Timman was the winner).

Cebalo won many open tournaments, one of the last being the "Luigi Amalfi" festival of the Isle of Elba in 2007.

Despite advancing age and ailing health, he continued to participate in chess tournaments almost till the very end.