Lubomir Kavalek
Number of games in database: 765
Years covered: 1959 to 1998
Current FIDE rating: 2527
Highest rating achieved in database: 2600
Overall record: +188 -139 =436 (53.2%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      2 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:  Sicilian (74)      B42 B96 B83 B80 B44  Ruy Lopez (67)      C95 C93 C72 C67 C81  Ruy Lopez, Closed (43)      C95 C93 C84 C92 C97  Caro-Kann (25)      B17 B14 B19 B15 B18  King's Indian (23)      E90 E69 E76 E60 E82  French Defense (21)      C19 C16 C18 C00 C14	With the Black pieces:  Sicilian (82)      B93 B83 B90 B52 B43  King's Indian (63)      E92 E62 E90 E97 E80  Sicilian Najdorf (28)      B93 B90 B98 B92 B96  Ruy Lopez (24)      C95 C87 C69 C93 C85  English (18)      A15 A10 A16  Sicilian Scheveningen (16)      B83 B80 B82 B81

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Gufeld vs Kavalek, 1962 0-1
   Kavalek vs E Formanek, 1970 1-0
   Kavalek vs Matulovic, 1966 1-0
   Kavalek vs W Pietzsch, 1967 1-0
   Gheorghiu vs Kavalek, 1969 0-1
   Portisch vs Kavalek, 1975 1/2-1/2
   Kavalek vs Karpov, 1970 1-0
   Sosonko vs Kavalek, 1979 0-1
   Kavalek vs Fischer, 1967 1/2-1/2
   Karpov vs Kavalek, 1979 1/2-1/2

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1970 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1975 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1982 by suenteus po 147
   Tilburg Interpolis 1977 by suenteus po 147
   Linares 1981 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee 1977 by EmperorAtahualpa

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LUBOMIR KAVALEK (born Aug-09-1943) Czech Republic (citizen of United States of America) [what is this?] Lubomir Kavalek was born on the 9th of August 1943 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He was awarded both the IM and GM titles in 1965. He's been Czech Champion in 1962 and 1968, was joint US Champion in 1973 and West German Champion in 1981. More recently he helped Nigel Short in his World title bid in 1993 against Garry Kasparov. He currently writes a chess column for the Washington Post, which can be read here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...

page 1 of 31; games 1-25 of 765  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Kavalek vs J Rejfir ½-½ 40 1959 Cerveny Kostelec B41 Sicilian, Kan 2. F Blatny vs Kavalek 1-0 29 1959 Cerveny Kostelec B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3 3. J Marsalek vs Kavalek 1-0 57 1959 Cerveny Kostelec A45 Queen's Pawn Game 4. J Vesely vs Kavalek   1-0 50 1961 CSR-ch A70 Benoni, Classical with 7.Nf3 5. M Altschul vs Kavalek   1-0 34 1961 Kosice B93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4 6. Kavalek vs Ujtelky 0-1 23 1961 CSR-ch A42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System 7. J Marsalek vs Kavalek   ½-½ 16 1961 CSR-ch D01 Richter-Veresov Attack 8. Kavalek vs Filip   ½-½ 25 1961 CSR-ch C67 Ruy Lopez 9. Kavalek vs J Rejfir   ½-½ 18 1961 CSR-ch B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack 10. Kavalek vs J Marsalek   1-0 47 1962 CSR-ch E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 11. Gufeld vs Kavalek 0-1 32 1962 Student Olympiad, Marianske Lazne C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 12. Kavalek vs F Blatny   1-0 34 1962 CSR-ch A00 Uncommon Opening 13. Plachetka vs Kavalek   ½-½ 50 1962 CSR-ch B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 14. J Vesely vs Kavalek   ½-½ 24 1962 CSR-ch B06 Robatsch 15. Kavalek vs Jansa   1-0 37 1962 CZE B71 Sicilian, Dragon, Levenfish Variation 16. Kavalek vs J Kozma   ½-½ 43 1962 CSR-ch B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 17. Kavalek vs I Kanko   1-0 36 1963 Halle E69 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Main line 18. Kavalek vs Filip   ½-½ 15 1963 CSR-ch C36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense 19. M Johansson Sr vs Kavalek   0-1 41 1963 Halle E98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1 20. Larsen vs Kavalek 1-0 39 1963 Halle A02 Bird's Opening 21. Kavalek vs I Johannsson   ½-½ 46 1963 Halle E86 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.Nge2 c6 22. P Trifunovic vs Kavalek   ½-½ 41 1963 Halle A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) 23. Ivkov vs Kavalek   ½-½ 62 1963 Halle E60 King's Indian Defense 24. Doda vs Kavalek   1-0 62 1963 Halle A09 Reti Opening 25. O Kinnmark vs Kavalek   0-1 37 1963 Halle B43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3  page 1 of 31; games 1-25 of 765

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing > Oct-12-04    keypusher: Thanks, <WMD>, for the correction. I had never heard that story. Very interesting about Spassky! Oct-13-04    cu8sfan: I recently read "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" and that's what they say, too, that Spassky was lazy and didn't work very hard on his preparation. Maybe if he would have Fischer might never have become World Champion. Feb-18-05    Albertan: GM Kavalek writes a column for the Washington Post which you can read at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy... Feb-18-05    Appaz: Why not put such links to chess columns in the biography <cg.com> ? Apr-09-05    Caissanist: Nice story about how Kavalek made it to the west, from TWIC. Looks like he calculated all the variations correctly and made the right move. http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/eve... Apr-30-05    offramp: Here is one of my favourite games of his: Portisch vs Kavalek, 1975 Apr-30-05    ChessHistorian: What does he do now? Apr-30-05    Caissanist: I was actually reminded of that exact game when I read the story of how he made it to the west. In both cases he faced what seemed to be a hopeless position against a very strong but rather unimaginative adversary, and so decided to do something "crazy" that his opponent could not possibly have planned for. To me, it takes the same kind of mind to sacrifice a queen for a bishop out of the opening as it does to spend all your tournament winnings on vodka (to use for bribes). Or, more to the point, to do it successfully. Jun-18-05    Where is my mind: Does Lubomir Kavalek still write his chess column @ washingtonpost.com? The last one was posted april 18. Jun-19-05    offramp: Kavaek always seems to me to be fully American; I keep forgetting that he was born in Prague. Does he now have an American accent? Jul-25-05    Caissanist: His column's still there, and the archive at www.washingtonpost.com shows columns throughout the year. If you have it bookmarked you might want to update your bookmarks; the link that I have is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.... Sep-25-05    Where is my mind: Thanks for the link <Caissanist>.I needed to update the bookmark. Dec-10-05    WTHarvey: Here is a little collection of puzzles from Lubomir's games not shown here: http://www.wtharvey.com/kava.html May-04-06    BIDMONFA: Lubomir Kavalek KAVALEK, Lubomir http://www.bidmonfa.com/kavalek_lub... _ Aug-20-06    Kenkaku: "Players Bobby's age, like myself, are a lost generation. We always lived in the shadow of Bobby. We had him as an idol. He was someone to follow. When he stopped playing, I somehow got lost. We lost our inspiration. The last decade belonged to me in the United States. I was always ahead in ratings; but I can't say I was first because, in the back of my mind, there was always Bobby. He was still alive. He is still alive." – Lubomir Kavalek Oct-10-06    RookFile: Kind of echoes what Steinitz must have felt as long as Morphy lived. Oct-10-06    Honza Cervenka: <Does he now have an American accent?> No, he has no accent. He speaks Czech perfectly and the only accent he has is the Prague one.:-) Btw, only tennis players like Lendl or Navratilova and top-models are getting it (quite quickly, I would say.) Oct-10-06    keypusher: <Kind of echoes what Steinitz must have felt as long as Morphy lived.> Ha! Jul-12-08    whiteshark: <When the truth is inconvenient for him, he has been known to resort to "fables" and to become angry when they are revealed for what they are.> -- Lubomir Kavalek (on Kasparov) QotD on gmchess.com After all he's only human! Nov-03-08    waustad: I'm glad to see that his articles are still coming. I had an outdated bookmark for the archive. I met him in '77 in Washington when I went to a simul given by Tigran Petrosian. When trying to recall his accent when speaking English I'm sorry, but I keep hearing George Jellanek in my mind's ear. I know that can't be right because Jellanek, though ethnically Czech grew up in Budapest if I recall. Nov-03-08    waustad: The problem seems to be that the links we have been posting for his column always include a date. Here is one that gets to a parent from which to search: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w... I thought his column had died, but that is because I used a dated link. Try this. Links always change so if you find a better approach, please post it. Aug-09-09    wordfunph: GM Lubomir Kavalek won the Caracas International Tournament representing the United States without ever setting foot in the US at the time. In 1979, he dislocated his knee while playing tennis and had to withdraw from the Interzonal. Happy Birthday GM Lubomir Kavalek! Aug-18-09    Helios727: How many games had Short played in the Kasparov match before he sacked Kavalek? Sep-03-09    Sem: No photograph of Kavalek? Nov-21-09    sisyphus: I saw Kavalek today. He did a simul at the Ashburn (Virginia) Chess Club, winning 22 and losing 1. He said his favorite game was the famous win against Gufeld at the Student Olympiad in 1962. His favorite tournament was Caracas 1970, where he shared first with Stein and Panno. He started at Caracas playing under the Czech flag. During the tournament, the U.S. Chess Federation called him and asked him to play under the U.S. flag; and that's how he finished. And he still speaks English with a Czech accent. < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >

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