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Lubomir Kavalek
Kavalek 
GM Lubomir Kavalek in 1980. 
Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
 

Number of games in database: 1,379
Years covered: 1958 to 1998
Last FIDE rating: 2527
Highest rating achieved in database: 2600
Overall record: +443 -229 =697 (57.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 10 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (138) 
    B42 B32 B96 B47 B83
 Ruy Lopez (108) 
    C95 C93 C96 C92 C81
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (68) 
    C95 C93 C96 C92 C97
 Caro-Kann (50) 
    B17 B18 B14 B15 B13
 King's Indian (48) 
    E90 E69 E63 E80 E91
 French Defense (37) 
    C16 C18 C02 C19 C11
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (165) 
    B93 B43 B90 B83 B98
 King's Indian (94) 
    E62 E92 E69 E80 E67
 Sicilian Najdorf (66) 
    B93 B90 B98 B92 B97
 Ruy Lopez (49) 
    C87 C95 C93 C69 C96
 English (34) 
    A10 A15 A16
 English, 1 c4 e5 (30) 
    A21 A22 A26 A28 A23
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Gufeld vs Kavalek, 1962 0-1
   Kavalek vs Matulovic, 1966 1-0
   Kavalek vs E Formanek, 1970 1-0
   Kavalek vs W Pietzsch, 1967 1-0
   Portisch vs Kavalek, 1975 1/2-1/2
   Gheorghiu vs Kavalek, 1969 0-1
   Kavalek vs G Khodos, 1965 1-0
   Kavalek vs Fischer, 1967 1/2-1/2
   Kavalek vs Uhlmann, 1976 1-0
   Kavalek vs Karpov, 1970 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Czechoslovak Championship (1962)
   Caracas (1970)
   Amsterdam IBM (1968)
   Czechoslovak Championship (1968)
   Netanya (1971)
   Netanya-A (1973)
   US Championship (1973)
   FRG-ch International (1981)
   United States Championship (1978)
   Czechoslovak Championship (1963)
   Solingen (1974)
   The Hague Zonal (1966)
   Bucharest (1966)
   Manila (1973)
   72nd US Open (1971)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 146 by 0ZeR0
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 147 by 0ZeR0
   Amsterdam IBM 1977 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1970 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1975 by suenteus po 147
   Amsterdam IBM 1969 by suenteus po 147
   IBM Amsterdam 1973 by Tabanus
   Manila 1973 by Tabanus
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1982 by suenteus po 147

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LUBOMIR KAVALEK
(born Aug-09-1943, died Jan-18-2021, 77 years old) Czech Republic (federation/nationality United States of America)

[what is this?]

Lubomir Kavalek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. FIDE awarded him both the IM and GM titles in 1965. Kavalek won the Czechoslovak Championship (1962) and Czechoslovak Championship (1968). He tied for 13th-14th at the Sousse Interzonal (1967). After defecting from Czechoslovakia and immigrating to the United States, Kavalek tied for first with Robert Byrne and Reshevsky in the United States Championship (1972), but finished last in the playoff. He won the US Championship (1973) (jointly with John Grefe) and the United States Championship (1978). He won the FRG-ch International (1981). Kavalek seconded Nigel Short in his Candidates matches and his 1993 world championship match against Garry Kasparov.

Kavalek also won Amsterdam IBM (1968), The Hague (1968), Caracas (1970), Netanya (1971), Netanya-A (1973), and Bauang (1973). He won the match Andersson - Kavalek (1978), scoring +3 =7 -0. At this peak in May 1974, Kavalek's FIDE rating was 2625, No. 10 in the world.

Former blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lubom...

Kavalek was the chess columnist for the Washington Post for 23 years, until that paper discontinued its chess column in January 2010. His columns are archived at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy... and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy....

Wikipedia article: Lubomir Kavalek

Last updated: 2025-02-04 21:35:14

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 56; games 1-25 of 1,379  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Kavalek vs Z Rutka  0-1321958CSR-ch sfA57 Benko Gambit
2. Kavalek vs J Rejfir ½-½401959Cerveny KostelecB41 Sicilian, Kan
3. Kavalek vs J Fabian  1-0481959Cerveny KostelecC02 French, Advance
4. F Blatny vs Kavalek 1-0291959Cerveny KostelecA07 King's Indian Attack
5. Kavalek vs Jansa 0-1291959Cerveny KostelecB02 Alekhine's Defense
6. F Zita vs Kavalek ½-½411959Cerveny KostelecA04 Reti Opening
7. Kavalek vs M Herink  ½-½521959Cerveny KostelecC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
8. J Marsalek vs Kavalek 1-0571959Cerveny KostelecA45 Queen's Pawn Game
9. Kavalek vs R Weinstein 0-1501960WchT U26 07thB96 Sicilian, Najdorf
10. N Iordanov vs Kavalek  0-1381960WchT U26 07thE93 King's Indian, Petrosian System
11. A Olsson vs Kavalek  ½-½471960WchT U26 07thB16 Caro-Kann, Bronstein-Larsen Variation
12. I Szabo vs Kavalek  ½-½311960WchT U26 07thB42 Sicilian, Kan
13. H L Tan vs Kavalek  1-0381960WchT U26 07thC76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation
14. Kavalek vs T Rakic  0-1331960WchT U26 07thE61 King's Indian
15. Kavalek vs S Momo  1-0651960WchT U26 07thC77 Ruy Lopez
16. Kavalek vs F Baumbach  1-0331960WchT U26 07thB39 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variation
17. M van Hoorne vs Kavalek  0-1361960WchT U26 07thB20 Sicilian
18. Kavalek vs G Kvist  ½-½241960WchT U26 07thC02 French, Advance
19. J Tabor vs Kavalek  0-1331960WchT U26 07thB95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6
20. Kavalek vs B Gurgenidze  0-1371960WchT U26 07thB61 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Larsen Variation, 7.Qd2
21. M Altschul vs Kavalek  1-0341961Czechoslovak ChampionshipB93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4
22. Kavalek vs M Ujtelky 0-1231961Czechoslovak ChampionshipB06 Robatsch
23. J Trmal vs Kavalek  ½-½151961Czechoslovak ChampionshipA22 English
24. Kavalek vs J Lastovicka  1-0411961Czechoslovak ChampionshipC75 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense
25. Pachman vs Kavalek  ½-½431961Czechoslovak ChampionshipA55 Old Indian, Main line
 page 1 of 56; games 1-25 of 1,379  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Kavalek wins | Kavalek loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 7 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-20-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: As someone said a few posts ago, if Short had stuck with Kavalek then the sky would've been the limit.

Kavalek had a streak of genius s bit like Bronstein's.

Feb-20-14  Shams: <offramp> If I remember correctly from Lawson's book on the match, Kavalek basically stopped working about a third of the way through. If true, anybody would have sacked him.

I think in hindsight he was a poor choice at 50 years old. You need a young man's energy to be a good second.

Feb-20-14  Jim Bartle: Kavalek wrote a long two-part article in Inside Chess, claiming that it became impossible to work with Short as he refused to listen to him any more. Or something like that. An excellent article, very detailed, don't know how true it is.

What was really interesting is that it went through how a player and his coach go about preparing openings for a match.

Feb-20-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Shams> My recollection is on similar lines to yours. If someone pulled a stunt like that with me, they would get the bum's rush.
Feb-20-14  Shams: <JB><Kavalek wrote a long two-part article in Inside Chess, claiming that it became impossible to work with Short as he refused to listen to him any more.>

If this is the best he can come up with in defending his conduct, I think it's pretty telling. It wasn't Short's job to listen to Kavalek; it was Kavalek's job to listen to Short.

Feb-20-14  Jim Bartle: I don't remember the details. But Kavalek definitely thought he should have the biggest voice in what openings were chosen.
Feb-20-14  Shams: <JB> Well, that's not entirely unreasonable but of course that should have been discussed prior to his being hired.

Did he respond at all to the charge that he stopped working? Because if he just glossed over that, I'm ready to call the fight right now.

Feb-20-14  Jim Bartle: No, he certainly said he kept working.

Here's a nasty back-and-forth between the two from 2005:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/kavale...-

Feb-20-14  Shams: <JB> I'm keen to read that, but your link isn't happening for me.
Feb-20-14  Jim Bartle: Try "short kavalek "inside chess"" in Google, it was the first one for me: "Short : I am not dead."
Feb-20-14  Shams: Thanks. Adding a hyphen to the end of the URL you link to repairs it.
Feb-20-14  RedShield: <Kavalek had a streak of genius s bit like Bronstein's.>

Neither was bald, either. They both just had one hell of a parting.

Feb-21-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: It was Short and Kavalek that had the parting.
Feb-21-14  RookFile: <Kavalek: His recent claim that I did not contribute any original ideas sounds strange; he certainly did not tell me that at the time. Moreover, it now seems like the fewer ideas I had, the more money he wanted to pay me. >

End of story, as far as I'm concerned. Anybody who has spent 5 minutes with Short knows that he wouldn't agree to pay money unless it was worthwhile to him.

Feb-21-14  Shams: <RookFile> <Anybody who has spent 5 minutes with Short knows that he wouldn't agree to pay money unless it was worthwhile to him.>

As opposed to other GMs who would happily flush money down the drain?

Feb-21-14  RedShield: As far as opening preparation went, it's hard to see that Nigel had any cause for complaint; this was the one area in which he was more than a match for Garry.
Feb-21-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: I can remember playing through most of the games in the 1993 match and Nigel certainly obtained a number of excellent positions. I'm not sure why but somehow he just wasn't able to capitalize on many of them.
Feb-21-14  RedShield: After the openings, the gods have placed the middle game.
May-07-15  TheFocus: <I met with similar fate (as Martina Navritalova) after I left Czechoslovakia in 1968. Chess tournaments in which I participated were not reported or appeared without my name. The same year Martina left, a book of chess puzzles by two Czech grandmasters, Vlastimil Hort and Vlastimil Jansa, was published in Prague. The publisher Olympia printed 18,000 copies and when it was done, some censors discovered my name attached to one of the games. They did something unbelievable: they cut out the page with my name, printed a new one without my name and glued it back in the book. They did it page by page, book by book – 18,000 times> - Lubosh Kavalek.
May-07-15  RookFile: <Shams: As opposed to other GMs who would happily flush money down the drain? >

Illogical, grasshopper. You overlook the possibility of simply not paying money, and doing the work yourself.

May-10-15  TheFocus: <There is no physical punishment in chess; suffering goes on inside the mind. You defend a bad position for hours, you suffer. You lose, you suffer like in any other sport. Suffering euphoria comes when the opponent blunders in a winning position, but it is undeserved> - Lubomir Kavalek.
Aug-09-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  PawnSac: < Jim Bartle: I don't remember the details. But Kavalek definitely thought he should have the biggest voice in what openings were chosen.

Shams: <JB> Well, that's not entirely unreasonable but of course that should have been discussed prior to his being hired. >

When you choose a second for a major match like that, its too late to build a new opening repertoire. A player chooses openings that produce positions that result in the type of positions he handles well. The idea is to strengthen one's handling of the openings he already has experience with, searching for nuances and refinements deeper in his existing opening knowledge. You can't just jump into all new lines in which you have had no practical OTB experience, because when you are out of book or facing unclear positions, instinct supports analysis. The last thing you would want is to be in completely uncharted waters solving problems for which your opponent is prepared. That would put you in continual time trouble. If i was selecting a 2nd it would be a player that prefers many of the openings i play, but has a different style or handling, so as to introduce new ideas or insights, or possibly find stuff that I have not considered, or overlooked in the lines i already play.

Aug-09-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  saffuna: I certainly agree with that. As I remember, Short and Kavalek prepared the Marshall as the major defense against 1. e4, then Kasparov played anti-Marshall variations.
Aug-09-16  TheFocus: Happy birthday, Lubomir Kavalek.

Player of the Day

Aug-09-16  Howard: His birthday is the same as mine, though he's quite a bit older.
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