Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek, one of the top 10 chess players in the world during the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 77. During his long and distinguished career he not only played at an elite level, but he also served as Bobby Fischer's unofficial second during the 1972 World Chess Championship, he trained many champions, he wrote hundreds of chess columns, and he organized tournaments.
Kavalek's chess career lasted for several decades. If you came of age as a chess player in the 1970s, then you remember Lubomir Kavalek as one of America's top players. If you came of age as a chess player in the 1980s, then you remember Lubomir Kavalek as a top trainer and organizer. If you came of age as a chess player in the 1990s or 2000s, then you remember Lubomir Kavalek as a chess writer who called a young Magnus Carlsen the "Mozart of Chess":
Kavalek left a deep imprint on chess history. Grandmaster Andy Soltis has said that if Kavalek had done nothing other than win his spectacular 1962 Student Olympiad game against Eduard Gufeld then Kavalek would still always be remembered. That game is remarkable--Kavalek's three passed pawns prevailed against Gufeld's Rook--but Kavalek was just 18 when he played that game, with a tremendous future in front of him.
Kavalek won the Czech national championship twice in the 1960s before defecting to the United States. After Fischer abandoned the tournament scene, Kavalek and Walter Browne emerged as America's top two players. Kavalek won two U.S. titles during the 1970s (and lost a playoff for a third title), while Browne won three U.S. titles during the 1970s (and three more during the 1980s). During that period, Kavalek and Browne battled--along with Robert Byrne and Larry Evans--to be the top ranked U.S. player on the FIDE (International Chess Federation) list, and on at least one occasion (January 1975) Browne and Kavalek were listed right next to each other, separated by just five rating points, behind Fischer (who was still listed even though he had not played since winning the World Championship in 1972) and Byrne. In January 1979, Kavalek ranked first and Browne second among U.S. players on the FIDE list.
Kavalek organized the 1979 Montreal Tournament of the Stars, one of the strongest chess tournaments ever held. He also played in the event, starting off poorly with 1.5/9 but rallying to score 6.5/9 in the second half. Kavalek later said this was his best tournament performance. World Champion Anatoly Karpov and former World Champion Mikhail Tal shared first place.
Kavalek transitioned from being an active player to being a chess author, trainer, and organizer/promoter. He wrote a chess column for The Washington Post from 1995-2010, and then he wrote a chess column for The Huffington Post. Kavalek's chess writing sparkled with interesting analogies--in one column, he discussed similarities between the "baseline" styles of Bjorn Borg and Magnus Carlsen--in depth game analysis, and thoughtful musings about ways in which chess is both an art and a violent sport
Kavalek understood that chess is much more than a game or a pastime. He declared, "Just to think about it as a game is degrading. It has certain elements of science and art and some competitive elements that have even to do with sport. It tests your imagination; it tests a lot of things. Sometimes it is not all pleasure. Sometimes you suffer."
Kavalek participated in nine Chess Olympiads--two while representing Czechoslovakia and seven while representing the United States--and he was a member of Team USA's gold medal winning 1976 squad. He was inducted in the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2001.
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