Lubomir Kavalek 1943 - 2021 ++
Born in Czechoslovakia, currently the Czech Republic, Kavalek began to give remarkable results from a very young age, managing to consecrate himself for the first time at the age of 19 as National Champion of his country in 1962, a place that he would recover by 1968.
Kavalek, was a staunch opponent of the socialist currents, and it is that when the Soviet tanks arrived in the city of Prague, he decided to go west, instead of returning to Czechoslovakia.
With money, the result of his triumphs in the local tournaments in which he participated, he managed to collect some dividends, which he would use to bribe the border guards who were in the context of the conflict and thus reach West Germany.
It was the year 1970 and Kavalek, 27, went into exile in Washington, United States, a country that would welcome him and grant him American citizenship and that he would represent in 9 world chess Olympiads; three of them representing the first board. He won a total of 5 bronze medals, for the American country.
He achieved his best figures in the United States Championship in 1973 where he obtained the first place shared with the strong IM John Grefe and in 1978 where he was crowned alone, with 3 units ahead of his closest follower by materializing 10 victories and yielding. 4 draw.
Among his most relevant results will be memorable his Match against the Swedish GM of Chess FIDE and ICCF Ulf Andersson, whom he defeated with a favorable result of 6.5 vs 3.5, in addition to being proclaimed West German Champion in 1981.
Kavalek played a leadership role in the Grand Masters Association (GMA), in which he served as its executive director and led the organization of the first World Cup 1988-1989.
According to the international rating, Kavalek was one of the 100 best players in the world, between 1962 and 1988, reaching the 25th position as the highest point of him in the world ranking in 1973, with a record or mark of 2626 points. Position that he would regain between 1998 and 1999 when he decided to withdraw from official competitions with an Elo of 2594 points.
As a coach he had the opportunity to coach world-class leading figures such as: Seirawan, Hübner and was head of Short's training team in their matches against Karpov and Timman.
From this trench we want to pay a small tribute to Lubomir Kavalek and we leave three of his productions, one of them in our Capital city, Caracas, Venezuela within the framework of the President of the Republic 1970 Tournament, so that future new generations know the potential of this prominent GM, who on January 18 lost the battle against cancer at age 77 in Virginia, United States.
