Lubomir Kavalek
Notable Games

Lubomir Kavalek

20 celebrated games · 545 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 545 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1958.11.22 Kavalek, Lubomir vsSeifert, Bedrich 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Maróczy Bind, Réti Variation 28 moves CSR-ch28 sf Czechoslovak championship semifinal, November 1958 — the earliest game in an archive that runs to 1998, and Kavalek is fifteen. Both rooks go: 22.Bxh7+ Nxh7 23.Rxh7 Ne5 24.Qh3 Ng6 25.Rxf7 Kxf7, and 26.Qh7+ Ke8 27.Qxg6+ Kd7 28.Qe6+ finishes with the queen alone.
  • 1962.08.14 Opocensky, Karel vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni 17 moves CSR-ch31 Czechoslovak Championship 1962 with Black against Karel Opočenský, a master of the pre-war generation — seventeen moves. White wins the exchange and loses the game to it: 15.Rxd4 exd4 16.Bxf8 Ne5 leaves the knight on e5 attacking everything, and 17.Qg3 dxc3 collects a piece with the bishop still stranded on f8.
  • 1963.02.19 Hort, Vlastimil vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation, Wing Attack 44 moves CSR-ch32 Czechoslovak Championship 1963 with Black against Vlastimil Hort, his exact contemporary and later a Candidate. Kavalek throws everything at the king: 31...exf2+ 32.Kh1 Bxg2+ 33.Kxg2 Ne3+ 34.Kf3 g4+ 35.Ke2, and after 36...Rxd5 37.Bxd5 Nxd5 the checks never stop until 43...Nf4+ 44.Rxf4 Qxf4.
  • 1966.05.01 Kavalek, Lubomir vsMatulovic, Milan 1-0 Benoni Defense 32 moves Bucharest Int 07th Bucharest 1966 against Milan Matulović, a study player here. Kavalek gives up a rook and then a knight to open the black king: 19.Rxf6 Bxf6 20.Nf5 gxf5 21.g3 Bc3 22.bxc3, and the bishops take over — 25.Nf6+ Kh8 26.Nxd7, 29.Bf6+ Kg8 30.Be4, 32.Bd5+.
  • 1967.01.13 Kavalek, Lubomir vsLarsen, Bent 1-0 Scandinavian Defense 41 moves Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee 1967 against Bent Larsen — also a study player here, and about to win four supertournaments in a single year. Larsen's own Scandinavian is met with 8.g4 and 9.h4; the knights come to c4 and d5, and 37.Rd7 Qe4 38.Qc7 Nf3 39.Bxf3 Qxf3 40.Rd8+ Rxd8 41.Qxd8+ ends it.
  • 1968.08.15 Kavalek, Lubomir vsAdamski, Jan 1-0 Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak Defense 38 moves Rubinstein Memorial-06 Rubinstein Memorial, Polanica-Zdrój, 15 August 1968 — five days before Warsaw Pact tanks entered Czechoslovakia. Kavalek won this tournament and then left the country for good, eventually becoming a three-time US Champion. On the board: 24.bxc5 Nxc5 25.Rxb5 axb5 26.Bb4, and 36.e5 b4 37.exd6 with the pawns through.
  • 1969.01.30 Benko, Pal C vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Queen's Pawn Game 29 moves Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee 1969 with Black against Pál Benkő, later a Candidate. Benkő sacrifices a bishop and a rook — 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.Rxg7 Kxg7 22.Rg1+ Kh8 — and Kavalek gives the piece straight back to kill it: 23.Qg2 Bf6 24.Nd5 Bxe5 25.fxe5 c6, and 26.Nf6 Nd6 27.exd6 Rxf6 leaves nothing.
  • 1970.07.01 Kavalek, Lubomir vsKarpov, Anatoly 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Chigorin Defense 59 moves Caracas Caracas 1970 against a nineteen-year-old Anatoly Karpov, the reigning World Junior Champion and four years from the world title. Fifty-nine moves: 42.Bxh5+ takes the pawn and opens the king, 47.Qxa6 and 49.Qg8 Nxf5 50.exf5 strip the defence, and the queen chases the black king from d6 to f3.
  • 1970 Kavalek, Lubomir vsLarsen, Bent 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack 38 moves Match Larsen-Kavalek +5-1=2 From the 1970 match with Larsen, which the record books +5−1=2 to Larsen — this is Kavalek's win. A Panov Attack in which the black d-pawn runs to the second rank and is simply not fast enough: 32.g4 d3 33.g5 d2 34.Qd5 Qc8 35.Qxb3, and 37.Nd5 blocks the last check.
  • 1972 Reshevsky, Samuel Herman vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation 42 moves USA-ch US Championship 1972 with Black against Samuel Reshevsky, the dominant American player of the previous thirty years — and Kavalek's first US Championship after emigrating. The knight tours the queenside: 30...Nxb2 31.Nb5 a5 32.g4 Nxa4 33.Kf1 Nc3, and the two bishops finish at 41...Bc4 42.Bd5 Bxd5.
  • 1973.10.16 Kavalek, Lubomir vsNajdorf, Miguel 1-0 Philidor Defense: Lion Variation 37 moves Manila International Manila 1973 against Miguel Najdorf, twice a Candidate and the man whose name is on the most-played Sicilian of all — in a Philidor. 21.Rd6 Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Qxe4 23.Rd7 wins the seventh rank, 28.Qxe5 the pawn, and 33.Rxe6 bxc5 34.Rxe8 the piece.
  • 1973.10.21 Ljubojevic, Ljubomir vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Modern Variation 22 moves Manila International Manila again, five days later, with Black against Ljubomir Ljubojević — twenty-two moves. White's king never castles: 17...Ne5 18.Rd1 Nxf3+ 19.Kf2 Qxd1 wins the rook outright, and 20.exf3 Qd2+ 21.Kg1 Re1 22.Qc4 Rae8 doubles on the back rank with mate coming.
  • 1973 Kavalek, Lubomir vsTimman, Jan H 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation 116 moves IBM IBM tournament, Amsterdam 1973 against Jan Timman — 116 moves, the longest game in the archive. Rook and bishop against rook and bishop for the last forty, and Kavalek keeps the b-pawn alive through all of it: 103.b5, 110.b6, 112.b7, and 113.Bd8 Rc2 114.Ba5 finally cuts the black rook off.
  • 1974.06.27 Kavalek, Lubomir vsGligoric, Svetozar 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer 40 moves Olympiad-21 Final A Nice Olympiad 1974 against Svetozar Gligorić, Yugoslavia's leading player for three decades — playing the Breyer Ruy Lopez that was Gligorić's own speciality. Kavalek gives two pawns for the long diagonal at 30.Bxd5 e4 31.Bxb7 exf3+ 32.Bxf3, wins the exchange back on e3, and 39.Nd4 Bf4 40.Nxb5 takes the last queenside pawn.
  • 1976.06.27 Kavalek, Lubomir vsSpassky, Boris Vasilievich 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation, Classical Variation 35 moves Interzonal-10b Biel Interzonal 1976 against Boris Spassky, four years after he lost the world title to Fischer. Thirty-five moves: 17.Nc7 Rc8 18.Nxe6 fxe6 buries the black king's cover, 26.exd5 exd5 27.Rxd5 g4 28.Bxc6 gxf3 29.Rxd8+ wins the exchange and a pawn, and 34.Qe6 ends the resistance.
  • 1977 Kavalek, Lubomir vsSpassky, Boris Vasilievich 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Modern Main Line 21 moves Match Spassky-Kavalek +3-1=2 From the 1977 match with Spassky, which the record books +3−1=2 to Spassky — Kavalek's win, and it takes twenty-one moves. 15.Nxc6 Bxc4 16.Qf3 dxe4 17.Qf5 Be6 18.Qe5 offers the queen in the middle of the board, and 18...Nd7 19.Nxd8 Nxe5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Bxe5 comes out a piece up.
  • 1978 Kavalek, Lubomir vsAndersson, Ulf 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Modern Variation 48 moves Match Kavalek-Anderssen +3-0=7 From the 1978 match with Ulf Andersson, which Kavalek won +3−0=7 without losing a game. Forty-eight moves: the queens come off at 31.Qe5 Qf6 32.Qxf6+ Kxf6, Kavalek's king marches 37.Kg2, 39.Kg3, 40.Kf4, 41.Ke5, and 44.Rc5 Bxb3 45.axb3 leaves the black pawns stranded.
  • 1979 Smyslov, Vasily V vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Closed 52 moves EU-Cup 02nd semifinal European Club Cup 1979 with Black against Vasily Smyslov, a former World Champion. Kavalek trades everything down — 32...Qxg2+ 33.Kxg2 Rxd6, 35.Rxf7 Kxf7 — and wins a rook ending by marching the king to the queenside: 41...Kb5, 42...Kc4, 45...Kxb4, and 52.Ke3 Kc3.
  • 1984.11.29 Kavalek, Lubomir vsPortisch, Lajos 1-0 Queen's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 53 moves Olympiad-26 Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984 against Lajos Portisch, eight times a Candidate. Fifty-three moves: Kavalek gives the c-pawn to activate the rook — 38.hxg4 Rxc4 39.Rxa7 — and the passed f-pawn does the rest, 45.f5, 51.Rxf6 Rc2 52.Rh6 Rg2 53.f6.
  • 1998.09.20 Smejkal, Jan vsKavalek, Lubomir 0-1 Queen's Pawn Game: Chigorin Variation 29 moves Kettler Cup CZE-USA Czech Republic against the United States, September 1998 — the last game in the archive, forty years after the first, and Kavalek playing for his adopted country against Jan Smejkal of his native one. Twenty-nine moves with Black: 25...Nc6 26.Nf3 Na5 27.Rc3 Qxa4 wins the pawn back, and 28.d5 Ka7 29.d6 arrives too late.
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