Karel Mokry, who was born on 7 February in Prostějov (Prossnitz), was already recognised as a talented youngster and, at the age of 16, received his first invitation to a match against a selection team from East Germany. In 1977, he won the Czechoslovak Junior Championship and subsequently represented Czechoslovakia at the European Junior Championship in Groningen, where he finished fifth in a field of 32 players.
Tischbierek vs Mokry, 1982, at the Under-26 triangular match between Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Poland in Houstka near Stará Boleslav | Photo: www.chess.cz
Among Mokry's greatest tournament successes were first place in the Under-18 tournament in Děčín (1979), second place in Prague (1982), first place in Karviná (1982), victory at Reggio Emilia (1983/84), shared first place in Trnava (1983 and 1984), and first place in Copenhagen (1985).
Karel Mokry against Bela Toth, Reggio Emilia 1983/84 | Photo: unoscacchista.com
During his tournament victory at Reggio Emilia, Mokry scored, among other successes, a win over John Nunn.
Karel Mokry finished as runner-up in the Czechoslovak Championship three times (1982, 1985 and 1989). In 1995, he won the Czech Championship in Olomouc.
Mokry and Jansa at the Czechoslovak Championship in Prague, 1986. | Photo: www.chess.cz
Between 1984 and 1992, Karel Mokry represented Czechoslovakia at four Chess Olympiads. In 1990, the Czechoslovak team narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth, while Mokry was the fifth-best performer on first reserve board. In 1994 and 1996, after transferring from the Slovak to the Czech Chess Federation, he went on to play in two further Chess Olympiads for the Czech Republic.
USSR versus Czechoslovakia, 1986 Chess Olympiad in Dubai. | Photo: www.chess.cz
As his career progressed, Mokry became increasingly reluctant to travel to tournaments, having had many unpleasant experiences. In an interview, he described the 1984 Chess Olympiad in Moscow as the worst-organised Olympiad he had ever attended:
"The Moscow Chess Olympiad was by far the worst Chess Olympiad in history. I can understand poor organisation, but what went on in Moscow was simply dreadful: garden chairs, terrible chessboards, awful pieces, unbelievable tables – everything was bad... On top of that, I was a bit ill towards the end. But I have very fond memories of all the other Olympiads." (https://www.chess.cz/zemrel-karel-mokry/)
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Mokry also played for several clubs in national team championships. He won the Czech Team Championship with Lokomotiva Brno in 1995 and with A64 MILO Olomouc in 1998. In Austria, he became Austrian Team Champion with the Vienna club SC Margareten in 1993, 1994 and 1995. In 1993, he also won the Slovak Extraliga with ELAI Bratislava. Mokry spent one season in the German Bundesliga, playing for SV Tübingen in 1994/95.
In 1991, Mokry turned his passion for collecting old chess books into a profession by opening a chess bookshop in Bratislava. Following the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, he relocated the business to Kostelec na Hané. After retiring from competitive chess around the turn of the millennium, he devoted himself entirely to his work as a chess bookseller. Among other activities, he organised auctions of rare and collectible chess books for collectors, first on eBay and later through the Lund Chess Academy website.
A leading authority on chess literature, Mokry compiled an extensive bibliography of Czech chess literature, Česká šachová literatura 1806–1945, which he self-published in its first edition in 2006. An expanded second edition followed in 2015.
He also wrote a book on the French Defence in 1992: French Defence: Opening Ideas of Great Chess Masters. Learning Chess Visually.
Mokry was married and had one son. He did not lead a particularly healthy lifestyle, enjoying both smoking and good food. He often joked about his weight, saying that at many tournaments he would have won the heavyweight prize if weight classes had existed.
In 2023, the Czech Chess Federation inducted Karel Mokry into its Hall of Fame.
Karel Mokry passed away on 27 May 2026 at the age of 67.
