A
Chess Odyssey
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
It was a memorable tournament for both of us. Karpov arrived in Venezuela as
the reigning world junior champion. He played well enough in Caracas to become
the world's youngest grandmaster at that time, at age 19, and his brilliant
career began to take shape. In 1971 in Moscow, he clinched the first major tournament
victory, sharing first place with the three-time Soviet champion Leonid Stein
at the prestigious Alekhine Memorial tournament. In 1975 he was crowned the
world champion. This year he may become the FIDE president.
I began the tournament in Caracas with the Czechoslovakian flag next to my
chessboard, but in the middle of the event, at the United States Chess Federation's
insistence, it was switched to the American flag. I started the "Presidente
de la Republica" event as a Czech and won it as an American even before
officially setting foot in my new adopted country. I arrived in New York one
day after the tournament finished – on July 13, 1970 – exactly 40
years ago. My American journey began.

Kavalek-Karpov, Caracas 1970
I would rate the victory in Caracas as one of my best tournament wins. I received
a beautiful, tall presidential trophy for the 13-4 winning score. The organizers
promised to send it to the USCF by mail, but it never arrived. Stein and Argentina's
Oscar Panno, the former world junior champion and world championship candidate,
shared second place with 12-5. Karpov tied for fourth place with two other world
championship candidates, Borislav Ivkov of Yugoslavia and Paul Benko of the
United States, scoring 11.5 - 5.5.
A few weeks after Caracas ended, Bobby Fischer dominated the tournament in
Buenos Aires, scoring 15-2 and leaving his closest rival, the Soviet grandmaster
Vladimir Tukmakov, 3,5 points behind. Things were looking good for America.
The combination against Karpov lasted nine moves. It was crafted from a popular
Main line of the Spanish opening. The square d6 served as a landing platform
for my pieces. They would leap into the heart of Karpov's position again and
again. When the last one -- the white Queen -- landed there, Black's pieces
were in a disarray. Totally dominated, Karpov was done, unable to defend his
weaknesses.
Original
column here – Copyright
Huffington Post
Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to
follow the game.
Fourth of July Fireworks
On Independence Day the sparks were flying in Lubomir
Kavalek's HuffPost column – in the form of two puzzles with explosive
key-moves and beautiful finishes. Here are the solutions.
Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to
follow the game.

The Huffington Post is an American news website and aggregated blog founded
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The site was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal/progressive
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