tag: Kavalek - Page 2

Huffington Post on the Dutch Chess Fest

1/30/2015 – Rising young stars, falling legends, deflated chess computers, clumsy soccer games, brilliant attacks, a commentator faux-pas, chess hungry spectators, windy beaches – all this was present during the Tata Steel traditional chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Huffington correspondent Lubomir Kavalek looks back at some of the critical encounters.

Huffington Post: 40 Years of spectacular chess

1/7/2015 – This weekend sees the start of the 77th Wijk aan Zee Chess Tournament (9-25 Jan.). In 1975 the organizers inaugurated a prize for the most spectacular game – one that was won in recent years by the likes of Carlsen and Anand. But the very first brilliancy prize was won by Huffington Post correspondent Lubomir Kavalek, who provides us with extensive analysis of that forty-year-old game.

The Chess Phoenix and New Year's books

12/26/2014 – Lubomir Kavalek calls former World Champion Viswanathan Anand the "Phoenix of Chess" – many times down, but never out. For New Year's gifts the Huffington Post columnist recommends a book that gives the impression the players played games while they were drunk. Two more books by Judit Polgar and about Bent Larsen caught his attention. Read his latest column.

Carlsen and a Parade of Chess Champions (2)

12/16/2014 – In 1974 Bobby Fischer wanted his match against Karpov to go over ten wins, not counting draws. His reason for longer matches was to determine who is the better player and to eliminate accidental wins, for example by opening traps or unsuspected novelties. Bobby would never have agreed to a 12-game championship, says Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek and shows why.

Carlsen and a Parade of Chess Champions (1)

12/14/2014 – Every world championship evokes the names of previous champions. The most recent saw Anand better prepared, and posing more problems for his younger opponent. Game 2 revealed that the the Berlin Defense would be his main weapon with the black pieces – echoing Kramnik's strategy against Kasparov in 2000. Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek analyses the results.

The New York Times and Chess

11/5/2014 – In 1972 America went chess crazy. Bobby Fischer played the Match of the Century against Boris Spassky and chess was everywhere. The New York Times hired grandmaster Robert Byrne to run the chess column. In his first submission Byrne wrote about a "brilliant win" of Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek at the Skopje Olympiad, which Kavalek has deeply analysed.

NYT chess column dies – but could be resurrected

10/15/2014 – On October 11 a well-known chess column which has been running since 1962 finished with an ominous sentence: "This is the final chess column to run in The New York Times.” The end of an era, brought on by the dominance of chess in the web? Not so fast, says Matt Gaffney in a thoughtful Slate Magazine article. He names two candidates who could take over the NYT chess column.

Wesley So Wins the Millionaire Chess Open

10/15/2014 – The event in Las Vegas, the brainchild of GM Maurice Ashley, promised $1 million in prize money, spread over six different sections. The starting fee was $1,000 and nearly 600 players signed up. Philippine GM Wesley So, 21, took the first prize of $100,000, the largest in the history of open tournaments. GM Lubomir Kavalek annotates a wonderful game by the second-placed Ray Robson.

Huffington: Caruana's Spectacular Chess Leap

9/12/2014 – The Sinquefield Cup was arguably the strongest tournament in the history of chess. Fabiano Caruana, an Italian born in Miami, won the first seven games and finished the six-player double-round robin tournament three points ahead of the field. It was one of the best results in chess history. Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek compares it to other great chess performances.

Huffington: Chess in the Time of War

9/3/2014 – Chess has often flourished under totalitarian regimes and in the middle of wars. How do chess players deal with that? Do they raise their voices or did they keep silent? Huffington Post chess columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek, who fled his native Czechoslovakia in 1968, ten days after the Soviet invasion, was only able to go back after 21 years. He writes about the current minacious situation.

China Wins Gold at Chess Olympiad in Norway

8/18/2014 – For the third time in this century the Russian men's team did not win any medals at the Olympiad – and for the first time, ever, two Asian teams did. The young Chinese team – average age 21! – won Gold in the open section and Silver in the women's. In his Olympiad wrap-up Huffington Post chess columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek annotates a very exciting and instructive game from Tromsø.

Powerful queen sacrifices in Chess Olympiads

8/1/2014 – On the eve of the Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway, starting tomorrow, a few queen sacrifices from the past Olympiads lead us to an intriguing question: when might have the queen been sacrificed for the first time? Huffington Post chess columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek was involved in a scarce double-queen sacrifice in 1966. He also digs up one one from the 15th century.

Kavalek in Huffington: Winning While Losing

7/21/2014 – On July 13 at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Lionel Messi was handed the Golden Ball Trophy for the best soccer player of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. But instead of celebrating he was dejected and crestfallen. Forty years ago, in 1974, the amazing Dutch captain Johan Cruyff had a similar experience. As did GM Lubomir Kavalek, who almost won one of the great tournament of his life.

Kavalek: Carlsen's Trifecta and Tal's Magic

6/28/2014 – Magnus Carlsen's World title wins in classical, rapid and blitz reminds Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek of a horse and an athlete: the thoroughbred Secretariat and the long-distance runner Emil Zátopek, both triple crown winners in their own fields. Carlsen's style also reminds Kavalek of Mikhail Tal (who died today 22 years ago). Enjoy three wonderfully annotated games.

Kavalek: Chess Champions in America

5/27/2014 – Gata Kamsky, at 39 the oldest participant in this year's US Championship, he needed help to retain his title. Only a draw between his main rivals, Varuzhan Akobian and Aleksandr Lenderman, kept his chances alive by drawing their game. One particular move in the critical game caught GM Lubomir Kavalek's eye. The Huffington Post columnist uses it in a trip down memory lane.

Kavalek: Two immortal chess cavalcades

4/9/2014 – Anderssen-Kieseretzky, London 1851, was the original immortal game. Another 19th century encounter, Blake vs. Hooke, was also an immortal culminating in a queen sacrifice. Last Sunday Croatian GM Mišo Cebalo, 69, wrote his name into the history of immortal chess games, as his colleague GM Lubomir Kavalek narrates in this latest Huffington Post column.

Kavalek: Anand proved them wrong

4/1/2014 – After Anand had lost the world championship match to Magnus Carlsen last year, his critics were merciless: his play was too timid, he made too many draws, he was too old, he was done, he didn't have a chance, he shouldn't have even tried to play in the Candidates tournament. Anand proved them wrong, as Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek shows with a deeply annotated game.

Huffington: The Adventures of Mikhail Botvinnik (2)

3/22/2014 – The columnist of the Huffington Post, GM Lubomir Kavalek, has played against eight World Champions. He drew all his games against Botvinnik (as well as Petrosian and Fischer). To his surprise the see-saw battle against the Soviet patriarch was included in his collection "Botvinnik's Best Games 1947-1970." Kavalek found out why – when he discussed it with Botvinnik in 1972.

Huffington: The Adventures of Mikhail Botvinnik (1)

3/19/2014 – He was a man who could seem cold and unapproachable, a devoted communist with ties to highest Soviet officials, including Stalin. He was the world champion for a span of 15 years. In a new book Andrew Soltis describes the Life and Games of World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik – a brilliant, extensive researched account that is reviewed by Huffington Post columnist Lubomir Kavalek.

Huffington: Chess Triumphs and Blunders

2/6/2014 – Magnus Carlsen finished the Zurich Chess Challenge undefeated, a full point ahead of his nearest rival. Carlsen's victory seemed easy, but, in fact there was a swing game against American Hikaru Nakamura, who should have won but lost instead. In his Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek shows us how even the world's best players can be vulnerable to one-move blunders.

Baseline Chess, Hedgehog and Magnus Carlsen (2)

1/22/2014 – In tennis some players do their damage mostly from the baseline – as Carlsen did on the chessboard against Anand in Game 9 of their match. In several chess defenses the attack from the baseline also applies, for example in the Hedgehog, an opening developed by Ljubomir Ljubojevic in the 1970s but was first played by Fritz Sämisch in 1922. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek explains.

Baseline Chess, Hedgehog and Magnus Carlsen (1)

1/13/2014 – The term is borrowed from tennis, where players do their damage mostly from the baseline. In several chess defenses such as the Sicilian, the French, the Caro-Kann, the Pirc or the Modern, the black players are forced to stay within their back rows. But to do it voluntarily as White? Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek shows us examples of how this strategy was employed.

Kavalek in Huffington: Carlsen, Azerbaijan

11/19/2013 – World Chess Champion Vishy Anand, 43, is defending his title against Magnus Carlsen, 22, and has made his task very difficult. The 2013 European Team Championship in the Polish capital of Warsaw was won by the Azerbaijani team. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek comments on some surprising knight retreats, from this event and in earlier games.

Kavalek in Huffington: September Chess – part two

10/13/2013 – In part one Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek annotated two games from the 2013 Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. In part two he looks at other notable September 2013 events: You Yifan's regaining of the women's world championship title and the FIDE Grand Prix events in Prague/Novy Bor and Paris. As always you can enjoy his analysis of key games.
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