Lubomir Kavalek was a Czech-American chess player who was known as a highly ranked chess Grandmaster and an influential chess author and columnist. His peak world ranking was No. 10 in 1974, when he was also the United States Chess champion, a title he held again in 1978.
Kavalek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on August 9, 1943. He defected to the West in 1968 due to his opposition to the Soviet invasion of his country, and was subsequently stripped of his Czechoslovak citizenship. Kavalek later became a U.S. citizen and won two U.S. championships. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in 1965.
Throughout his career, Kavalek achieved multiple major chess accomplishments. For instance, he won the Canadian Open Chess Championship in 1969 and led the U.S. team to a gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in 1976. He played for both Czechoslovakia and the United States in the Olympiads. As a chess coach, he helped two World Champions prepare for their title matches: Nigel Short (1993) and Viswanathan Anand (1995).
In terms of writing and journalism, Kavalek’s contributions were significant. He served as the chess columnist for The Washington Post from 1986 to 2010, writing the longest-running chess column in the newspaper's history. His articles have been translated into numerous languages, and he has often worked as a chess commentator at international tournaments.
Kavalek died on January 18, 2021, due to complications from cancer. His influence and contributions to the world of chess were honored worldwide following his passing.