July 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'

A month after June 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (June 2023; 'the winners of super strong U.S. Swiss-system tournaments'), which players were featured on the covers of CL&R/CL 50 and 25 years ago? For the first time in a year -- June 1972 & 1997 'On the Cover' (June 2022; Spassky and Kasparov) -- we find two foreign-born GMs dominating both covers.

Left: '?'
Right: 'Karpov at the National Open'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Lubomir Kavalek, also known as Lubosh, won a tournament at Lanzarote, Spain, but at Las Palmas... He tells the whole story [inside]. Photo by Burt Hochberg.

The story inside was '25 Games in a Chess Paradise' by Lubosh Kavalek. It started,

Since the Candidate Match between Larsen and Uhlmann in 1971, the Chess Federation of Gran Canaria, Spain, has made great progress. Last year they organized their first international tournament. and a fighting tournament it was. The winner. Portisch, had nine outright wins.

This year the organizers decided to have a very strong tournament. And it was strong enough -- category 11 according to the Elo rating system adopted by the FIDE. But it could have been even stronger: at the last moment Bent Larsen cabled from Copenhagen that for "personal reasons" he could not take part, and Arturo Pomar became ill. So Hans Ree from Holland and Bernard Huguet from France replaced those two.

That Las Palmas tournament, held in April 1973, was won by Soviet GMs Leonid Stein and Tigran Petrosian. A follow-up tournament, also in the Canary Islands, was held soon thereafter. Kavalek explained,

Ricardo Calvo won the prize for the best attacking combination against me. And because Ricardo made two points more than the norm for international master and because he needed that average in at least 25 games, the Federation in Las Palmas and its president, Mr. Betancourt, decided to organize another tournament in Lanzarote.

Andersson. Ljubojevic, Ribli, Saidy and I gratefully accepted the invitation. Another six players were local. Spanish Champion Visier, Calvo, and Menveille came from the Spanish mainland. The Frenchman Huguet was so delighted with the great chess interest here that he moved here from France.

Kavalek tied for first with Ulf Andersson in the second tournament. For Kavalek's previous appearance on a cover in this series, see July 1972 & 1997 'On the Cover' (July 2022); for his previous solo cover appearance, see September 1970 & 1995 'On the Cover' (September 2020).

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

It wasn't all work for FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov while he was in Las Vegas for the National Open. He found the time to attend a Siegfried and Roy performance. As it turns out, Siegfried and Roy are great chess enthusiasts. When they pointed out Karpov's presence, Anatoly received a standing ovation from the audience! • Cover photograph courtesy of Fred Gruenberg.

Although Karpov is still a familiar name to chess players, Siegfried & Roy might be less well known today. According to the page Siegfried & Roy (wikipedia.org),

Siegfried Fischbacher (June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn; October 3, 1944 – May 8, 2020) were German-American magicians and entertainers who performed together as Siegfried & Roy. They were best known for their use of white lions and white tigers in their acts.

Karpov's presence in Las Vegas was explained in the story '1998 National Open, Part II: "A Really Big Shew"' by Jerry Hanken. A sidebar to the story, titled 'Karpov Speaks', started,

The highlight of the weekend, apart from the play itself, was undoubtedly the luncheon between rounds 5 and 6, at which FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov addressed more than 200 players. Anatoly had signed books and other chess items for a line of people which seemed to get longer by the minute. He was very gracious and patient with it all, and when we finally had to go in to the luncheon, many approached him at his table during the meal and he continued to sign everything from chessboards to napkins!

When Al Losoff introduced the world champion after dessert, we expected a few minutes at most of offhand remarks. We got a lot more! Karpov spoke for 20 minutes, and thanks to my good friend Tim Hanks of Litton Industries, we got a tape of this delightful speech, which was punctuated by frequent hearty laughs and sustained, deafening applause at the end.

Just a few months ago, Karpov appeared in the series for March 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (March 2023; 'Karpov Reigns Supreme as FIDE World Champion!'). His appearance in Las Vegas was undoubtedly related to his friendship with GM Ron Henley. For more about that era, see Wayback to Smartchess (November 2022).