Two interesting events, although of a quite different nature, will take place in the same time period in Banská Štiavnica.

The Slovak Chess Championship from July 7 to July 17 brings together two chess coaches who trained grand masters such as Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer.

Lajos Portisch, a Hungarian, became a grand master in 1961 and won Olympic gold in addition to several European championships. He trained Kasparov, then world champion, in 1990. On July 17 at 15:00, he will sing during the ceremonial announcement of the tournament’s results.

Lubomír Kaválek, a US citizen of Czech origin, became Czechoslovak champion in 1962 at the age of 19 and then successfully trained Bobby Fischer and Nigel Short. Kaválek will play a traditional “blind” chess game using live chessmen on Štiavnica Square as part of the Štiavnica Live Chess event.

The International Slovak Chess Championship is being held in Banská Štiavnica for the 4th time in the last six years. The competition is strong this year, with grand masters Markoš and Ftáčnik competing, as well as Gennadi Timoshenko, who won bronze at this year’s European Senior Championship. More detailed information can be found at www.livechess.sk and www.banskastiavnica.sk.

Source: http://spectator.sme.sk