Ľubomír Ftáčnik

Who is Ľubomír Ftáčnik?

Ľubomír Ftáčnik is a Slovak chess player and a former European Junior Champion.

He became European Junior Champion in 1976/77 and was awarded the International Master title shortly after. In 1980, he received the International Grandmaster title and this heralded the start of a successful playing career in national and international competitions.

In his native Czechoslovakia he became national champion in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1985. In tournaments, there have been many outright first places, including Esbjerg 1982, Trnava 1983, Alltensteig 1987, Baden-Baden Open 1987, Vienna 1990 and the Parkroyal Surfers 2000. At Cienfuegos 1980, Dortmund 1981 and Lugano 1988, he shared first place, and at Hradec Králové in 1981 he was runner-up. In 1987 he drew a match with Kiril Georgiev, the strong Bulgarian grandmaster.

At the Chess Olympiad, he has represented first Czechoslovakia and then Slovakia from 1980 onwards, missing out only in 1998. His major triumph occurred in 1982, when a 67.9% score helped the Czechoslovaks win the silver medal, very much against expectation. Oddly, his brilliant performance with the black pieces totally overshadowed his results with white, an unusual outcome at such a high level.