Karel Skalička

Karel Skalička (born November 1, 1896 in Prague , † December 30, 1979 in Buenos Aires ), also Carlos Skalicka , was a Czechoslovak, later Argentine chess master. According to Chessmetrics statistics , he was among the top 20 players in the world in 1931/32.

Life and work

Karel Skalička studied law after his service in the First World War and, with a doctorate in law, worked both as a lawyer and as a judge. As a representative of his country, he took part in the founding meeting of FIDE in Paris in 1924 and signed the charter. After the Chess Olympiad in 1939 , like many other European champions, he stayed in South America after the outbreak of World War II and lived in Argentina until his death. There he was led under the name Carlos Skalicka .

Chess successes

Olympiads

Karel Skalička was part of the Czechoslovak team that won the overall ranking of the first Chess Olympiad in Paris in 1924 . In the preliminary round he was third in the group with three points from five games and took another three points from eight games in the consolation round. As a result, Skalička was three times in the squad of Czechoslovakia at the Chess Olympiads. At that time, his homeland was one of the leading chess nations in the world. In 1931 he got 10.5 points from 14 games, making him the best reserve player of the entire tournament and making a significant contribution to the Czechoslovak team's bronze medal winning. In 1933 the Czechoslovaks even won the silver medal, for which Skalička contributed three points from five games. At the Chess Olympiad in 1939 he was the first regular player for the team of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which reached the A-final and took 6th place there. Skalička achieved 3.5 points from 8 games.

Individual tournaments

Skalička took part in several strong tournaments. He won the tournament in Prague in 1923 and repeated this success in 1924 as a joint winner with Karel Hromádka. Numerous top places followed, mainly in Prague, where top-class tournaments were held almost every year. In 1926 he took the shared first place there again. In 1925, 1927, 1930 and 1932 he came second (mostly together with other players). Outside of his home country, 6th place in Berlin 1924 and 2nd place in Bromley 1925 behind Hermanis Matisons should be emphasized. In 1936 Skalička took part in the Poděbrady tournament, which was one of the strongest tournaments of its time. Chess successes from his new home are only known for the years 1945 and 1946, where he first came in second behind Gideon Ståhlberg in Quilmes and then shared the tournament victory with the later international master René Letelier in Buenos Aires .

Other chess activities

According to the sources, Karel Skalička worked both as a chess composer and as a chess author and translator. Among his well-known works there are mainly tournament books on South American competitions. After all, Skalička was also active as a referee in both classical tournaments and in the field of chess composition. In 1953 he was awarded the title of International Arbitrator. In 1973 he was made an honorary member of FIDE.

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personal data
SURNAME	Skalička, Karel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Skalicka, Carlos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Czechoslovak chess player
DATE OF BIRTH	November 1, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH	Prague
DATE OF DEATH	December 30, 1979
Place of death	Buenos Aires