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David Navara
DavidNavara23.jpg
Navara in 2023
Country Czech Republic
Born (1985-03-27) March 27, 1985 (age 40)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Title Grandmaster (2002)
FIDE rating 2719 (June 2025)
Peak rating 2751 (May 2015)
Peak ranking No. 13 (October 2006)

David Navara (born 27 March 1985) is a super talented Czech chess grandmaster. A grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can get! David is the top-ranked player from his country. He earned the Grandmaster title from FIDE (the world chess organization) in 2002. He has won the national championship an amazing 13 times! His wins were in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Becoming a Chess Grandmaster

David Navara's chess journey started very fast. He had great coaches like Miloslav Vanka and IM Josef Přibyl. An IM is an International Master, which is a high chess title, just below Grandmaster. He also learned from Grandmasters Luděk Pachman and Vlastimil Jansa.

As a young player, David won many medals in world youth chess events. When he was just 16 years old in 2001, he joined the Czech national team. He played in the European Team Chess Championships and did really well, scoring 7 out of 9 points. Just one year later, three days before his 17th birthday, he became a Grandmaster! In 2003, he won the open section of the Rubinstein Memorial tournament.

David Navara's Adult Career

In 2004, David finished sixth in the European Individual Chess Championship. This great result meant he could play in the 2005 FIDE World Cup.

In 2006, David played in the 37th Chess Olympiad, a big team chess event. He scored 8½ points out of 12 games against some of the best players in the world. The next year, he was invited to play in the Tata Steel supertournament for the first time. This is a very important tournament where only the top players are invited. David was even nicknamed Navara Express by the organizers! He scored 6½ points in 13 games. He even beat famous players like Ruslan Ponomariov and Magnus Carlsen (who is considered one of the best chess players ever!). He also drew games against other chess legends like Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, and Veselin Topalov. He finished in 7th place.

In August 2007, David won the Ordix Open. This was a rapid chess tournament, meaning games are played much faster than normal. He finished first with 9½ points out of 11. The next month, he played in the Czech Coal Carlsbad tournament and finished third.

Later in 2007, David played in the FIDE World Cup again. He won his first match but was defeated in the second round after tie-break games. He continued to play in many international tournaments, including the "Torneo di Capodanno" in Italy and the FIDE Grand Prix in Baku.

At the 2011 Tata Steel Tournament, David played in the "B" group. He tied for first place with Luke McShane. Because of this great result, both players were invited to play in the top "A" group the next year! Later that year, David also reached the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup. The next year, David won an individual gold medal at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul. He was playing for the Czech team on board two.

David became the European Blitz Chess Champion in 2014. Blitz chess is a super-fast version of chess. In April 2018, he played in the Shamkir Chess tournament.

As of 2022, David has won 9 national blitz chess championships! He won the 2019 Czech Blitz Championship with an amazing score of 14 out of 15 games. He won the European blitz chess championship for the second time in 2022 in Katowice. He even defended his European blitz title a year later in Zagreb in 2023!

ČEZ Chess Trophy Matches

Since 2003, David Navara has played special matches against other top chess players in Prague. These matches are part of the ČEZ Chess Trophy festival. Here are some of his results:

Year Opponent Winner Result Notes
2003 Viktor Korchnoi Navara 1½–½
2004 Alexei Shirov Shirov ½–1½
2005 Anatoly Karpov 1–1
2006 Boris Gelfand 2–2
2007 Nigel Short Navara 7–3 Ten games of rapid chess (faster than normal chess), including four games of Chess960.
2008 Vladimir Kramnik Kramnik 2½–5½ Rapid chess
2009 Vasyl Ivanchuk Ivanchuk 2½–5½ Rapid chess
2010 Judit Polgar Polgar 2–6 Rapid chess
2011 Sergei Movsesian Navara 3½–2½ Rapid chess
2012 Peter Svidler Svidler 1–3
2013 Hou Yifan Hou 2–2 The games were drawn, but Hou Yifan won a special tie-break game called an "armageddon game."
2014 Hikaru Nakamura Nakamura ½–3½
2015 Wesley So So 1–3
2016 Richárd Rapport Rapport 1½–2½
2017 Vasyl Ivanchuk Ivanchuk 4½–7½ Rapid chess
2018 Pentala Harikrishna Harikrishna 5–7 Rapid chess
2019 Ding Liren Ding 3–7 Rapid chess

Famous Chess Games

David Navara has played many exciting and memorable chess games. Here are a few examples:

Navara vs. Vaganian, Mainz 2009

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
Navara vs. Vaganian, Mainz 2009
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
8 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black queen {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black rook 8
7 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white rook {{{square}}} black bishop {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king 7
6 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white bishop {{{square}}} black pawn 6
5 {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 5
4 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white queen {{{square}}} black king 4
3 {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king 3
2 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white pawn {{{square}}} white pawn 2
1 {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white rook {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} black king {{{square}}} white king {{{square}}} black king 1
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
Final position

In this game, David Navara (playing white) faced Rafael Vaganian. David used a risky but powerful move where he sacrificed a pawn early in the game. This move, called a "pawn sacrifice," can give a player a strong advantage in position, even if they are down a little material. David played very cleverly, taking control of the board. He used smart tactics to win the game.

Other Notable Games

  • David Navara vs. Zdenko Kozul, 37th Chess Olympiad 2006: In this game, both players attacked each other fiercely. But David was the first to create a checkmate and win!
  • David Navara vs. Peter Svidler, 37th Chess Olympiad 2006: David made a key move (19.d5!) that broke through his opponent's defenses. This led to a beautiful combination of moves that ended in a checkmate.
  • Ivan Cheparinov vs. David Navara, European Team Chess Championship: This game featured a truly amazing and unexpected move where David sacrificed his queen (27...Qf2!!). A queen sacrifice is a very bold move, but it can lead to a powerful attack and a win if done correctly.
  • Alexander Moiseenko vs. David Navara, World Cup 2011: This game was a long and tough fight. At one point, David accidentally touched a chess piece, which usually means you have to move that piece. But Alexander Moiseenko was very fair and didn't make David follow the "touch-move" rule, even though it might have helped him win. Later, David outplayed Alexander and had a forced checkmate on the board. Even with a win in sight, David offered a draw to Alexander, showing great sportsmanship!
  • David Navara vs. Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Biel 2015: David had prepared very well for this game. His preparation was so good that his white king ended up moving all the way to the h8-square during the middle of the game! This is very unusual in chess, but it showed how well David controlled the game.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: David Navara para niños

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