Background
Kaplan was born in Argentina, where he studied chess, being his teacher Jacobo Bolbochán.
Kaplan was born in Argentina, where he studied chess, being his teacher Jacobo Bolbochán.
Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1964 to Puerto Rico, where he was raised and studied, and then later in his life to the United States, where he works for Autodesk.
Earlier in his career, In the 1980s he programmed dedicated chess computers for SciSys and Saitek. In the early 90s he collaborated on the chess program Socrates. This victory earned Julio Kaplan the International Master title.
In 1968, he tied for 6–9th in Malaga.
In 1974, he tied for 2nd–3rd with Florin Gheorghiu, behind Svetozar Gligorić, in Los Los Angeles Kaplan played for the Puerto Rico National Chess Team in four Chess Olympiads.
In 1966, at second reserve board in 17th Olympiad in Havana (+6 –4 =4)
In 1968, at first board in 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+1 –1 =4)
In 1970, at first board in 19th Chess Olympiad in Siegen (+5 –1 =7)
In 1972, at first board in 20th Chess Olympiad in Skopje (+7 –1 =9). He played for the Puerto Rico National Chess Team (1966, 1971) and for the United States of America (1976) in the World Student Team Chess Championships.
In 1966, at third board in 13th WSTCC in Örebro (+7 –1 =3)
In 1971, at first board in 18th WSTCC in Mayagüez (+4 –2 =6)
In 1976, at first board in 21st WSTCC in Caracas (+3 –0 =5).
Kaplan was always interested in computer chess, founding Heuristic Software Corporation whose first development was Heuristic Alpha in 1990-1991. That evolved into Socrates and later Socrates World War II Kasparov"s Gambit was the first and sole effort of Electronic Arts to enter the chess market.
In 1967, he was the Puerto Rico National Chess Champion. In addition, in 1967, he also won the World Junior Chess Championship in Jerusalem, followed by the well-known Raymond Keene, January Timman, Robert Hübner, et cetera In 1969, he took 4th in Stockholm (World Junior Championship, Anatoly Karpov won). In 1969, he tied for 8–9th in San Juan (Boris Spassky won). In 1970, he won the 6th El Segundo Open, won the 6th Monterey International Open, and won the 2nd Central California Championship, held in Hayward. In 1971, he won the 22nd Annual California Open, held in Fresno. In 1973, he took 8th in São Paulo Paulo (Ostojic won). In 1973, he tied for 12–14th in Madrid (Karpov won). He won the individual gold medal at Örebro 1966, and the team silver medal at Caracas 1976. These achievements drew Electronic Arts"s notice and they hired Kaplan"s development team to develop Kasparov"s Gambit, incorporating former world chess champion Garry Kasparov as brand name and adviser.
