Jose Raul Capablanca ( Cuba )

(born Nov-19-1888, died Mar-08-1942)
Jose Raul Capablanca was born in Havana, Cuba on November 19, 1888. He learned to play chess at age four by watching his father's games, and his rise to the top of the sport was quick. When he was twelve years old he defeated the Cuban Champion Juan Corzo in an informal match. He then won another match against one of the world's most famous players, the American Frank James Marshall. Finally in his first major tournament, San Sebastian 1911, Capa made a spectacular debut, taking first place ahead of Carl Schlechter and Akiba Rubinstein. Many in the chess world considered him the logical successor to World Champion Emanuel Lasker, including Lasker himself. World War I delayed a Lasker-Capablanca match, but in 1921 the two finally met in Havana. Capa won the title without losing a single game.

During his tenure as Champion, which lasted until 1927, Capablanca competed in four major international tournaments. He took two first prizes, one second, and one third place from the four events. His renowned technical skill, particularly in the endgame, soon earned him a reputation for being all but invincible. In fact, when he lost a game to Richard Reti at the New York Tournament of 1924, it was his first defeat in eight years.

In 1927, Capablanca lost his title to Alexander Alekhine in an exhausting match. He was unable to obtain a rematch despite winning several more international tournaments in the years to come.

Lasker Vs Capablanca - Games

Other Games
-------------
[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Savielly Tartakower"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 b6
7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Qe8 9. Qe2 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qxe7
12. a4 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nc6 14. Rfb1 Rae8 15. Qh3 Rf6 16. f4 Na5
17. Qf3 d6 18. Re1 Qd7 19. e4 fxe4 20. Qxe4 g6 21. g3 Kf8
22. Kg2 Rf7 23. h4 d5 24. cxd5 exd5 25. Qxe8+ Qxe8 26. Rxe8+
Kxe8 27. h5! {This is the calamity--the Rook now enters the
hostile camp. -- Alekhine} Rf6 28. hxg6 hxg6 29. Rh1 {White
plays logically to utilize his advantage on the K-side and
very properly does not concern himself with the weakness of
the Q-side. Black, on the other hand, makes a defensive move
which he could perhaps have omitted. -- Reti} Kf8 30. Rh7 Rc6
31. g4 {Anxious nature might have moved the King towards the
queenside, but Capablanca adheres to the principle of
aggression that governs rook endings. -- Reti} Nc4 32. g5 {He
gives his opponent the opportunity of winning a pawn. But
Capablanca has confidence in the passed pawn which he
obtains. -- Reti} Ne3+ 33. Kf3 Nf5 34. Bxf5 {Simple and
compelling. -- Alekhine} gxf5 35. Kg3! {Decisive! White
sacrifices material in order to obtain the classical position
with King on f6, pawn on g6, and Rook on h7, whereupon the
black pawns tumble like ripe apples. -- Alekhine} Rxc3+ {It is
extremely instructive to see how Capablanca is no longer in
the least concerned about material equality, but thinks only
of supporting his passed pawn. -- Reti} 36. Kh4 Rf3 37. g6
Rxf4+ 38. Kg5 Re4 39. Kf6 {It is a frequently available
finesse in such positions not to capture hostile pawns, but to
pass them by in order to be protected in the rear against
checks by the rook. -- Reti} Kg8 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rxc7 Re8
42. Kxf5 {Again the simplest. Kf7 would not yet have been
disastrous because of Rd8, etc. -- Alekhine} Re4 43. Kf6 Rf4+
44. Ke5 Rg4 45. g7+ Kg8 {After exchanging rooks, White would
win still more easily. -- Alekhine} 46. Rxa7 Rg1 47. Kxd5 Rc1
48. Kd6 Rc2 49. d5 Rc1 50. Rc7 Ra1 51. Kc6 Rxa4 52. d6
{Capablanca's management of the endgame gives the impression
of being so natural that one easily forgets the difficulty of
such precise play. The difficulty is chiefly psychological. In
chess, as in life, one is so accustomed to place value on the
material factors that it is not easy to conceive the idea of
indulging in pawn sacrifices when there is so little available
material. --Reti} 1-0


[White "Jose Raul Capablanca"]
[Black "Frank James Marshall"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3
O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 Nf6 12.Re1 Bd6
13.h3 Ng4 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.d4 Nxf2 16.Re2 Bg4 17.hxg4 Bh2+ 18.Kf1
Bg3 19.Rxf2 Qh1+ 20.Ke2 Bxf2 21.Bd2 Bh4 22.Qh3 Rae8+ 23.Kd3
Qf1+ 24.Kc2 Bf2 25.Qf3 Qg1 26.Bd5 c5 27.dxc5 Bxc5 28.b4 Bd6
29.a4 a5 30.axb5 axb4 31.Ra6 bxc3 32.Nxc3 Bb4 33.b6 Bxc3
34.Bxc3 h6 35.b7 Re3 36.Bxf7+ 1-0


[White "Aron Nimzowitsch"]
[Black "Jose Raul Capablanca"]

1. e4 { Notes by Raymond Keene. } c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3
Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Nc3 Qb6 7. Nge2 c5 {A possibility favoured
by Nimzowitsch as Black in such positions, e.g. his game
versus Duras from San Sebastian 1912, was 7...Qa6. Capablanca
had borrowed that idea to beat Atkins at London 1922. }
8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. O-O Ne7 10. Na4 Qc6 11. Nxc5 Qxc5 12. Be3 Qc7
13. f4 Nf5 {It is rather amusing to compare this with the
Vajda-Nimzowitsch game.} 14. c3 Nc6 15. Rad1 g6 16. g4 {?
Creating a permanent weakness. Better is 16 Bf2. } 16...Nxe3
17. Qxe3 h5 18. g5 O-O 19. Nd4 Qb6 20. Rf2 Rfc8 21. a3 Rc7
22. Rd3 Na5 23. Re2 Re8 24. Kg2 Nc6 25. Red2 Rec8 26. Re2 Ne7
27. Red2 Rc4 {!} 28. Qh3 Kg7 29. Rf2 a5 30. Re2 Nf5 {!}
31. Nxf5+ gxf5 32. Qf3 Kg6 33. Red2 Re4 34. Rd4 Rc4 35. Qf2
Qb5 36. Kg3 Rcxd4 37. cxd4 Qc4 38. Kg2 b5 39. Kg1 b4 40. axb4
axb4 41. Kg2 Qc1 42. Kg3 Qh1 43. Rd3 Re1 44. Rf3 Rd1 45. b3
Rc1 {! Zugzwang. } 46. Re3 Rf1 {One might suppose from this
game that Capablanca had carefully read My System and then
used all the theories contained therein against their
inventor!} 0-1


[White "Ossip Bernstein"]
[Black "Jose Raul Capablanca"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7
7. Rc1 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qa4 Bb7 10. Ba6 Bxa6 11. Qxa6 c5
12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. O-O Qb6 15. Qe2 c4 16. Rfd1
Rfd8 17. Nd4 Bb4 18. b3 Rac8 19. bxc4 dxc4 20. Rc2 Bxc3
21. Rxc3 Nd5 22. Rc2 c3 23. Rdc1 Rc5 24. Nb3 Rc6 25. Nd4 Rc7
26. Nb5 Rc5 27. Nxc3?, Nxc3 28. Rxc3 Rxc3 29. Rxc3

Qb2! 0-1


[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Jose Raul Capablanca"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4
7.Nxd4 Bd6 8.Nc3 Ne7 9.O-O O-O 10.f4 Re8 11.Nb3 f6 12.f5 b6
13.Bf4 Bb7 14.Bxd6 cxd6 15.Nd4 Rad8 16.Ne6 Rd7 17.Rad1 Nc8
18.Rf2 b5 19.Rfd2 Rde7 20.b4 Kf7 21.a3 Ba8 22.Kf2 Ra7 23.g4 h6
24.Rd3 a5 25.h4 axb4 26.axb4 Rae7 27.Kf3 Rg8 28.Kf4 g6 29.Rg3
g5+ 30.Kf3 Nb6 31.hxg5 hxg5 32.Rh3 Rd7 33.Kg3 Ke8 34.Rdh1 Bb7
35.e5 dxe5 36.Ne4 Nd5 37.N6c5 Bc8 38.Nxd7 Bxd7 39.Rh7 Rf8
40.Ra1 Kd8 41.Ra8+ Bc8 42.Nc5 1-0

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