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Jose
Raul Capablanca, "The
Mozart of Chess", was a Cuban chess prodigy and the
3rd official world champion of chess from 1921-1927.
He learned to play the game of chess by the age of four
and began competing with the top Cuban players by the
age of five at the Central Chess Club in Havana.
In 1900, Capablanca became the Cuban
national chess champion at the age of twelve, defeating
Juan Corzo by a score of 6-4. He defended
his title against Corzo the following year, winning by a
score of 4-3-6. After several years of touring the
U.S. and playing simuls, Capablanca took on the
challenge of a set match against the American champion,
Frank Marshall. He would would soundly defeat
Marshall by an impressive score of 8-1-14, signifying
that he was a legitimate force in the chess world.
He was
chosen at the last hour to participate in the super
tournament at San Sebastian in 1911. Aron
Nimzowitsch objected to his presence, as Capablanca
had not won any major tournaments to that point in his
career. His reward for his objections was a
33-move defeat with the white pieces at the hands of
Capablanca and the additional humiliation of watching
Capablanca actually go on to win the whole tournament.
After
finishing second behind world champion Emanual Lasker
at the 1914 St.
Petersburg tournament, Capablanca was one of five
chess players to be officially given the title of Chess
Grandmaster (along with Lasker, Marshall, Alexander
Alekhine, and Siegbert Tarrasch) by Czar
Nicholas II.
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"Alekhine
had a rather heavy style, Capablanca was
much more brilliant and talented, he had
a real light touch.
"
– Bobby Fischer (about
Capablanca) |
The start of World
War I in 1914 virtually put a halt to the chess world for the next
five years. Capablanca would stay active by winning some smaller
tournaments in the U.S. during this period. In 1921, he would
get the opportunity to challange Lasker for the world title in Havana.
Capablanca left little doubt of his prowess by going undefeated
against Lasker and capturing the title with an impressive score of
4-0-10.
Capablanca would
finish second behind Lasker at the legendary
1924 New York tournament, suffering
his first loss in eight years at the hands of Richard Reti.
He would finish third the following year at the 1925 Moscow tournament
behind Lasker and Efim Bogoljubow. His performance in his
victory at the 1927 New York
tournament was an astronomical 2827.
That same year,
Alekhine challenged him for the the world chess title and surprisingly
defeated Capablanca by a score of 6-3-25. Although a re-match
was a stated stipulation of the match, Alekhine would never give
Capablanca a chance to re-capture his title. Despite this,
Capablanca would continue to have strong tournament performances in
international tournaments. He would finish first at the 1929
Budapest, 1929 Hastings, and 1931 New York tournaments. He would
also finish second at the the strong
1929 Karlsbad and 1930
Hastings tournaments.
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"Everyone
I’ve spoken to who saw Capablanca play
still speak of him with awe. If you
showed him any position he would
instantly tell you the right move.
"
– Bobby Fischer (about
Capablanca) |
Capablanca would
then withdraw from chess for the next three years, resuming play again
in 1934. In his first international tournament after his layoff,
he would place fourth at the 1935
Moscow super tournament. The next year he would finish first
at the 1936 Moscow tournament and tie for first at the infamous
1936 Nottingham tournament with
future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. It was there
that he played his first game against Alekhine since losing the title
to him. Capablanca would defeat his hated rival from an inferior
position, gaining a very small measure of revenge.
Two years later, at
the start of the 1938 AVRO
tournament, Capablanca suffered a minor stroke. Despite this, he
demanded to play out the rest of the tournament and understandably
finished a career worst, tied for seventh place. This same year
signaled the start of World War II and the temporary stoppage of
international chess.
On March 7th, 1942,
Capablanca suffered a stroke while playing some friendly games of
chess at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York. He died the next
morning at Mount Sinai Hospital, oddly enough the exact same hospital
at which Lasker had died only a year earlier.
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