Among his contemporaries, Alekhine compared to Capa, was a much better analyst, as shown in his compilation of his best games books. AAA would often go into specific lines and check them for errors. I agree with <maxi> that Capa seemed to be analyzing backwards at times, trying to justify what he already knew was correct. He could see the correct potential positions, but often did not bother to show the step-by-step method of how to get there or explain why the potential positions are correct.

For example, in the crucial game 5, we arrive at this position:

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Lasker embarked on a plan to advance his passed pawn 46... c5 47... c4

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Capablanca disapproved of it in his annotations, saying that Lasker should have moved 46... Rb5

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This is said in conjunction with my post above hypothesizing that the 4 year old JR Capablanca may have suffered a 'shock' to his brain, in his efforts to figure out the game that his father was playing, and so may have recruited additional 'wirings' in normally non-chessic brain areas (say the language areas) into processing chess info.

R Iglesias vs Capablanca, 1893

This game just show his chess understanding, 4 years old playing petroff, full understanding of bad bishop, centralization of king,etc.

I have read that he took the exam to get into the university and he finished first than the rest with a lot of diference with almost a prefect score.

I have no agenda. I don't care particularly about Capa, no more than any other chess star, for that matter. I have no thesis about his knowledge on endings or what have you. Precisely what I found interesting about him a long time ago is that he "thought" in a way unlike the way other people did.

<veigaman> Seems we are in a nature vs nurture topic. My hypothesis obviously says that Capablanca was to a large extent the product of the environment, although a completely accidental and rare event in his case. To ask a rhetorical question, how many 4 year olds go and watch their parents play chess? I haven't seen a single one in my entire life. Thus we have the undoubtedly rare case of a 4 year old watching and attempting to comprehend his parent play a chess game, without any one forcing him to. Perhaps forcing him to do so would change conditions so that he does not wire non-chessic areas of his brain to process chess info.

The odds alone of a 4 year old kid accidentally watching and by his free will trying to comprehend chess games his parent was playing must be astronomical. It can probably only happen in a chess-playing family, or in a culture where nearly every one plays chess.

We will have to multiply this probability with the chance that such a kid also has the genes to create a genius brain that could wire itself in the proper manner.

Capablanca was a genius of geniuses in the field of chess, something that another chess genius Lasker acknowledged. For instance, Lasker regarded Pilsbury as a chess genius. In the Pillsbury page, <James Demery> quotes Lasker as saying <A genius has left us.> when Pillsbury died. However, of Capablanca, Lasker says <I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca.> Obviously Lasker regarded Capablanca as a level above 'ordinary' chess geniuses.

This also brings to mind another peculiar phenomenon. No world champion has ever been in awe of another world champion who is his contemporary. For instance, Anand is certainly not in awe of Kramnik, Kasparov, or Karpov, all of whom he has played over the board. Kramnik is certainly not in awe of the above. They of course all respect each other as the best chess players in their era, and as dangerous rivals over the board. It is only with Capablanca that we get pronouncements from the World Champions who were his contemporaries and over the board rivals that look like he awed them with his chess abilities. In some ways, it makes them look like ridiculous fan boys. (See page 170 of this corner for some of these remarks by Lasker, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik.)

Saying Capa's analysis was sloppy because he was inferior to Alekhine in that respect is like putting a label of "bad analyst" on Karpov because he doesn't go as through as Fischer or Kasparov.

Please have a look at Lasker's chess manual, 500 open games by Tartakower, and The games of chess by Tarrash. Do you think they did much better job than Capablanca?

I don't know enough about Capablanca's analysis to have an opinion, but I do have a little bit to say about the other three that you mention. I have Lasker's book on the 1909 St. Petersburg book and several books by Tarrasch. It's my opinion (but I haven't rigorously proved it) that Lasker was a more accurate annotator than Tarrasch, but he assumed a mugh higher level of chess knowledge and skill on the part of his readers than Tarrasch did. Tarrasch was really great at explaining things in ways that an amateur could understand. (I have been told that the same is true of Chess Fundamentals.) But everyone in those pre-Fritz days made mistakes -- Tartakower pointed out a big one by Lasker in his notes to one of Tartakower's games at St. Petersburg.

Having said that, the book I liked by him most is "Last Chess Lectures" - I've read it many times. Ivanchuk said it was his favourite chess book! (I assume Capablanca wasn't aware they'd be his Last Chess Lectures - they were written for radio broadcast in South America, I think.)

The notion of trying to recreate the conditions for another four-year old Capablanca-like subgenius sounds rather creepy to me, even if it were possible. (Ever seen "The Boys From Brazil" where they - i.e. mad scientists - try to recreate the conditions of the young Hitler?)

If so, it was an unusual combination of the proper brain as directed by genetics and the right environmental accident at the right age that created a Capablanca.>

Both Anand and Kramnik consider Kasparov to be the greatest player of all time. I don't know if you can get any praise higher than that. You can also get an idea of how little chance Kramnik thought he had of beating Kasparov in their match, even though he was in the top 3 in the world, by watching his DVD for chessbase. He also praises Kasparov far more than any other world champion in his interview http://www.kramnik.com/eng/intervie....

<he is a chess player who does not seem to have weak spots. At least, I don't know which weak point he had in his better days. Many books can be written about him.>

<As for his strong will, Kasparov could be compared to Botvinnik but he surpasses his teacher because he is much more flexible.>

<Though rigid, Kasparov is open to any changes. He is able to change his outlook on chess in six months. Kasparov absorbs things like a sponge; he soaks up all changes, everything he sees he processes quickly and makes it part of his arsenal. I think this is the main quality that makes Kasparov different from the other chess players.>

<Kasparov definitely has a great talent. There is nothing in chess he has been unable to deal with. The other world champions had something 'missing'. I can't say the same about Kasparov: he can do everything. If he wishes to play some type of positions brilliantly, he will do it. Nothing is impossible for him in chess.>

* A Brief Review of the Chess Record of José Raúl Capablanca by D. Welles (New York, 1911)

* Kh. R. Kapablanka Opyt kharakteristiki by E.A. Znosko-Borovsky (St Petersburg, 1911)

* 20 Partien Capablanca’s by B. Kagan (Berlin, 1915)

* Glorias del Tablero “Capablanca” by J.A. Gelabert (Havana, 1923 and 1924)

* Kapablanka i Alekhin: bor’ba za mirovoe pervenstvo v shakhmaty by E.A. Znosko-Borovsky (Paris, 1927)*

* The Immortal Games of Capablanca by F. Reinfeld (New York, 1942, 1974 and 1990)

* Homenaje a José Raúl Capablanca (Havana, 1943)

* Partidas Clásicas de Capablanca by G. Ståhlberg and P. Alles Monasterio (Buenos Aires, 1943)

* Capablanca by F. Chalupetzky and L. Tóth (Kecskemét, 1943)

* Capablanca Veszit by F. Chalupetzky and L. Tóth (Kecskemét, undated)

* Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games of Chess by H. Golombek (London, 1947, New York, 1947, New York, 1978, St Leonards on Sea, 1989, London, 1996 and Aylesbeare, 2004) – plus German translation/adaptation: J.R. Capablanca 75 seiner schönsten Partien

* Het Schaakphenomeen José Raoul Capablanca by M. Euwe and L. Prins (The Hague, 1949) – plus German, Spanish and Russian translations

* Capablanca’s sämtliche Verlustpartien (Flensburg, 1951)*

* Trofei di Capablanca by L. Penco (Milan, 1954)

* Kapablanka by V. Panov (Moscow, 1959) – plus Spanish translation*

* Capablancas Förlustpartier by J.E. Westman (Uppsala, 1963)

* Weltgeschichte des Schachs: Capablanca by J. Gilchrist and D. Hooper (Hamburg, 1963)

* J.R. Capablanca by B. Hörberg and J. Westberg (Örebro, 1965)

* Kapablanka by V. Panov (Moscow, 1970) – plus Spanish, Italian and Serbian translations

* Capablanca by S. Petrović (Zagreb, 1974)

* The Unknown Capablanca by D. Hooper and D. Brandreth (London, 1975, New York, 1975 and New York, 1993)

* Capablancas Verlustpartien by F.C. Görschen (Hamburg-Bergedorf, 1976)

* Capablanca, Leyenda y Realidad by M.A. Sánchez, two volumes (Havana, 1978)

* The Best Endings of Capablanca and Fischer (Belgrade, 1978)

* Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings by I. Chernev (Oxford, 1978 and New York, 1982)

* Capablanca – das Schachphänomen by W.N.
Panow (Stuttgart, 1982)

* Endspieltechnik à la Capablanca by L. Nikolaiczuk (Mannheim, 1987)

* Das Schachgenie Capablanca by I. Linder and W. Linder (East Berlin, 1988)

* Gent Nostra Capablanca by M. Fontrodona (Barcelona, 1988)

* Así Jugaba Capablanca by J. Daubar (Havana, 1988)

* Kapablanka v Rossii by V. Linder and I. Linder (Moscow, 1988)

* Kapablanka Vstrechi c Rossiey by A.I. Sizonenko (Moscow, 1988)

* Capablanca A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942 by E. Winter (Jefferson, 1989)

* Partie Jose Raoula Capablanki 1901-1927 (Warsaw, 1989)

* Partie Jose Raoula Capablanki 1928-1939 (Warsaw, 1989)

* José Raoul Capablanca Ein Schachmythos (Düsseldorf, 1989)

* Capablanca by J. Daubar (Havana, 1990)

* The Games of José Raúl Capablanca by R. Caparrós (Yorklyn, 1991). Second edition: Dallas, 1994 – plus Spanish translation

* Jose Capablanca by S. Akhpatelov and S. Gordon (undated)

* José Raúl Capablanca by D. Bjelica (Madrid, 1993)

* Capablanca 222 partidas (Madrid, 1994)

* Match por el campeonato de ajedrez Capablanca y Alekhine (Buenos Aires, 1994)

* Ajedrez La lucha por la iniciativa by O. Aldama Zambrano (Santiago de Cuba, 1994* and Barcelona, 2000)

* Jose Raul Capablanca Games 1901-1926 (1997)

* Jose Raul Capablanca Games 1927-1942 (1997)

* Capablanca’s Eighteen Select Chess Games by F.N. Tapia (Havana, 1998)

* Capablanca biografía 42 partidas magistrales by J. Chiappini (Rosario, 1998)

* J.R. Capablanca by E. Varnusz (two volumes - ‘Games 1888-1925’ and ‘Games 1926-1942’, Altstadthof, undated)

* Ajedrez La lucha por la iniciativa by O. Aldama Zambrano (Barcelona, 2000)

* Sygrajte kak Kapablanka by I.M. Linder (Moscow, 2004)

* Jose Raul Capablanca: Zjizn i Igra by V. Linder and I. Linder (Moscow, 2005)

* Jose Raul Capablanca by I. Kourkounakis and I. Babasakis (Athens, 2005)

* The Chess Greats of the World: Capablanca by D. Lovas (Kecskemét, 2006)

* Capablanca in the United Kingdom (1911-1920) by V. Fiala (Olomouc, 2006)

* Capablanca entre sus iguales by R. Milián González (Havana, 2006)

* José Raúl Capablanca Avtoportret genia by S. Voronkov, two volumes (Moscow, 2006)

* José Raúl Capablanca by G. Siwek (Warsaw, 2007)

*Cartilla de Ajedrez (1913)

*Havana 1913 (tournament book-1913)

*My Chess Career (1920)

*Chess Fundamentals (1921)

*The World Championship Chess Match between Jose Raul Capablanca and Dr. Emanuel Lasker (1921)

*A Primer of Chess (1934)

*Last Lectures (1966 - published by Olga Capablanca)

Capablanca also annotated all his games for New York 1918 tournament book.

Also annotated all his games from the Moscow 1936 tournament in "64" Russian magazine.

Three columns are also known:

*Chess Weekly (1910)

*Capablanca Chess Magazine (1912 - 1914)

*Diario de la Marina (1912)

...the Resistance turned him into an alcoholic, rented him a tiny, unheated apartment and shoved a 4 inch long unchewed strip of meat down his throat, all to very covertly kill him, but make it look like an accident?