JOSE RAUL CAPABLANCA (born Nov-19-1888, died Mar-08-1942, 53 years old) Cuba [what is this?] José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was the third World Champion, reigning from 1921 until 1927. Renowned for the simplicity of his play, his legendary endgame prowess, accuracy, and the speed of his play, he earned the nickname of the "Human Chess Machine". Background Capablanca, the second son of a Spanish Army officer, was born in Havana. He learned to play at an early age by watching his father and defeated Cuban Champion Juan Corzo in an informal match in 1901 by 6.5-5.5 (+4 −3 =5), turning 13 years of age during the match. Despite this and despite taking 4th place in the first Cuban Championship in 1902, he did not focus on chess until 1908 when he left Columbia University where he had enrolled to study chemical engineering and play baseball. He did, however, join the Manhattan Chess Club in 1905, soon establishing his dominance in rapid chess. He won a rapid chess tournament in 1906 ahead of the World Champion Emanuel Lasker, and played many informal games against him. Within a year or two of dropping out of university and after playing simultaneous exhibitions in dozens of US cities, winning over 95% of his games, Capablanca had established himself as one of the top players in the world, especially after the Capablanca - Marshall (1909) New York match exhibition win 15-8 (+8 -1 =14). Tournaments Capablanca won the 1910 New York State Championship by defeating co-leader Charles Jaffe in a tiebreaker match. In 1911, he placed second in the National Tournament in New York, with 9½ out of 12, half a point behind Marshall, and half a point ahead of Jaffe and Oscar Chajes. There followed Capablanca's groundbreaking win at San Sebastian (1911) with 9½/14 (+6 -1 =7), ahead of Akiba Rubinstein and Milan Vidmar on 9, Marshall on 8.5, and other luminaries such as Carl Schlechter, Siegbert Tarrasch and Ossip Bernstein. Before the tournament, Aron Nimzowitsch protested the unknown Capablanca's involvement in the event, but the latter demonstrated his credentials by defeating Nimzowitsch in their game. Winning at San Sebastian was only the second time a player had won a major tournament at his first attempt since Harry Pillsbury 's triumph at Hastings in 1895, and it provided a powerful boost to his credibility to challenge for the world title. He did so, but the match did not take place for another 10 years. In early 1913, Capablanca won a tournament in New York with 11/13 (+10 -1 =2), half a point ahead of Marshall. Capablanca then finished second with 10/14 (+8 -2 =4), a half point behind Marshall in Havana, losing one of their individual games, rumour having it that he asked the mayor to clear the room so that no one would see him resign. Returning to New York, Capablanca won all thirteen games at the New York tournament of 1913, played at the Rice Chess Club. 1914 saw the <"tournament of champions"> played at St. Petersburg. Capablanca, with 13/18 (+10 -2 =6), came second behind Lasker and well ahead of Alexander Alekhine on 10, Tarrasch on 8.5 and Marshall on 8. After the outbreak of World War I, Capablanca stayed in New York and won tournaments held there in 1915 (13/14 (+12 -0 =2)), 1916 (14/17 (+12 -1 =4)) and 1918 (10.5/12 (+9 =3)). During the New York 1918 tournament, Marshall played his prepared Marshall Attack of the Ruy Lopez* against Capablanca, but Capablanca worked his way through the complications and won. Soon after the war, Capablanca crossed the Atlantic to decisively win the Hastings Victory Tournament 1919 with 10.5/11, a point ahead of Borislav Kostic. Capablanca did not play another tournament until 1922, the year after he won the title from Lasker. During his reign, he won London 1922 with 13/15 (no losses), 1.5 points ahead of Alekhine; placed second behind Lasker at New York 1924 (suffering his first loss in eight years – to Richard Reti – since his 1916 lost to Oscar Chajes); placed 3rd at Moscow in 1925 behind Efim Bogoljubov and Lasker respectively with +9 =9 -2; won at Lake Hopatcong (New York) 1926 with 6/8 (+4 =4), a point ahead of Abraham Kupchik and won at New York in 1927 with 14/20 (+10 -1 =9), 2.5 points clear of Alekhine, his last tournament before his title match with Alekhine. During the latter tournament, Capablanca, Alekhine, Rudolf Spielmann, Milan Vidmar, Nimzowitsch and Marshall played a quadruple round robin, wherein Capablanca finished undefeated, winning the mini-matches with each of his rivals, 2½ points ahead of second-placed Alekhine, and won the "best game" prize for a win over Spielmann. This result, plus the fact that Alekhine had never defeated him in a game, made him a strong favourite to retain his title in the upcoming match against Alekhine. However, Alekhine's superior preparation prevailed against Capablanca's native talent. After losing the title, Capablanca settled in Paris and engaged in a flurry of tournament competition aimed at improving his chances for a rematch with Alekhine. However the latter dodged him, refusing to finalise negotiations for a rematch, boycotting events that included Capablanca, and insisting that Capablanca not be invited to tournaments in which he participated. In 1928, Capablanca won at Budapest with 7/9 (+5 =4), a point ahead of Marshall, and at Berlin with 8.5/12 (+5 =7), 1.5 points ahead of Nimzowitsch; he also came second at Bad Kissingen with 7/11 (+4 -1 =6), after Bogoljubov. In 1929, Capablanca won at Ramsgate with 5.5/7 (+4 =3) ahead of Vera Menchik and Rubinstein, at Budapest with 10.5/13 (+8 =5), and at Barcelona with 13.5/14, two points clear of Savielly Tartakower he also came equal second with Spielmann and behind Nimzowitsch at Carlsbad with 14.5/21 (+10 -2 =9). He won at the 1929-30 Hastings tournament and came second at Hastings in 1930-31, behind Max Euwe, his only loss being to Sultan Khan. Several months later he won New York for the last time, this time with a score of 10/11 (+9 =2) ahead of Isaac Kashdan. Perhaps discouraged by his inability to secure a rematch with Alekhine, there followed a hiatus for over three years before he reentered the fray with a fourth placing at Hastings in 1934-35 with 5.5/9 (+4 -2 =3), behind Sir George Thomas, Euwe and Salomon Flohr but ahead of Mikhail Botvinnik and Andre Lilienthal. In 1935, he secured 4th place in Moscow with 12/19 (+7 -2 =10), a point behind Botvinnik and Flohr, and a half point behind the evergreen Lasker. Also in 1935, he came second at Margate with 7/9 (+6 -1 =2), half a point behind Samuel Reshevsky. 1936 was a very successful year, coming 2nd at Margate with 7/9 (+5 =4), a half point behind Flohr, but then he moved up a gear to take Moscow with 13/18 (+8 =10), a point ahead of Botvinnik who in turn was 2.5 points ahead of Flohr, and then came =1st with Botvinnik at the famous Nottingham tournament, with 10/14 (+7 -1 =6) ahead of Euwe, Reuben Fine and Reshevsky on 9.5, and Flohr and Lasker on 8.5. These latter two results were the only tournaments in which he finished ahead of Lasker, which enhanced his chances of challenging for the title, but a challenge to World Champion Euwe was out of the question until after the Euwe - Alekhine World Championship Rematch (1937) , which was won by Alekhine. In 1937, Capablanca came =3rd with Reshevsky at Semmering with 7.5/14 (+2 -1 =11) behind Paul Keres and Fine and in 1938 he won the Paris tournament with 8/10 (+6 =4) ahead of Nicolas Rossolimo. The worst result of his career occurred at the AVRO tournament which was played in several cities in the Netherlands in 1938, placing 7th out of 8 players with 6/14 (+2 -4 =8), the only time he ever had a negative score in a tournament. His health in this tournament was fragile as he had suffered severe hypertension, which affected his concentration towards the end of his games; he may have also suffered a slight stroke halfway through the tournament. Travelling between the numerous cities in which the tournament was played was also hard on the ageing master. In 1939 he played his last tournament at Margate, placing =2nd with Flohr on 6.5/9 (+4 =5) a point behind Keres. Shortly afterwards, he finished his playing career – albeit unknowingly - in a blaze of glory by winning gold with +7 =9 on board one for Cuba at the 8th Olympiad in Buenos Aires. Matches In addition to the informal match against Corzo in 1901 and the exhibition match against Marshall in 1909 (see above), Capablanca played a three-game match against Charles Jaffe in New York in 1912, winning two and drawing one, and won the first game of a match against Chajes before the latter withdrew from the match. In 1914, he defeated Ossip Bernstein 1.5-0.5, Tartakower by 1.5-0.5 and Andre Aurbach by 2-0. On his way to the 1914 tournament in St Petersburg, he played two-game matches against Richard Teichmann and Jacques Mieses in Berlin, winning all his games. Once he reached Saint Petersburg, he played similar matches against Alexander Alekhine, Eugene Znosko-Borovsky and Fyodor Duz-Khotimirsky, losing one game to Znosko-Borovsky and winning the rest. In 1919, Capablanca accepted a challenge to a match from Borislav Kostić who had come second at New York in 1918 without dropping a game. The match was to go to the first player to win eight games, but Kostić resigned from the match, played in Havana, after losing five straight games - Capablanca - Kostic (1919). In late 1931, just before his temporary retirement from top-level chess, Capablanca also won a match (+2 −0 =8) against Euwe - Capablanca - Euwe (1931). World Championship Capablanca's win at San Sebastian in 1911 provided the results and the impetus for Capablanca to negotiate with Lasker for a title match, but some of Lasker's conditions were unacceptable to Capablanca, especially one requiring the challenger to win by two points to take the title, while the advent of World War I delayed the match. In 1920, Lasker and Capablanca agreed to play the title match in 1921, but a few months later, the former was ready to surrender the title without a contest, saying, "You have earned the title not by the formality of a challenge, but by your brilliant mastery." A significant stake ($25,000, $13,000 guaranteed to Lasker) was raised that induced Lasker to play in Havana where Capablanca won the Lasker - Capablanca World Championship Match (1921) - without losing a game - after Lasker resigned from the match when trailing by 4 games, the first time a World Champion had lost his title without winning a game until the victory by Vladimir Kramnik in the Kasparov - Kramnik Classical World Championship Match (2000). From 1921 to 1923, Alekhine, Rubinstein and Nimzowitsch all challenged Capablanca, but only Alekhine could raise the money stipulated in the so-called "London Rules", which these players had signed in 1921. A group of Argentinean businessmen, backed by a guarantee from the president of Argentina, promised the funds for a World Championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine, and once the deadline for Nimzowitsch to lodge a deposit for a title match had passed, the title match was agreed to, beginning in September 1927. Capablanca lost the Capablanca - Alekhine World Championship Match (1927) at Buenos Aires in 1927 by +3 -6 =25 in the longest title match ever, until it was surpassed by the legendary Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85). The match lasted over ten weeks, taking place behind closed doors, thus precluding spectators and photographers. All but two of the 34 games opened with the Queen's Gambit Declined. Before Capablanca and Alekhine left Buenos Aires after the match, they agreed in principle to stage a rematch, with Alekhine essentially sticking with the conditions initially imposed by Capablanca. Despite on-again off-again negotiations over the next 13 years, the rematch never materialised, with Alekhine playing two title matches each against Bogolyubov and Euwe in the subsequent decade. While Capablanca and Alekhine were both representing their countries at the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939, an attempt was made by Augusto de Muro, the President of the Argentine Chess Federation, to arrange a World Championship match between the two. Alekhine declined, saying he was obliged to be available to defend his adopted homeland, France, as World War II had just broken out. A couple of days prior to this, Capablanca had declined to play when his Cuban team played France, headed by Alekhine, in the Olympiad. Simultaneous exhibitions Capablanca's legendary speed of play lent itself to the rigours of simultaneous play, and he achieved great success in his exhibitions. From December 1908 through February 1909, Capablanca toured the USA and in 10 exhibitions he won 168 games in a row before losing a game in Minneapolis; his final tally for that tour was 734 games, winning 96.7% (+703 =19 -12). In March and April 1911, Capablanca toured Europe for the first time, giving exhibitions in France and Germany scoring +234=33-19. Once completed, he proceeded to San Sebastian and his historic victory before again touring Europe via its cities of Rotterdam, Leiden, Middelburg, The Hague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Breslau, Allenstein, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Paris, London and Birmingham at the end of which his tally was +532=66-54. After he received his job as a roving ambassador-at-large from the Cuban Foreign Office, Capablanca played a series of simuls in London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Riga, Moscow, Kyiv, and Vienna on his way to St Petersburg in 1914, tallying +769=91-86. In 1922, Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Cleveland against 103 opponents, the largest in history up to that time, winning 102 and drawing one – setting a record for the best winning percentage ever – 99.5% - in a large simultaneous exhibition. In 1925 Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad and won every game but one, a loss against 12-year-old Mikhail Botvinnik, whom he predicted would one day be champion. Capablanca still holds the record for the most games ever completed in simultaneous exhibitions, playing and completing 13545 games between 1901-1940.** Legacy, testimonials and life Soon after gaining the title, Capablanca married Gloria Simoni Betancourt in Havana. They had a son, José Raúl Jr., in 1923 and a daughter, Gloria, in 1925. His father died in 1923 and his mother in 1926. In 1937 he divorced Gloria and in 1938 married Olga Chagodayev, a Russian princess. Capablanca's famous "invincible" streak extended from February 10, 1916, when he lost to Oscar Chajes in the New York 1916 tournament, to March 21, 1924, when he lost to Richard Réti in the New York International tournament. During this time he played 63 games, winning 40 and drawing 23, including his successful title match against Lasker. Between 1914 and his World Championship match against Alekhine, Capablanca had only lost four games of the 158 match and tournament games he had played. In match, team match, and tournament play from 1909 to 1939 he scored +318=249-34. Only Spielmann held his own (+2 −2 =8) against Capablanca, apart from Keres who had a narrow plus score against him (+1 −0 =5) due to his win at the AVRO 1938 tournament, during which the ailing Capablanca turned 50, while Keres was 22. Capablanca played himself in Chess Fever http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015673/, a short film shot by V. Pudovkin at the 1925 Moscow tournament. The film can be seen at http://video.google.com/videoplay?d.... On 7 March 1942, Capablanca collapsed at the Manhattan Chess Club and he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died the next morning from "a cerebral haemorrhage provoked by hypertension". Emanuel Lasker had died in the same hospital the year before. Capablanca's body was given a public funeral in Havana's Colón Cemetery a week later, with President Batista taking personal charge of the funeral arrangements. Capablanca proposed a new chess variant, played on a 10x10 board or a 10x8 board. He introduced two new pieces. The chancellor had the combined moves of a rook and knight (the piece could move like a rook or a knight). The other piece was the archbishop which had the combined moves of a bishop and knight. Capablanca‘s style also heavily influenced the styles of later World Champions Botvinnik, Robert James Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. Botvinnik observed that Alekhine had received much schooling from Capablanca in positional play before their fight for the world title made them bitter enemies. While not a theoretician as such, he wrote several books including A Primer of Chess, Chess Fundamentals and My Chess Career. Alekhine: <…Capablanca was snatched from the chess world much too soon. With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again.> Lasker: <I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius: Capablanca.> Notes Capablanca occasionally played consultation on the team consisting of Reti / Capablanca. Sources: Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles - http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/a...; Edward Winter's article A Question of Credibiity: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...; Chess Corner's article on Capablanca: http://www.chesscorner.com/worldcha... and <kingcrusher>'s online article at http://www.gtryfon.demon.co.uk/bcc/.... A list of books about Capablanca can be found at http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/.... * Ruy Lopez, Marshall (C89) ** http://www.fide.com/component/conte... Wikipedia article: José Raúl Capablanca Last updated: 2025-03-16 04:08:07

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page 1 of 51; games 1-25 of 1,252  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. R Iglesias vs Capablanca 0-1 38 1893 Odds game 000 Chess variants 2. Capablanca vs E Delmonte 1-0 18 1901 Match-series B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 3. L Paredes vs Capablanca 0-1 45 1901 Match-series C44 King's Pawn Game 4. Capablanca vs E Corzo 1-0 35 1901 Match-series C67 Ruy Lopez 5. Capablanca vs A Fiol ½-½ 49 1901 Match-series C45 Scotch Game 6. J Corzo vs Capablanca 1-0 41 1901 Havana casual B01 Scandinavian 7. A Gavilan vs Capablanca 0-1 39 1901 Match-series C45 Scotch Game 8. A Ettlinger vs Capablanca 0-1 53 1901 Casual game C45 Scotch Game 9. Capablanca vs M Marceau 1-0 31 1901 Match-series C45 Scotch Game 10. M Sterling vs Capablanca ½-½ 50 1901 Havana C77 Ruy Lopez 11. Capablanca vs J A Blanco 1-0 49 1901 Match-series C45 Scotch Game 12. E Delmonte vs Capablanca 0-1 32 1901 Match-series D00 Queen's Pawn Game 13. Capablanca vs L Paredes 1-0 29 1901 Match-series C02 French, Advance 14. E Corzo vs Capablanca 1-0 32 1901 Match-series C11 French 15. Capablanca vs J Corzo 0-1 60 1901 Havana casual C45 Scotch Game 16. A Fiol vs Capablanca 0-1 36 1901 Havana C55 Two Knights Defense 17. Capablanca vs A Gavilan 1-0 77 1901 Match-series C01 French, Exchange 18. Capablanca vs M Sterling 1-0 30 1901 Havana C01 French, Exchange 19. Capablanca vs E Corzo 0-1 30 1901 Havana casual C40 King's Knight Opening 20. Capablanca vs E Corzo 1-0 42 1901 Havana casual C40 King's Knight Opening 21. J A Blanco vs Capablanca 0-1 77 1901 Havana C55 Two Knights Defense 22. Capablanca vs C Echevarria 1-0 49 1901 Simul, 8b C44 King's Pawn Game 23. Capablanca vs J Corzo 0-1 29 1901 Capablanca - Corzo C45 Scotch Game 24. J Corzo vs Capablanca 1-0 27 1901 Capablanca - Corzo C52 Evans Gambit 25. Capablanca vs J Corzo ½-½ 61 1901 Capablanca - Corzo A80 Dutch  page 1 of 51; games 1-25 of 1,252

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 156 OF 264 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-29-08    visayanbraindoctor: <square dance: <visayanbraindoctor> sure is! can you believe its never even been nominated for a caissar?!> Cool avatar! A. <Strongest Force: OK, here are my 5th and 6th boards for my NYC vs Moscow match. Steinitz vs Alekhine Marshall vs Botvinnik Marshall would probably get beat like a redheaded step-child but i think Capablanca would pimp-slap Kaspy while Bobby would stomp Karpov. The 6-board match should be exciting however.> My personal opinion of Capa and 'quick games': Capa in his prime would have beaten anybody in chess history in rapid and blitz. New York would already have the advantage from the start against Moscow. (Unless Capa would defect to Moscow in the after life.) B. <Whitehat1963: Tough match, but I'd have to give the edge to Capablanca. Here's a tournament for the under 12s: Capablanca Morphy Reshevsky Fischer Polgar Karjakin Radjabov Kasparov Kramnik Ponomariov Bacrot> Capa would win. C. On the area of study and research: Last place to Capa. He was the monumentally 'lazy' chess player. Oct-02-08    Karpova: Capablanca and women in chess The "British Chess Magazine" of July 1931, page 313 published a letter from Capablanca to Mrs. Ella F. Rawson: <'Dear Mrs. Rawson', - Many thanks for your letter. I am very glad to hear about the young girls playing chess. It is very good for them, and everything should be done to encourage them. Best wishes to you all. Sincerely yours, J.R. Capablanca Carlton Hotel, Pall Mall, S.W.1., 18 June 1931> The "British Chess Magazine" from January 1937 (page 9) published another from Capablanca: <'Dear Mrs. Rawson', - For years I have followed with great interest your campaign on behalf of chess among the young girl students. I cannot think of a better way for them to use a few hours of their spare time. Chess can do them no harm, and probably would do them a great deal of good. I consider chess an excellent mental training. Besides, there are in the course of a lifetime many an occasion when a knowledge of chess is a great asset. I wish to congratulate you on your efforts, and hope you will keep up your interest along these lines. Best of success. Sincerely yours, J.R. Capablanca 29 October 1936> Source: page 247 of Winter, Edward: "Capablanca: a compendium of games, notes, articles, correspondence, illustrations and other rare archival materials on the Cuban chess genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-1942.", Jefferson, North Carolina, 1989 It's well-known that he tried to enable Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde from Cuba (14 years old in 1921) to participate in the Women's tournament in London 1922. It wouldn't cost them anything as Capablanca tried to obtain the fundings. She didn't play at that tournament. (Winter, p. 118) Oct-05-08    The Rocket: Alekhine vs Capablanca, 1927 Capa played orthodox variation Alekhine variation many times but I cant find any games with alekhine playing it as black! does anybody know the story behind why its called Alekhine variation?. this is one game were Capa played the alekhine line is 9 dxc4. 10. bishopxc4 nd5!.: Alekhine vs Capablanca, 1927 Oct-05-08    GrahamClayton: The antipathy between Capablanca and Alekhine is well known. After their 1927 World Championship match in Buenos Aires, they did not play against each other until the 1936 Nottingham tournament. Harry Golombek experienced this antipathy first-hand: "I became acquainted with both towards the end of their careers and found them equally charming, friendly and most agreeable and sparkling conversationalists. But if you once mentioned the name of their hated rival (it was not done more than once) then a constrained and freezing atmosphere was immediately noticeable. There was an amusing illustration of this antipathy at the Buenos Aires Olympiad of 1939. I was standing in one of the corridors of the Teatro politeama, where the congress was held, when Alekhine came in, abd I walked down the corridor with him, discussing a game he had played the previous day. Suddenly Capablanca emerged from a side door in the theatre and came up towards us in the somewhat narrow corridor which would only just take three abreast. It was extraordinary and indeed comic to observe how they passed each other by a supreme obliviousness as to each other's presence." Harry Golombek "Capablanca's Best 100 Games of Chess", Bell & Hyman, 1980 Oct-05-08    brankat: <The Rocket> In the game You quote, as well as in many others (by a number of masters of the period) <9...Nd5> is a positional treatment introduced and extensively used by Capablanca. It aims to exchange material, simplify the position and give Black solid chances for an equal endgame. Which perfectly suited Capablanca's fine positional style of play. Before Capablanca, Dr.Lasker preferred to play (after 7. Rc1)... <7...b6>, followed later by <c5>, developing the LS Bishop at <b7>, and trying to undermine White's strong center. Dr.Lasker's idea was quite successful, until the match against Capablanca in 1921. An even earlier concept, also by Dr.Lasker, was an early <5...Ne4> (after White's <e3>. In essence the idea had the same goal as Capa's <9...Nd5>, namely to exchange the Bishop on <e7>, and the Knight on <c3>, but it was done very early in the opening. Dr.Lasker had a lot of success with this manouver. You can check some games from Dr.Lasker-Marshall match of 1907 for this variation. If in the game You posted the link to White had played <11. O-O>, or <11. Qc2>, then the opening would have been called: QGD: Orthodox Defence, Capablanca System. Alekhine was the one who introduced (and regularly practiced) <11. Ne4>, instead of <11. 0-0> in order to avoid the exchange of the <c3> Knight and strengthen White's chances on the King's flank. This kind of approach suited his style. Hence the variation has Alekhine's name. I hope this helps. Oct-06-08    The Rocket: thanks Brankat so I guess nd5 is what is famously known as the capablanca freeing manuever? Oct-06-08    brankat: <The Rocket> Yes. Yesterday I couldn't remember the Key word: "freeing" :-) Actually, seriously: 1. The move <9...Nd5> leads to Capablanca's Freeing Manuever, while.. 2. The move <5...Ne4> to Lasker's Freeing Manuever. Oct-18-08    visayanbraindoctor: <capin: can humans win against the newest computer engines running in the current powerful computers? Maybe some game, but in general computer engines wins.... therefore, computers play better chess than today humans. That's a fact!> Regarding computers, notice that most computer wins against today's top super GMs do not occur because of superb opening play, but because they can calculate more accurately in complex middlegame positions. GMs generally quickly take the game out of theory against computers, on the assumption that computers have 'memorized' all the latest in theory, but the humans still lose in the middlegame. Which just goes to show that most chessgames are decided by middlegame play. Considering this observation, let us suppose that a hostile super computer that has the power to recreate the chessplayers of the past were to arrive on earth and give the human race an ultimatum - "I will obliterate the human race if none of you can beat me in a game of chess. Who will be your representative?" My personal answer would be "Get the 1919 version of Capablanca from whatever space-time dimension he exists." Why? IMO the 1919 to 1922 Capablanca offers humanity the best chance to beat computers. He was playing the middlegame almost like a computer, and perhaps endgames better than computers. If I were pushed to the wall and forced to bet on a human player who would have the ability to beat computers, or else lose my life's savings, my bet would immediately be on Capablanca. Oct-18-08    FHBradley: <visayanbraindoctor: If I were pushed to the wall and forced to bet on a human player who would have the ability to beat computers, or else lose my life's savings, my bet would immediately be on Capablanca.> I don't think you would find Capablanca in the betting list, for he has been dead for over sixty years. Oct-18-08    M.D. Wilson: Purely hypothetical, of course. Oct-22-08    Whitehat1963: Apparently Fischer and Capablanca may have been about the best players ever: http://www.truechess.com/web/champs... Oct-22-08    Udit Narayan: Many chess players were handsome before they got old and chubby. For example, Capablanca, Fischer, Larsen... Oct-23-08    Karpova: From a speech quoted in the "Falkirk Herald" of 1930.12.10 Lord Dunsany said: <To meet Capablanca made one feel as a mouse would feel when it met an elephant.> Source: Page 326 of Winter, Edward: "Capablanca: a compendium of games, notes, articles, correspondence, illustrations and other rare archival materials on the Cuban chess genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-1942.", Jefferson, North Carolina, 1989 Oct-23-08    FHBradley: <Lord Dunsany: To meet Capablanca made one feel as a mouse would feel when it met an elephant.> There's no doubt that when they come from Lord Dunsany's mouth, these words hit the nail absolutely on the head. Oct-28-08    M.D. Wilson: Capablanca is my chess hero. Karpov and Fischer follow closely behind. Nov-12-08    Confuse: <FHBradley> Where I come from, elephants are scared of mice. Nov-12-08    brankat: <Udit Narayan> <Many chess players were handsome before they got old and chubby.> This is true not only for Chess players. Nov-12-08    maxi: The stronger you become, the more you appreciate Capablanca's game. Nov-12-08    visayanbraindoctor: <maxi: The stronger you become, the more you appreciate Capablanca's game.> Hey you've got it. When I first learned chess, I did not appreciate Capablanca at all; just knew he was a World Champ. But later after several tournaments, I surely did. I came to the conclusion that if anyone ever achieved 'perfect' games (for a human) consistently, it was Capa. Capablanca came at an opportune time in chess history. Since the advent of Lasker, Tarrasch, Pillsbury, Rubinstein, Maroczy, and Schlecter, modern chess had arrived. It could have been different during the Steinitz era, but in the Lasker era, in order to get to the top, you had to beat players who played chess middlegames and endgames at super Grandmaster level. Capablanca totally dominated these players (except for Lasker) until he lost the Title in 1927 at age 39 (when I believe he was already suffering from familial HPN). For some reason, the top players of the 1910s were remarkably strong. Take the top seeded Russian Federation team in today's Dresden Olympiad composed of Kramnik, Morozevich, Grischuk, Svidler, Jakovenko; and compare it with a 1914 Russian Empire team made up of Alekhine, Rubinstein, Nimzovich, Bogolyubov, Bernstein (or Levenfish). It's not going to be a walk-over for the Russian Federation team in a hypothetical match-up with the 1914 Russian Empire team. There were also very strong players from the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire. The strongest tournament of that era, the 1914 St. Petersburg tournament, featuring Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Marshall, Nimzovich, Rubinstein, Bernstein, Blackburne, Janowski, and Gunsberg was so strong that even the great Akiba Rubinstein got eliminated. Into this era Capablanca arrived like an exploding supernova. He was so stupendously strong that everyone probably knew in their hearts that it was only a matter of time before Capa would take over from the still formidable Lasker. From the reactions of the other top players, it seems that they were stunned that such a chessplayer as Capablanca could exist. Even players the caliber of Lasker and Alekhine were flabbergasted at Capablanca's chess abilities. Even more remarkably, Capa came out of nowhere. We would have expected the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian Empires, and even the USA to produce the next champion after Lasker, but why somebody from a rather unknown far-flung colonial province of the Spanish Empire (which was what Cuba used to be when Capa was born)? Metaphorically, it was like Caissa decided to create a chess genius and threw a dart into the world, and it just happened to land in a tropical island half a globe away from the center of the Chessworld in Europe. Capablanca was like an anomaly waiting to happen. If Caissa ever decides to create another Capablanca, I wonder where her dart would land. Could be anywhere. Nov-12-08    maxi: Good to see you around, Visayan. Nov-12-08    maxi: Capa was the first chess-playing computer. Nov-12-08    visayanbraindoctor: <maxi: Capa was the first chess-playing computer.> What a coincidence. I just commented in the following game that Capablanca would play computer-like moves. Capablanca vs Marshall, 1909 Nov-12-08    SufferingBruin: Great post, visayan. Thanks for that. Nov-12-08    maxi: Yeah, it's a coincidence. But now that we are becoming familiar with the game of computers, it is becoming more evident that Capa did play like a computer. Nov-16-08    Sem: Euwe once told a reporter jokingly that before WWII Havana boasted two chess clubs: 'The Friends of Capablanca' and 'The Big Friends of Capablanca', which always had a bitter feud. 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