'Our Chess Napoleon': A Review of Sánchez, 'José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography'
Miguel A. Sánchez. José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography. Foreword by Andy Soltis. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.. 2015. 553 pages. $55.00.
Capablanca (1888-1942) is a legend. His chess games and his life are endlessly fascinating. Clearly one of the greatest chess players of all time, World Champion from 1921-1927, Capablanca was so brilliant at the chessboard that he was called a “chess machine.” One writer noted: “The slightest error on the part of his opponent is quite enough for our chess Napoleon….Some chess players are painful to watch, but Capablanca is a delightful study. His pose is graceful and he makes his moves with easy and swift, yet unerring precision” (231; Hatton Ward, in British Daily Mirror August 21, 1919). In addition, Capa’s story from early life in Cuba through the ranks to the chess stratosphere is of captivating interest in itself.
Miguel A. Sánchez’s comprehensive biography of Capablanca is the most complete study of the “master” (117; named that by Chess Weekly on May 1, 1909), yet. Sánchez has unearthed primary documents across the span of Capablanca’s life up to medical records of his health problems—especially with hypertension, a condition that plagued all the males in his family which they inherited from birth (173)—to his autopsy (Appendix II, 490-496). They all give us an unparalleled look at the many contexts of Capa’s life and work. The richness of detail in this book is unmatched.
4-year-old Capablanca playing chess
Foremost, Capablanca’s amazing chess exploits—with nearly 200 annotated games—are presented through the course of his life as a child chess prodigy in Cuba, beating the Cuban champion in a match just before his thirteenth-birthday, through his stunning 1909 victory match over Frank J. Marshall, then one of the premier players in the world. This launched Capablanca to win the San Sebastián tournament (1911) which he won over Rubenstein, Nimzowitsch, and Tarrasch. Sánchez provides several pages of Capablanca’s interesting reflections on the personalities of some of his opponents (141-143). He quotes Rubenstein as saying to Capa as he watched him defeat others in rapid transit chess: “You do not make mistakes”—which was the same thing the great world champion, Emanuel Lasker, told Capablanca in 1914 (141).
Inevitably, comparisons were drawn between Capablanca and the great Paul Morphy. Sánchez’s chapter, “In Morphy’s Footsteps” shows how Capa wanted to imitate Morphy’s
5 Grandmasters at St. Petersburg (1914)
triumphs—and was regarded as “the Cuban Morphy” (187). The St. Petersburg tournament (1914) was especially strong featuring what Czar Nicholas II called: “The Five Grandmasters”: Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall (204). Capablanca suffered two losses to Lasker and came in second, one-half point behind the forty-five year old champion. Sánchez notes: “It then became evident that Lasker and Capablanca formed a category apart over the rest of the best players in the world, and that only a match between them could settle the matter of the world championship” (204). In third place was Alexander Alekhine.
Capablanca-Lasker Title Match (1921
After prolonged and protracted negotiations, the Capablanca-Lasker world championship match took place in Havanna in 1921 (chapter 9). With no opening ceremony, the match began at on March 15, 1921 with Capablanca drawing the White pieces (243). On April 27, Lasker resigned from the series and conceded the world championship to Capablanca. He had won four games with 10 draws. Lasker cited illness as his reason for not continuing (251). Capablanca was incensed by Lasker’s actions; but came later to say that Lasker aroused the “fighting spirit” within him and also said, “I beat him with his own arms” (255). This was Capa’s explanation. Sánchez’s account of the “inside stories” relating to the match are new and illuminating.
Great bitterness ensued in negotiations with Alekhine to arrange a world championship match (275-280). In tournaments, Capablanca won in London (1922), ahead of Alekhine, in Moscow (1925) he finished third while triumphing at Lake Hopatcong (1926), and in New York (1927), he clearly defeated Alekhine (14-11½; 319).
When the World Chess Championship began in Buenos Aires on September 16, 1927 (chapter 13), Alekhine was playing a champion he had never before beaten in a match. In six years as World Champion, Capablanca had played in four top-level events achieving 38 wins, 3 losses, and 34 draws in 75 games for a wining percentage of 73.33 percent (322). In the first game, Capablanca opened with his king’s pawn (for the first and last time in the match) and Alekhine adopted the French Defense. After uncharacteristically long times of thinking, Capablanca resigned after the 42nd move (331). According to reports, Capablanca waited until the streets were cleared before he left the game venue.
Capablanca-Alekhine Title Match (1927)
In the third game (September 23), Alekhine played nearly as badly as Capablanca had in game one. After the fourth game was drawn, Alekhine had to have emergency dental surgery for a toothache of a tooth in his lower jaw. Things got worse and Alekhine had to have a total of six teeth removed. After the 11th game (October 8), Alekhine had equalized the score of the match. Then, for the third and last time in his life, Capablanca lost two games in a row. By game 34, which concluded with 82 moves, Capablanca said, “I am in an idiotic position. I am completely lost” (349). Capablanca resigned and Alexander Alekhine was World Champion. Capablanca’s comment was “That man [Alekhine] has earned it, he has played better. And now he is the champion. There is nothing more to say” (350). Alekhine had won 6 games; Capablanca 3. The final score was Alekhine 18½ and Capablanca 15½.
Sánchez meticulously details letters and difficult negotiations through the next years for Capablanca to gain a rematch with Alekhine, who had lost the Championship to Max Euwe (1935) but recaptured it in 1937. Sánchez dubs Capa, “The Eternal Challenger” (chap. 14). Alekhine and Capablanca would never meet for a World Championship match.
Capablanca-Botvinnik (1936)
Capablanca’s career was in decline for the next years. His most disastrous tournament was the AVRO in 1938. It was played in ten different Dutch cities. Going against the advice of his doctor, who warned Capablanca not to participate because of high blood pressure, Capa played and finished in seventh place, next to last (448). To many observers, Capablanca was “not the Capablanca of old” (447, 448). A year later, Capablanca told a reporter, “I felt my head was a drum. It was impossible for me to think and coordinate ideas” (449).
During Capablanca’s last years, he continued, unsuccessfully, to try to organize a rematch with Alekhine. He placed second in the Margate tournament (1939), a point behind the Estonian, Paul Keres (452). The last official game of Capablanca’s career occurred against Octavio F. Trompovsky in the 15th round of Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires on September 18, 1939. He won; and won first place in the Tournament of Nations—a fitting official finish for this chess titan (457).
After time in Cuba, Capablanca returned to the United States on May 27, 1941 (470). He began seeing Dr. Schwartzer, on November 19, 1940, Capa’s 52nd birthday. The doctor had been recommended to him by his physician in Cuba. Capablanca’s blood pressure was dangerously high. Capa gave some chess lectures on the radio, ending abruptly on February 19, 1942. When he visited the doctor for the last time on March 6, his blood pressure was over 200. The doctor believed his medical condition was deteriorating, hour by hour (472). On the evening of March 7, Capablanca was in the Marshall Chess Club in New York when he collapsed to the floor and was unconscious. He did not react to stimuli in the emergency room of Mt. Sinai Hospital. At 6 a.m. on March 8, José Raúl Capablanca died of a cerebral hemorrhage. (496).
So much more is in Sánchez’s book including accounts of Capablanca’s marriages, his diplomatic service for the government of Cuba, his family, and great details about the ebb and flow of Capablanca’s life and relationships. The Chapter Notes are copious while splendid appendices and indices make navigating this book easy while its wealth of detail astonishes!
There is no better immersion into the life and work of Capablanca than this book. We are drawn into Capablanca’s life, his professional career, and his thoughts and opinions. Capablanca was a consummate chess player, viewed as a standard against whom other players may be measured. At the beginning of the volume, Sánchez gives a quote from Mikhail Botvinnik: “It is impossible to understand the world of chess without looking at it with the eyes of Capablanca.” Sánchez’s masterful work enables us to do just that!
