capablanca "Chess Fundamentals" - Chess Forums

SLOBess

Mar 2, 2016

0

#1

just curious who out there knows about this great but old book. He must of wrote it in the 20's I think. Anyways, it has been very important and challenging study. I on the last section, the twelfth game of twelve games.

Anyone else out there, love or hate this book? Any comments on the book itself? What should I study next!!?

Lastly, there is a quote at the end of this twelfth game saying "an ending worth very careful study." very curious about that as well. Thank you, Mike

MoxieMan

Mar 2, 2016

0

#2

Not that impressed, to be honest. Obviously Capablanca was a brilliant player, a true legend of the game. But as a writer, he strikes me as somewhat lazy, which isn't too surprising since that was always a criticism of him as a player.

Frankly, I don't think he explains things very well.

wayne_thomas

Mar 2, 2016

0

#3

Some of Capa's comments foreshadow later writers, for instance in stressing the importance of bringing into play the last available piece, or feinting on one flank before striking on the other. Capa is also famous for introducing the concept of pawn islands, although I guess he doesn't touch on them in Fundamentals.

Other classic books would be Lasker's Manual of Chess, Euwe's Judgement and Planning in Chess, Nimzowitsch's My System, etc.

If it's the simplicity of Capa's book that appeals to you, there are books like Michael Stean's Simple Chess and John Emms' ... wait for it... Simple Chess.

Foggy75

Mar 3, 2016

0

#4

Mike,

My favorite if The Game of Chess by Tarrash. He teaches in this order; elements, end game, more end game, tactics, then openings. It is a classice and well thought out with attention catching examples.

His logic is that when you know you have a winning end game, shut the game down to the elements. I had a six year old doing this who never lost a local tournament.

Fred

Foggy75

Mar 3, 2016

0

#5

Mike, also, I had lunch with George Koltanowski, long time chess writer for the LA Times and IGM. He said if he could take only one chess book to a desert island it would be Lasker's Manual of Chess.

Fred

Diakonia

Mar 3, 2016

0

#6

Excellent book, and highly recommended. What i like about the book is the way he explains things. Most books now give computer generated lines that people simply dont question. Capa gives you HUMAN analysis in wich there are some things that maybe dont look right and make you question, forcing you to look deeper.

SaintGermain32105

Mar 3, 2016

0

#7

World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik (as White) and past World Champion José Raúl Capablanca (as Black)

Crappov

Mar 3, 2016

0

#8

jengaias wrote: <snip>

But everything he writes is REALLY must know.And his examples are nothing but perfect.His analysis and hsi explanations leave questions.But it's not a book you can read like an Agatha Christie novel , on your bed while drinking tea.You must sit on a board , close windows and doors , deactivate cell phone and focus on understanding what he is saying and....... doubt.

Doubt everything he says(analyse) until you realise beyond any doubt how right he is. <snip>

Sounds like good advice for any chess book.

kindaspongey

Mar 3, 2016

0

#9

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101418/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review564.pdf

IM JavierGil

Mar 4, 2016

0

#10

The book is incredibly disappointing. A few articles on the very basics of chess with little connection to each other. Then some annotated game with few explanations which only a very advanced player would understand (i.e. the book doesn't have a clear target audience) Not a good instructor in my opinion.

I mean, Lasker himself said that he'd seen many great players, but never a genius like Capablanca, and I agree.

One would expect that such a great player would have left us with a more precious legacy in the form of deeply annotated games, original concepts which can't be found on other books, his thoughts on players of his time... I don't know... something!

Jose Raúl was lazy and rather selfish. I can only recommend the book to historians.

SaintGermain32105

Mar 4, 2016

0

#11

The square headed man lived in a house of four sides, with a wife who could break on demand, a very young daughter who loved sneaking into others' households and stealing plastic utensils. Sometimes she constructed little men made from parts of spoons and forks. They lived under her bed.

The husband demanded that his meals be cut into squares or cubes. A cube was really a square pulled towards others. Like falling in love with several people at once. That's how he explained it to the Tupperware salesmen at lunch break. The wife's maiden name was Emily Frost and she always wore non-latex gloves when washing the dishes. The daughter, Amelia, had eyes like dark precious stones. She hated silverware and lunchboxes. She harbored a secret passion for falling from great heights. Life went on for years as if well-oiled machinery with an occasional bill from the Maytag Man or the Plumber with PVC lust. The square headed man kept demanding that his wife and daughter must think inside a box, or else they will fall prey to endless loops. Whenever the father spoke like this, Amanda would break plastic spoons behind her back, or swallow tiny pieces of cardboard.

One night, Amanda snuck into her parents' bedroom. They were having sex like two squares, almost becoming a cube. Amanda went back to her room and imagined a thousand little boxes falling from the sky, landing in her room, crowding her out. She imagined jumping out the window, breaking both legs. She imagined being carried away by some big black bird who mistook her for the girl who once nursed him.

Shortly after graduating college with a degree in Square Anthropology, Amanda eloped with a curly haired boy to the jungles of East Acidonia. She sent postcards to her folks. Pictures of her diving from planes or wrestling with alligators or sticking her nose near propellers. She said she was getting married to the curly haired boy who was also pigeon toed. The father thought that this meant he had claws. He had horrible nightmares of the daughter waking up with scratches along her body and face.

Then the wife met a man with large almond-shaped eyes. He taught her how to have sex without feeling cornered. She said she hadn't laughed like this in years. She left the husband a note: I have found a new life. Will not be back. Stay away from beef jerky and men who smoke cigars. They will give you cancer. I will stay in touch. Love, Emily Frost.

The square headed man decided that he would not take this sitting down. He thought: enough of this shit! The world was becoming an ugly city with receding corners. He figured it this way: The globe was a plane composed of straight lines. If he kept walking in straight lines, sooner or later, he would find his wife and daughter. In other words, the world was flat. He kept walking until he fell off the world. While floating, he met his wife and daughter in a free fall. They tried to stretch their arms and hold hands. They tried to create a desperate sound as if this would bring their bodies closer. But the universe was not the shape of a cube with receding corners. Nor was it the shape of concentric circles of longing. It was mostly space.

Salvator_Mundi

Mar 15, 2016

0

#12

JavierGil wrote:

The book is incredibly disappointing. A few articles on the very basics of chess with little connection to each other. Then some annotated game with few explanations which only a very advanced player would understand (i.e. the book doesn't have a clear target audience) Not a good instructor in my opinion.

I mean, Lasker himself said that he'd seen many great players, but never a genius like Capablanca, and I agree.

One would expect that such a great player would have left us with a more precious legacy in the form of deeply annotated games, original concepts which can't be found on other books, his thoughts on players of his time... I don't know... something!

Jose Raúl was lazy and rather selfish. I can only recommend the book to historians.

Very interesting comments indeed. It is (but may not remain) on my wish list of books.

kindaspongey

Mar 15, 2016

0

#13

"... In this column I want to give an overview of the sophisticated e+Chess app by e+Books ..., which can be used on both IPad, IPhone and touch IPod. ... The app itself is free from the Apple itunes store; what you pay for are the books you choose to download. ... You get a free sample book, Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals, ..." - IM John Watson (2013)