How did the the classic chess legends learn?

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How did players like Alekhine, Capablanca, and others from the early 1900s learn to play so well? What material where they reading?

Crazychessplaya

Capa learned chess while watching his father play. Alekhine learned from his mother. Chess literature played a much smaller role in their development than may be assumed.

SilentKnighte5

There were opening books and tournament reports in the 1800s too.

Ch3ck_M473
Internet.