chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

in shor!, he Nas lazy. A chessplaying classmate,
L.ui! Jacob wolff (188G ), rcmarked thar
Capablanca nc,e!leamrloleam j even ar chcss lle
wanted onlytoptav, and heneversrudied bookson
Early in 1908 hh pat.on. bclicving (corectly)
thal Capabl.na was givingtoomu.htimctochess.
withdrcs his support. Capablanca attemptcd to
live by means ofchcss and, feeling a duty lowards
his pdrenrs, to continue his stndies; bul chess Eor
the upperhand, and he was dropped Gcntdovn)in
Nov. 1908. His eardings *ere neagre a.d hc
suffe.ed hardship hut he Nould not retu;n bome
until he had nade some kind oI suc@ss at chess.
An unexpected oppoftuniiy came in 1909. Frank
MARSHAT.'. needinB noney atter an unproftable
t.ip ro Europc. agreed to a malch, expecdnSeasy
viclory. capablan.a won dcchively (+8=14 1).
an achievenenr without precedenr lor onc wilh so
tiitlc cxperiene otserious playi and beweni home,
an estabhhcd master, lo a rapturous reception.
Capablanca was invited. at Marshall s i.sislene,
to plat at San Sebastian 1911, one oI the strongest
6ve tou.nanenrs held up 10 that rioe. He won 6rsl
Pnze(+6=7 1) abeadoIRUB,Nsr.rNj UDMAR. and
s.Hr.FcnER; qiming a najor rournamcnt a1 his
66t altempt is a dislinclion he shares only with
Capablanca cnalenged the world cbampion in
No!. 1911. Lasker replied snb 17 condirions, sone
of which GummarDed) sere as foltoNs: 1. The
malch to be lor sixgamesup, draws nol.ounling,
and lo consisi oinot more than thi.ty Sanes in all
2. lf after thirty games had been played enher
playe. should lead by 3r2.2:1, or l:0 (in tcrms ol
won gane, the match sodd be declared drawn
and Lasker would retain bn ride. 6. Laskerwould
give four Neeks nolie oI the date tor the
comne.cementof playandlwo wccki notice if he
decided lo cbange lhe venue.9. The lime limit!o
be twelvemovesan hour. 10 The playing sesions
10 be do tonger tban lwo add a hall hours
Capablanca objectcd to these cooditions and one
orrwo othen ,nd referred ioihe rnfrirn.(..1,
natch Ifiited !o thirty ganes. Lasker broke off
a.d retuscd 10 renew negotialions.
In Sept. 19l3 Capablanca obtaincd a l)os1 in the
Cuban Foreign Omce, ihusrelieving him from thc
necessity of eaining a living at chess. Ile had no
spccifc duties. but was expecled to act as a kind of
mbassador-at-la.ge, a wclt-kaosn figure Nho
would put Cuba o. tbemapshe.ever he trarelled.
His passporl desfibes hin as 5It sin., oI dark
mmplexion. bluc-cyed, .lean shaven, Nilh black
ban. Well fitled ior the pa.l, he dressed immaculately.
bore hinsellrell, had a natural resenej a
sense ofhonou' and duty ( hisvordqas his bond ,
said Laske.), and was both courtcous and charming.
In Ocr. he conmenced his famous tour of
Europc, ,isiting nany cities and playing sbon
natches orexhibition Cames against lcading 6as
1es, sconng +19:4 1. Slaying in his conntry's
embassics he nel the besr people (Lasker, a.d
w6 lhe 'darlinA oI the ladies (Alekhine)i he
enjoyed Nch company. in which he conduded
In 19l4Capablanca played in the St Petemburg
toumamenl (aboul cateeory 13) a.d mer Lasker in
serious play for the 6ni iime. Capabtan.a iorge{j
ahead in the preliminanes toleadbyone and ahall
poinis (+6=4), bui he los1 a histonc game to
Lasker in tbe finals. Laske. made a qucstionable
pawn advance. add trored alleNards rhat hc sas
Capablanca relax. conliden! of his advantagei
Capablarca\ judgcmcntwas sound, buthislactol
application faial. Upser by rhis reveGe hc blun
dered and lost 10 Tafasch in rbe next round. Tlrus
Lasker aon (+10=7- l) narcwly ahead or Capa
blanca (+r0=6 2). A crestfauen capablancasas
consoled by ihe renewed p.osped ol a .hampionship
nalch qhich. however, lhe outbreak ol
war prelenred for a long 1ime. Laskels ma8!i
ficenl6nish (+6=2 in the finah) imprc$ed Capa
blanca who came ro admne hskcr abovc all other
players, a sentimenl that was reciprocated Capablanca
realized tbal ralent alone was not enoughi
rhat any deliciencics ol Lasker in this respect qere
balaned or eve. outweiehed by his skill in
man@uvre, his tacdcal awareness. and not least by
his great slrength oI chaiacler.
Wilh n.w resohe, Capablanca sfengthened his
play 10 such efiect thai hc lostonlyoneganein the
nexl lenyears. He earned lhesob.iquet tne chess
machine', a compliment, and nol, asir night seem
todayj a.efe.ence to lacL ofimagination. He won
tbiee strong wartime tournamcnts at Nes York:
1915 (+12=2). 1916, and 1918 (+9:3)i and in
1919 he cruhcd rcsrC in a nalch (+5). L6ker,
challenged agai n, '.esigned' h is ti tl c to Capablanca
in 1920ibut the publicwanred anatch, which rook
place at Halana in 1921 for a record stak€ of
$2s,000, just over haltol which was paid 10 Lasker.
Playiq impeccably, Capablanca son (+4=10),
the nosl decisive victory ever achieved by a
challcnger for lhe world championship.
He remaincd in CUM where he mrried (iloria
Sinoni Beautucourt i. Dec. 1921 A son- Jos€
Raol, was bortr in 1923, a daughtcr, Clolia, in
1925. in L922heplayed in theLondoniourname.t
andwon 66tprne (+11=4) one and a halfpoinrs
ahedd ofAtekhine. who was lollowed by Vidnar,
Ruhinslein, and BocouuBow. Capablanca found
rhe going hard. bu1 this erpenene did not deier
hin Irom presuni.g upon his ralenl in toumamenh
yel ro come yhich he aho attcndcd ahen out
ofpractice, oflen wirhless succe$. Ar Nev York
1924 (abonr category 13) he cane second
(+10=9 1) to Lasker ard ahead of Alekhiner at
Moscow 1925 he cane only third (+9=9-2) aftcr
Bogoljubow dd Laskeri but in the quadruple-
.ound tournamcnt at New York 192? (about
category 15) hewonliBtprize (+8=12) rhreeanda
hall poinh abead oI Alekhine. He won this
tournament with ease, conceding seve.al drass in
posiiions that favoured hin.
Capablatrca was regarded as p.acticauy invin-