J. R. CAPABLANCA Egon Varnusz Egon Varnusz J. K. Capablanca Volume 1 Qames 1888-1925 SCHACHLADEN IM ALTSTADTHOFEgon Varnusz J. R. CAPABLANCA Volume 1 Games 1888-1925"Ihave know many chess players, but one genius - Capublanca" (Lasker). *Jose Ruul Capablanca has always been my idol. How else could I have thought about the man who had lost only eight games before he becume world champion. His mugnificent move-seeking algorithm made him unbeatable in those years when he was able to calculate variations at a fan- tastic speed. Capablunca’s pieces always worked together in friendly harmony, which provided his play with extreme subtlety even in the simplest positions.’ (M. Botvinnih). FOREWORD We are in the year 1922. The hell of the First World War is over, but the vast majority of the world is in wretched poverty and starving. At the same time a ’modern’ era is starting, with modem people. Our grandparents dance the Charleston and women wear shingle. Life changes both outwardly and in inner values. The style of tournament chess is also changing: during this time modernity and youth are repre- sented by the melodious name Capablanca, the new world champion. He is cool rationality itself which replaces the romantic style, now regarded as an old-fashioned idea. Instead of the bearded and whiskered faces of the previous era, a clean-shaven American face is now looking at us from the old photographs of him. Although he was born in a Latin-American culture, he lived in the USA for a long time, and adapted to its customs and pattems of behaviour. In the eyes of European chess players he was the typical American. A sharp-eyed contemporary wrote about him: ‘It is interesting to compare the photographs of Lasker and Capablanca. Lasker is a philosopher. His face seems more familiar, as there are several people around us whose faces reflect a similar mentality because the conditions of their lives resemble each other. His keen eyes and aquiline nose are anxious to come out of his jowly face: the thought wants to escape, the body fetters it ‘Capablanca’s face is that of a handsome young man. It is as if he were ’the man’ at an exhibition on Mars, for Martians to study. He is very familiar, and yet completely strange. There are no such people around here. It is no use looking into his eyes to understand his face, we will not find anything wrong: this man has no history (as his type has no face), he lacks tradition, and he is only surrounded by health, wealth, good manners and youth. A new type of man: America, after the war.’ (Dr Vajda) Capablanca belonged to a rare type of man, he was a natural genius. There may have been a greater chess player than him. but not a greater genius. This is best proved by his progress in his youth, Let's start by stating that the first nine years of our century was the most mysterious period of Capablanca’ life: in 1901 as a child prodigy he had the power of a master, and in 1909 he was among the best 8 - 10 chess players in the world, Well, 8 years is a long time. We have already seen several talented chess players become world class players, but they took part in a great number of tournaments meeting, stronger opponents from whom they were able to learn a lot. Capablanca, however, hardly played a single tournament during these eight years, and what is more, we do not even know about a single serious game in which he encountered really strong opponent. He might at most have played easy games with amateurs. Still, after such preliminaries, in 1909 he smashed Frank Marshall, champion of the USA, who had already won a tournament ahead of the great Lasker. What makes it more extraordinary is the fact that Capablanca had not studied a single chess book before the Marshall match, and, as he claimed, he hardly knew any theory. Of course, in the case of other chess players we have to take such confessions with a pinch of salt, as it occurs, rather frequently, that someone who proclaims that he does not know any theory isa secret slave to books. But we can believe Capablanca, because he even later, as world champion, knew little theory, too. He was rather a practical than a theoretical player. So there is only one explanation to the mystery: Capablanca was a natural genius. His great rival, Alekhine felt this, too as he remarked after Capabianea’s death that the only person he had been afraid of was Capablanca, whom he thought his only dangerous opponent. What was the great Cuban like as a chess player?*Capablanca’s play was characterised by cool objectivity. That is why he had so many admirers in “America, where resourcefulness was highly appreciated in chess just as in life. The ideal was the self-made man from rags to riches. Capablanca’s sober attitude to chess and his style of play fitted in well with this view in many respects. He tried to get the openings over with by employing well-proven models, to rule out - if possible - the complications of the middle game and to transpose into an ending with some kind of a small advantage to enforce’, writes A. Féldedk. (It was the perfection of Capablanca’s endgame tech- nique that the envious Alekhine criticisingly questioned. E.V.) His Rook-endings were famous too. He was very successful with them, and in the 20s his play was characterised by an expert like this: Queen's Gambit, 20 moves an hour, and a Rook-ending as soon as possible. A little statistics and explanation ‘There are 826, mostly annotated games by Capablanca in this book. 584 out of these were played in official tournaments and matches, the others belong to a more informal style. We have found all the official games with one exception. It was not a very difficult task as there was not such a dumping of tournaments then as there is now, and Capablanca sometimes did not take part in toumaments for years. The Master, however, ‘went on a lot of tours, played innumerous simultaneous games, consultation games and exhibition games. Even if these seemingly belong to a lighter style, they should not be underestimated. There are games of high quality amongst those played against local masters as exhibition or consultation games. (Both types of game have almost completely gone out of fashion.) Our book is not a homogeneous one, but this is intentional. The several contemporary articles listed in this book either praise or attack the Cuban champion to form a very entertaining and colourful piece of work. Dr. Tatrasch is right in reproaching him, but at the same time Vajda is also right when he writes about him in awe. They are simply different sides of the coin. (The above mentioned articles ‘were cited with the contemporary spelling and without any change.) It was a little problematic for the author to quote materials from Capablanca’s own books. Sometimes the notations are in the old-fashioned English style (1 P-K4 P-K3), but the game itself is in the algebraic form. (1e4 6) After a text in inverted commas we can find the author’s name or initials, such as CT = Chalupetzky- ‘Toth. You will find a key for this at the end of the book. If there are no initials, then the author is Capablanca, who usually speaks in the first person singular. If there are no inverted commas, then the editor of the book wrote the text. Our book does not aim to be a theoretical book on openings, but it can be used like this as well. We may get an insight into the past of some now popular variations, and several of Capablanca’s ideas can be used or developed even today. When a game is analysed, we usually mention today’s theory as well. To help you get your bearings, each game is FIDE-coded. We usually analyse only tournament games and other serious meetings, such as exhibition games ete. However, if there is something valuable in a less serious game, we defy dr. Tarrasch, who said only Wagner operas should be analysed but not ditties. A few words about the book’s structure: the numbering of games starts again every year, so 1929/4 is the fourth game of that year. The games are given in chronological order (if this was given by the source it is followed even within a tournament), but the ‘official’ tournament games always precede the less serious ones within a year. Thus it is possible that a game played in a simultaneous in January follows a tournament game that was played in July. All in all we feel that the reader has a colourful work about chess history to hand, which is not only entertaining but also highly instructive - thanks to our hero’s erystal-clear and logical playing style - and wwe hope that everyone can benefit from reading it Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to my old friend, Arpid Féldeék, and others without whom this book could not have been written. Budapest 1997 Egon VarnuszSummary of Capablanea’s "Always make the common sense move" (Capablanca) 1888 Jose Raul Capablanca was born in Havana, the capital of Cuba on November 19th. His father was Spanish, (Cuba was a Spanish colony until 1899), his mother was of French origin. 1892 He leamed to play chess, before he could read or write. A child prodigy. 1896-97 He was 8 years old but there was only one player in Cuba who was stronger than him: Juan Corzo. 1901 He beat Corzo in a match by 4:2 with 6 draws and became the champion of Cuba at the age of 11 According to some unconfirmed sources, Capablanca seriously underachieves in the championship of Cuba, while others say he lost against J. Corzo. However, most of the biographers do not know about these things. 1904 He travelled to the USA and started attending university. In New York, he was often at the Manhattan Chess Club, but he did not take part in tournaments. 1906-8 He became well-known in America mainly due to his lightning and simultaneous play, although he had not even taken part in a real tournament, not to mention the fact that he could not boast of winning one, either. At a lightning chess tournament - his name would later be one to conjure with in this kind of play - he gained a famous victory over Lasker. 1909 He played a match with F, Marshall, who at the time was one of the leading chess players in the world, and beat him hands down, causing great astonishment. This was the second tournament in his life, and the first international testing. He claimed that he had not studied a chess book - at least about openings - before. He was now world-famous. 1911 As a consequence of the Marshall match, he was invited to San Sebastian together with the best players in the world, and albeit with a little luck, he won the tournament. This, besides the Marshall match, proves best his basic talent. After that, although at first together with Rubinstein, he was regarded as the greatest rival to Lasker. 1912-13 As his fame arose suddenly after San Sebastian, he went on many lecturing tours and gave many simultaneouses, but still refrained from playing tournaments. He did not play in 1912 either, but it is true that in 1913 He took part in three tournaments in America, although they were not so strong as the San Sebastian one. 1914 After a great European tour Capablanca took part in his second really great toumament, in St Petersburg, with Lasker and his fearsome rival, Rubinstein. The tournament was held in a qualifying system and after the preliminaries Capablanca was easily in the lead, which was very important because the participants carried their points to the finals, The final started very nicely for Capa, (as he is known all over the world), because the great Rubinstein fails to qualify for the final. The 23 year-old Capablanca seemed to be winning when he was in the lead with 1.5 points, but Lasker beat him in the final, and as it was followed by another defeat, our hero reached only the second place. As the tournament was a kind of dual between Lasker and Capablanca, the possibility of a match came into consideration. Unfortunately, the war broke out soon. 1915-20 During the war the Cuban was more lucky than his European rivals: he won significant but, for him, not really strenuous tournaments in America. Directly after the war too in 1919-20, he only took part in less important tournaments. (He beat Kostic, then won the first prize in Hastings.) He was seriously preparing to take on Lasker. As for his style, it was at its most beautiful in the second half of the 1910s. During this period he played many attacking games, made a lot of brilliant combinations, and his style hardly differed from that of the young Alekhine. Where was now the future world champion who would be referred to as dry! 1921 After long discussions and unwillingness, Lasker finally agreed to play a match against Capablanca. The public expected a heroic struggle, but to great astonishment Capablanca became worldchampion much more easily than expected. Although the contemporary press wrote about the total col- lapse of Lasker, we should not underestimate Capablanca’s victory. This match was a rare example in chess history of two chess masters in full strength fighting for the title of world champion. The outcome was of course surprising; was Lasker only in bad form or was he broken by strong resistance? The following years gave the answer. 1922 The new world champion easily won the great London tournament ahead of Alekhine. (See Dr. Vajda’s effusive article about it.) Lasker, however, did not take part in this tournament. With his victory in London the Cuban master dotted the i concerning his winning series which started in 1910, when he won 9 times in 11 tournaments and he was second twice; in the meantime he smashed Kostic in a match and overcame Lasker with a convineing result. 1924 Afer a pause of two years, Capablanca suffered a mishap at a rather strong double-robin tournament in New York. He came only second, with 1.5 points behind Lasker, although he was well ahead of the others. The result was very similar to that in St Petersburg 10 years earlier, the only difference being that Lasker's advantage was now bigger. Later Capablanca would often be criticised for playing rather enervatedly during the first rounds, aiming for only a quick draw. This characteristic was displayed at this tournament too, 1925 An even more significant failure in Moscow. Here he started even worse, if possible, and after he lost several games, it seemed for a long time that he would not be even amongst the prize winners. The Cuban managed to get the third prize, well behind Bogoljubow, only with a tremendous finish. And Lasker ‘was ahead of him again. The idea of a return match between Capablanca and Laster came up, but neither of them was really keen on it. 1926 A litte beauty-spot: Ist place in Lake Hopatcong. 1927 Capablanca gained (possibly) his greatest victory ever in New York. He came first in an extremely strong field with an advantage of 2.5 points over Alekhine, the challenger for the coming match for the world championship. It seemed he was at the height of his career. So the disappointment was much greater at the long match for the world championship when, instead of an expected victory (Capablanca had always been ahead of Alekhine at tournaments, and had beaten him several times), Capablanca lost the match against the Russian master by 6:3 with 25 draws. Capablanca was only an ex-champion now! 1928-29 Under the influence of the defeat the so-called phlegmatic Capablanca plunged into playing many tournaments, with fairly good results. He took part in eight tournaments and wen six of them, was second once, and shared the second and third place once. Three of the above mentioned tournaments were very strong (Kissingen, Berlin and Karlsbad), three were of average strength (Budapest 1928, Budapest 1929 and Ramsgate), and the remaining two were less strong (Barcelona and Hastings). His victory in Berlin was one of our hero’s greatest ever. Unfortunately, he had to content himself with the silver medal at the other two strong tournaments, although he would have deserved the gold in Karlsbad. Alekhine was not playing in these years, and the results of those who had been ahead of Capablanca once or twice, such as Bogoljubow and Nimzovitch, were rather more variable elsewhere. Capablanca, although not the world champion any more, was in reality the leading chess player in the world. This statement can be reinforced if we examine the two previous years and conclude that between the 1926 Lake Hopatcong toumament and the 1929-30 Hastings toumament Capablanca took part in 10 toumaments and was first 8 times, second once and second - third also once. As Alekhine’s great victories were yet to come, many contemporaries were right to feel that his title was only given in advance by fate. 1930-34 After a partial success in Hastings, where he was second, he had two nice results at the beginning of the decade: first place in New York in 1931, and a victory over Euwe in the same year. These successes belonged to his glory days, then he refrained from playing in tournaments for ‘ee years, In the meantime Alekhine, who after the victorious match, withdrew from the tournament halls for years, smashed Bogoljubow in 1929, and embarked on a unsurpassed series of success that lasted for many years. Now the Russian master was not only officially the world champion but was so in reality as well1934-35 After a long pause Capablanca started playing in an uncertain way; it was difficult for him to start playing again. It was obvious that the Cuban was not his old self any more. He was only fourth at the most important tournament of this period (Moscow 1935), and what was even more painful was that the old Lasker got ahead of him again, and he even was beaten by him. The second place in Margate was xno more than a partial success for an ex-world champion. 1936 When he was rather disregarded as a potential world champion, the Cuban’s last golden age started, Although he started the year with only a second place in Margate, later he won two world tournaments: one in Moscow and the other in Nottingham, although in the latter he had to share the first place. These two tournaments were of extremely good quality, filled with world champions and promising challengers. Capablanca’s victories caused a great stir all over the world. During this period he was again better than Alekhine, who was at the nadir of his career, and possibly better than the others, too. He was again taken into consideration as a world champion. We can often read about a possible match between Capablanca and Alekhine in the contemporary press. The Russian master was, however, not inclined to play a return match. 1937 Capablanca still played very well in Semmering - Baden. His results were quite acceptable, too, but he often got tired and blundered in the second half of the game. The new star Keres won and Fine ‘was second. It was obvious that the future belonged to the young players. 1938 After a relatively small victory in Paris, he was not any more his old self at the AVRO tournament, the strongest tournament in chess history until then. He was seventh out of eight players, and those in the inner circle talked about cardiac problems. 1939 He held his ground both at the strong Margate tournament and on board one at the Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires. Who would think the premature end was nearing? 1942 On 8th May at the age of 54 he unexpectedly died in New York. Capablanca, who was the symbol of youth in chess, unfortunately departed from life relatively young. Capablancas Tournament and Match Record Rank + - = — Ramsgate 1929 «1 7 4 «0 «3 New York State 1910 1 7 6 0 1 Karlsbad 1929 23 21 10 2 9 New York 1911 2:12, 8 1 3. Budapest 1929 4113 «8 0 5 SanSebastian 1911 1 14 6 1 7 Barcelona 1929 1:14 «13:0 1 New York 1913, 1:13: 10 1 2 Hastings 1929-30 1 9 4 0 5 Havana 1913 2 14 «8 2 4 — Hastings 1930-31 29 5 1 3 ‘New York 1913, 1 13 13 0 0 NewYork 1931 111 9 0 2 St Petersburg 1914 2 18 10 2 6 Hastings 193435 4 9 4 2 3 New York 1915 1 «14 12 0 2 Moscow 1935 4 19 7 2 10 New York 1916 1:17 12 1 4 Margate 1935 2 9 6 1 2 New York 1918 1 12 9 0 3. Margate 1936 2 9 5 0 4 Hastings 1919 1 11 10 0 1 Moscow 1936 1 18 8 0 10 London 1922 «1 15 11 0 4 Nottingham 1936 1-2 14 7 1 6 New York 1924 2 20 10 1 9 — Semmering 1937 3-4 14 2 1 11 Moscow 1925 3 20 9 2 9 Paris 1938 110 6 0 4 LakeHopatcong 1926 1 8 4 0 4 AVRO 1938 7 14 2 4 8 New York 1927, 1 20 8 0 12 Margate 1939 23 9 4 0 5 BadKissingen 1928 2 11 4 1 6 BuenosAires 1939 - 16 7 0 9 Budapest i928 1 9 «5 0 4 Berlin 1928 112 5 0 7 Altogether 485 271 36 188Capablancas Tournament and Match Record Matches Short, Unofficial Matches Jaffe 1912 3.9201 Corzo 1901 13. 4 3 6 — Chajes 1912 39300 Marshall 1909 23° 8 1 14 Alekhine 1913 2200 Kostic 1919 5 5 0 0 Mieses 1913 220 0 Lasker 1921 14° 4 0 10 Teichmann 1913 2200 Aljekhine 1927 343 6 25 — Aurbach 1914 2200 Euwe 1931 10 2 0 8 — DusChotimirski 1914 2200 Totals 99 26 10 63 + Snosko Borowski 1914 2 11 0 Grand Total 584 297 36 251 Nimaovitch 1914 2 101 Totals 20°17 «1 2 1888 *. "I was born in Habana, the capital of the Island of Cuba, the 19th of November, 1888. I was not yet five years old when by accident I came into my fathers private office and found him playing with another gentieman. I had never seen a game of chess before, the pieces interested me, and I went the next day to see them play again. The third day, as I looked on, may father, a very poor beginner, moved a Knight from a white square to another white squere. His opponent, apperently, not a better player, did not notice it. My father won, and | proceded to call him a cheat and to laugh. After a little wrangle, during wich I was nearly put out of them room, I showed may father what he had done. He asked me how and what I knew about chess. I answered that I could beat him; he said that that was impossible, considering that I could not even set the pieces correctly. We tried conclusions, and I won. That was my beginning.” At that time, and throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, Havana was one of the outstanding chess centers of the world Attracted the citys charm, the lavish hospitality, the more than generous remuration and the keen and sympathetic interest of the Cuban amateurs, many of the greatest masters of the age made the trip to Havana: Steinitz, Dr. Lasker, Pillsburry, Tchigorin, Blackburne, Mackenzie and others. Even the great Morphy had sojourned there a while during the terrible days of the Civil War. This was the atmosphere, redolent of chess and chess events, into wich Capablanca was born." (F. Reinfeld.) Viva, Capablancal * *Caramba!" Don Capablanca shouted in surprise. "Do you want to tell me that you can play chess already?!" "Te doy la salida" (I suggest that you start a game), the little child answered proudly. They played and the father lost. Senor Capablanca ran into the street carrying Raoul on his shoulders and cheered: "Ave Maria! A miracle! A miracle has happened! My four-year-old son has defeated me in chess!" * (Linder.) A few days after, my father took me to the Habana Chess Club, where the strongest players found it ‘impossible to give me a Queen. About that time the Russian Master Taubenhaus, visited Habana, and he declared it beyond him to give me such odds. Later, in Paris, in 1911, Mr. Taubenhaus would often say, "I am the only living master who has given Mr. Capablanca a Queen.”1893 1 Iglesias — Capablanca Havana White played without his Queen Led e5 2 D3 Avo 3 Axes Axes 4 dd d6 5 Dl3 eT 6 243 AVG 7 ch 0-0 8 Ac3 Acé 9 a3 a6 10 Ad2 b6 11 0-0-0 247 12 Sb1 Das 13 Bel Ab3 14 He2 a5 15.45 He8 16 hd bS 17 gd Dd4 18 Dxda exd4 19 Det bxot 20 Dxf6t Mxf5 21 Bxcd Sxgd 22 Qd3 2F3 23 Bh3 xd5 24 HS Le6 25.Hg3 26 26 4 Qh4 27 Hgl Gh8 28 £5 Sxf5 29 Qxf5 gxf5 30 GHG BgS 31 Hog? Hxg2 32 Bxg? Wie 33 Se7t Wxg7 34 Exg7 dxg7 35 died kf 36 dM3 eS 37 NG f4 38 Se2 Bed 0-1 “It is obvious that White could not have given his Queen or anything of the kind. The child who would be five in two months’ time, easily shook off the very simple one-move threats, these shots fired with blanks trying to frighten him. The game is insignificant from a chess player's point of view, but as the first game of a child prodigy it is a real curiosity. What could the little boy have felt (at an age when the children in our country cannot even read or write) in the big flower-pattemed wallpapered halls of the rich Havana Chess Club with an air filled with cigarette smoke, where Morphy himself played twice, where Steinitz and Tehigorin fought for the world championship when Capablanca was only one year old, where the spirit of von der Lasa, Gunsberg, Blackbume and Mackenzie dwelt and their faces looked down at him scrutinisingly from photos on the wall? Apart from the momentary timidity, he probably felt nothing, because the mind of a child of this age is filled with the desire to play, but not to play chess. (CT). “His father was Spanish as Cuba was a Spanish colony until 1899 and his mother was of French origin. (A little curiosity: another American chess genius, Paul Morphy’s mother was also French (his father was Irish). He too spent his life in a southern state of the US, not very far from Cuba, E.V.) He leamt to play chess at the age of four, before he could read or write. His father often played with a Spanish Captain and the child watched the moves. He worked out the main rules of the game for himself, and after asking some questions, he announced some weeks later that he also would like to play. He beat both his father and the captain. We assume the story is true, because every biographer of Capablanca has written about it and the Cuban never denied it. This story is the most convincing evidence that the great chess player is not trained but bom.’ (V.) 1901 *Capablanca went to primary school in Mantanzas, Capablanca, at the age of 12, played a match (up near Havana. to four wins) against Juan Corzo, who was ” acknowledged as the leading master in Cuba at the Some of my admirers thought that I should have a___ time. As you can see from our chart, the champion good chance of beating J. Corzo. They attributed dominated the start of the match, but in the end the my defeats to the fact that [had never seen a chess challenger surprisingly won. The scale of the book and urged me to study. One of them gave me __Vietory, however, was not clear. Apart from the several books, among wich, one on endings. | _ draws, according to some sources Capablanca won liked the endings and studied some of them." by 4:2, but others said the result was 4:3, reporting on 12 or 13 games respectively. It is very likely ‘The first year of the century was the turning point, that Capablanca gained his victory out of 12 Between November and December 1901 games and the 13th was an unofficial extra game. MATCH Capablanca - J. Corzo - 1901 f [itz[3s le fs[e6l7/slolwofuliel[sy | Capablanca Doo et Lette tititwaltitwtol7| \J.Corzo Litily TrTrtewtototerioi nile} Havana - 1901 1 Capablanca - Corzo (1) C47 Let eS 2 DF3 Deb 3 d4 exdd 4 Axdd Ato 5 Dc3 Lbs 6 Axc6 dxc6 7 Wd3? 0-0 8 Ld27 Bxc3 9 Bxc3 Axes 10 Wxed Be8 11 LeS £6 12 0-0-0 fxeS 13 2d3 WeS¢ 14 bl Whe 15 c4 2b7 16 Wes d5 17 g4 Qc8! 18 WhS Wexh5 19 gxh5 &g4 20 Hcl e4 21 SFI d4 22 h6 g6 23 Hgi Shs 24he BfS 25 Hg? His 26 Hel BafS 27 Hxed 263 28 Gd3 Bxe44 29 xed Hedy 0-1 2 Corzo — Capablanca (2) C52 Led e5 2 Af3 Ac6 3 Bed Lc5 4 b4 Sxb4 5 3 aS 6 d4 exdd (6 ... d6!) 7 0-0 d6 8 Wb3 We7? 9 e5! dxeS 10 223 (10 Hel Qb6 11 Sg5 Morphy-Kipping 1858) 10 ... W6 11 Abd2 2b6 12 Bael Dge7 13 We6 14 Qxe7! Sxe7 15 Degs £6 16 Wat Dds 17 Wxbst c5 18 Wo3 ho 19 27 2h3 20 g3 xf 21 AixhS Hxh8 22 Sxl WT 23 Dxe5! fxe5 24 BxeSt G8 25 S04 Wic7 26 cxd4 exdd 27 WES 1-0 3 Capablanca — Corzo @) A80 1 dd £5 2 €3 Df6 3 DFS e6 4 Wd3 b6 5 b3 267 6 ‘Dbd2? Lb4! 7 Bb2 Ded 8 xed fred 9 Des 0-0 (9... Sxd24!%) 10.03 Be7 11 Wed HES 12 £3! exf3. 13 gxf3 Ah4t 14 he2 Who 15 Wh3 dé 16 Dgt ‘We? 17 Hhgl (17 Hagi!?) 17... ahs 18 d5! €5? (18... Bxd5 19 of Hh5 20 Del WHT 21 Dh6! Hxh6 22 Axg7¢ Wxg7 23Hixg7 cexg7 24 Wed Shs 25 Wt e726 Dd2 ») 19 Dho! Bhs 20 ‘OFS Bc8 21 Wxh4! Wixh4 22 Dxh4 Bxh4 23 Hg? SAn3 24 Ef? Dd7 25 cf a5 26 Dot h6 (26 ... at!) 27 Dc3! De 28 AbS He8 29 a3 ef! 30 Wxc5 ext34! 31 Exf3? Spd! 32 G2 Axf3 33 Sxf3 bxcS 34 Sg3 Hot 35 Hel He7 36 04 Hf8 37 Qun7 g5 38 De Hees 39 e5! dxe5 40 Exes HxeS 41 Dve5 He8 42 @i7 He7 43 a4 Hedt 44 thgd! Hxb3 45 StS! Bot 46 DeS Bxad 47 Seb! Hb4 48 Gd7! Bb7 49 Dd3 a4 50 He Hl 51 dexc7 Bal 52 Axc5 a3 53 d6 22? (53... 4 54.47 hS 55 d8Wt Hxd8 56 dixd8 h4 57 Db3 g3 58 hxg3 hxg3 59 c5 g2 60 c6 g1W 61 c7 West 62.chd7 WIT} 63.82d8 Was} 64.27 Wo 65 Wd6t 66 Sec8 a2 67 Dal wg7 etc. —+) 54 Db3 g4 55 d7 h5 56 d8Wt Hxd8 57 daxd8 h4 58 c5 g3 59 hx g3 hxg3 60 c6 g2 61 7 Wath 4 Corzo - Capablanca (4) 49 Led e5 2 D3 Ac6 3 De3 DN 4 BbS Ab4 5 0.0 0-06 d3 467 £g5 De7 (7... &xc3 8 bxe3 We7) 8 De2 (8 Dh4!?) 8 ... Ags 9 c3 BaS 10 Ag3 h6 11 10 Rxf6 Wxf6 12 DhS We7 133 c6 14 Bet Le6 15 Dd2 WegS 16 Sxe6 fxe6 17 Wet Wxgd 18 hxgt Bc7 19 DF3 Hae8 20 g5 hxgS 21 Axgs Ae4 22 Dxf4 exfd 23 £3 e5 24 Badl 5 25 sef2 2d 26 DHS dS 27 Se2 &b6 28 Hh1 His 29 Bh2! Hho 30 Hah Hees 31 Af2 Hxh2 32 Hxh2 Hho 33 Exho gxh6 34 Ah3 dg7 35 of bxot (35 ... b4) 36 dxot hg6 37 SA2 Ba5 38 de? seh5! 39 DA dys 40 a3h5 41 Dd3 hd 42 b4 Lb6 43 Db2? (43 bxeS Kxc5 44 AxcS duos 45 sf? a6! 46 fl Sog3 47 gl hd 48 sohl Sf2 49 Gh2 Se2!! 50 Hgl Sel 51 Hh Sf1 52 Sh2 $f2 53 Gh 1 h3! 54 gxh3 deg3 —+ 43 bS =) 43 dg3 44 SFL hd 45 Dad cxbe (It threatense 46 Axb6 axb6 47 bS followed a4-n5) 46 axb4 h3 47 gxh3 Gxf3 48 c5 dxe5 49 DxcS wg3 50 DA3 dd 51 b5 Gxh3 (51 ... £3 —+) 52 Ged Ges 53 Del kgs (53 £34 54 Dx!3 Bi4 55 Dd exdd 56 ed3 ches —+) 54 DP3 Gc3? 55 EF2 Addy 56 He2? (56 shg2!) 56 ... og3 57 Del al 58 DL Rc3 59 Dgs F341! 60 Anf3 fa 61 x2 txed 62 DgSt a3 63 HAI shed 64 Det dd 65 Ddot HS 66 Dc8 GxbS 67 ed a5 68 DdSt HbA 0-1 5 Capablanca — Corzo (5) Doo 1 d4 d5 2 €3 Df6 3 Ld3 54 b3 D6 5 Lb2 e6 6 2DF3 WE? 7 Dbd2 c4 8 Le2 exb3 9 axb3 LAG 10 0-00-0 11 cA! bd 12 @d3 A713 We2 Back 14 DeS! Gxd2 15 Wxd2 Wxb3? 16 57! (16 £a3) 16 .. Hfd8 17 &c2? (17 £3!; 17 Ha3) 17... Ded! 18 Wel Wo4 19 £3 Dxes 20 &a3 Wd? 21 fxed Weel 22 Bxcl Deb 23 exd5 exd5 24 Lad a6 25 La? Db8 26 Hebi Wxa4 27 Hxad Ba7 28 abs Kec? 29 Bb6 D6 30 Sf2 £5 31 hd HAT 32 GF3 £4 33 Lc3 fxe3t 34 Sxe3 De7 35 Las! AFT} 36 St3 Axhd (See diagram on next page) 37 Bxa6! He8 (37 ... bxa6 38 Rbst Hes 39 Bxc7 Exb8 40 xb8 7 41 g3 or 39 ... Dxg2 40 c6 SF7 41 Vd8!) 38 Ha7 Dxg?2 39 Hbxb7 Dfay 40 we3 Hest 41 SF3 Bxb7 42 Hxb7 De6 43 &c3 He8 44 Hd7 Has 45 Be7Ye \ ee AC nee DSi 46 gd HIS 47 Hb7 Ded 48 Lbs Hes 49 Ot Ya-Ne 6 Corzo ~ Capablanca (6) 25 Led e5 2 De3 Dcb 3 £4 exf4 4 D3 g5 (4 ... DFS) Sh! g4 6 Dgs h6 7 Axf7!? Gxf7 8 d4 d5 (8 ... d6) 9 exd5? (9 Rxf4! DFG 10 Bd3 dxed =) 9... ‘We7}! 10 Be2 £3 11 gxf3 gxf3 12 0-0 Wxhd 13 2x63 D6 14 BhSt 14... e7? (14... S2g7!) 15 We2t tds 16 Hxfo! eB} (16... @g7!2) 17 Mg6 Bxgot 18 &xg6 ‘We3t 19 Wg2 Welt 20 WEI '/2:'/2 1 Capablanca — Corzo (7) A83 1 d4 £5 2 ef fxed 3 Dc3 APG 4 Bg5 c6 5 Vxf67! (5 £3!) 5... exf6 6 Dxes dS 7 Dg3 2d6? (7 ... ‘Wb6!7) 8 2d3 Le6 9 We2 d7 10 0-0-0 g6 11 h4 £5 12 WS f4 13 Het! fxg3 (13 ... L/W/e8 14 hxg6!) 14 Wxe6t eT 15 fxg3 Dd7 16 hxg6 hxg6 17 Bxh8? (17 DF3 &xg3 18 Befl +) 17... WgSt! 18 ‘We3 Wxe3} 19 Bxe3 Hxh8 20 Dh3 Dfs 21 hd2 gS 22 Dgs ded7 23 Sre2 Hg7 24 HES Deo 25 Dxeb6 dxe6 26 g4 Le7 27 Hed} db 28 g3 'v2-Ve 8 Corzo — Capablanca (8) C25 1 ef e5 2 Dc3 Ac6 3 f4 ("Corzo knew my complete lack of book knowledge, consequently he tried repeatedly to play gambits of this short where it would be difficult for me to find the roper answer.") 3... ex 4 DF g5 5 hd g4 6 \g5 h6 7 Axf7 Sexf7 8 dd d5 (8 ... d6!?) 9 exd5? We7+ ("We ad played this variation in a previous game, and Corzo had answered B-K2 to this check. The game ended in a draw, but I shoud have won. Corzo anlyzed the position and told someone that he should have played K-B2 When I heard this I analyzed the situation myself and decided to play it again, as I tought that Black shoud win with the continuation wich I put in practice in this game.”) 10 £2 g34! 11 gl xay 2 wae So tates IL... Dxd4t 12 Wedd (12 xf4 DES) 12 ... Wes 13 De2 Wh6! (13, Wxd4} 14 Axd4 Se5 15 c3) 14 Wrxbs axb6 15 Ddd Gc5 16 c3 Had! 17 Ler Qxdat 18 cxd4 Bxd4 19 63? (19 SSH!) 19 fo 20 Bb2 Hd2 21 ShS+ AxhS (21... $g7? 22 Qc3 He? 23 Le5 +) 22 Axh8 £3! 23 gxf3 (23 Oc3 f2f 24 GAL BES 25 x2 @d3 Hf) 23... Des 24 eS (24 Bel Bg2¢ 25 Sl Bet 26 gi Sh3#) 24... Hg2t 25 Sef BA2t 26 Sel Dds$ 0-1 9 Capablanca — Corzo (9) Ag3 1 d4 £52 e4 fxed 3 De3 Df6 4 Le5 c6 5 Axfo (5 f3!) 5... exf6 6 Axed dS 7 Dg3 Wert (7 ... W617) 8 We2 Wxe2y 9 Rxe2 Sd6 10 Df3 0-0 11 0-0 gd 12 h3 Sxf3 13 Bxf3 Vxg3 14 fxg3 Dd7 15 Hfel Hae8 16 cofl £5 17 Hxe8 Bxe8 18 Hel Exel} 19 dxel Deo 20 waz! Dest? (20 ... G7 21 Wed g5 0) 21 ded! Ad6 (21 ... Axg3? 22 Sf Det 23 Sxf5 ALG 24 eG!) 22 Le2 SET 23 SH BI6 24 hd g6 25 gA! h6?! (25... Fxg4 26 xg h6) 26 g5t! hxgSt 27 hxgst We7 28 4 fxg (See diagram on next page) 29 Bd3! DES? [(29 ... G7 30 Sxg4 DbS 31 c3 DoT! 32 a it! 33 des! Axgs 34 kedo Dest! (34... De6 35 Kx got +) 35 Se7 D2! (35 w= B5 36 Gxb7 c5 4) 36 VAL Dgd 37 eexb7 De3 38 Be2 g5 39 Sxc6 g4 40 at 129 bxg4 Dxdd 31 Axg6 cS 32 BhS Des 33 Bho SHS 34 LES Dg7 35 Bc8 b6 36 g6 d4 37 b3 Sg8 38 a4 LAS 39 gd De8 40 Gh7 Ag7 41 Gh6 DeB 42 Le2 Dg7 143 Bcd De8 44 gS de? 45 SES Dg7y 46 SeS DS 47 Be2 Dg7 48 cded5! Des (48 ... Sd7 49 Agtt Gc7 50 Se5) 49 Se6 Dg7 50 Sb7 Sus 51 ‘hxa7 dee7 52 das De8 53 VF3 Dg7 54 LAS Des 55 BIT Dg7 56 Labs DFS 57 a5 Ddot 58 dea6 bxa5 59 g7 1-0 10 Corzo~ Capablanca (10) c42 Led e5 2 DE3 D6 3 Axes d6 4 D3 Dred 5 dd d5 6 2d3 Ld6 (6 ... LT) 7 0-0 0-0 8 c4 06 9 Lixed!? (9 Hel; 9 Dc3; 9 Wh3; 9 We2) 9... dxe4 10 Dgs BFS (9... h6? 10 Axed Sxh2t 11 Sexh2 What 12 Sl Wied Axc3 4) 11 Bc3 Ad7 (11... h6 12 Agnes Lxed 13 Axes Vxh2} 14 xh What 15 gl Wret = 4 12 Bel (12 g4!2) 12. He8? (12 ... @¥6 =) 13 c5! Be7 14 Wb3 He? 15 Dgxed (15 Wxb7? Axc5!) 15... He6 16 Rgs Ws 17 Dg3 Lxg3! (17 ... Bxelt 18 Exel 26 19 e7 DE 20 d5!) 18 hxg3 b5! 19 Bxe6 Lxe6 20 We2 b4 21 Ded b3! 22 axb3 Wrb3 23 Wxb3 &xb3 24 Ha6 Db8 25 Ba3 Lc2 26 Dd6 h6 27 d8!? Dd7 28 D6 a6 29 b4 g67 [(29 ... Df! 30 £3 (30 bS? exb5 31 AxbS He8! —+) 30... AdS 31 bS exbS 32 DxbS Hbs 33 Hxa6 Ld3 34 Bas Dxb6 35 cxb6 Bxbo F)] 30 £3! DF6 31 Ac? (31 bS!) 31... Ads 32 Ba5 Bes! 33 Des Mes 34 Ha2 @b3 35 Hal Sic2! 36 Sof2 £6 37 Dd7 23 38 Hel Exel 39 Sbxel Bb5 40 dd2 E17 41 D6 Seb hte 11 Capablanca ~Corzo (11) DO2 "This game is perhaps the most remarkable of Capablancas career." (F. Reinfeld). 1 d4 d5 2 DE3 c5 3 €3 Deb 4 b3 e6 5 Wb2 Dfo 6 Dbd2 exd4 (6 ... LAG; 6... Le7) 7 exdd do 8 243 0-0 9 0-0 Dh5%! (9 ... Ab4! 10 We2 Bed) 10 3 £5 11 Des Ao 12 f4 BxeS (12... We7!?) 13, fxe5 Dg (13... Des 14 Gxed fred (14 ... dred 15 Ded) 15 ExfSt Wrf8 16 We2 +] 14 We2 Wo 15 f3 Bd7 (1S... Dh 16 Va3 HdB 17 xbs ‘Wxb4 18 c4) 16 a3 Bh8 17 h3 Dho 18 W2 DET 19 soy? g5? 20 gd! De7 21 We3 Bg8 22 Hael (22 Hf2!?) 22 ... Dg6? (22 ... BOS! 23 04? dxed 24 12 bxot @xc4) 23 gxfS! DAfat 24 Gh2 Axd3 25 Wxd3 exf5 ("The play for position preparatory to an attack is one of the hardest taxes upon the mind of the master player. To-day, very likely, I would have done better, but newerthelles, all things considered, I did well, and now, in the deciding moment, I conceived a very exellent combination.") 26 c4 We6 (26 ... Wa6 27 We2 Leb 28 cxd5 Wxe2t 29 Bxe2 Sxd5 30 €6 Ah6 31 Bes &xf3 32 d5!!) 27 cxd5 Wxd5 28 e6 2bS 29 WxbS! [29 Wd2 @xfl 30 exf7 Wxf7 (30 EgfS 31 Dxgs! &bS 32 Hes Weds 33 d5!) 31 5+ Hg7 32 Axgs Wigs 33 He7] 29 ... Wxb5 30 5} Bg7 31 exf7 h6 (31... Bf8 32 Dd4 Wrxds 33 Hes Wat? 34 Hxf8t xfs 35 Axes) 32 Ads Wxfl (32... Wd7 (32 ... Wxd5?7 33 He8t) 33 Dxf5 WET 34 Mxg7t h7 35 Be? Wxds 36 eS} tego 37 Bg7t GhS 38 DAg3az Sha 39 Hat! gxf4 40 Hg4#!] 33 Mxfl Bxt7 34 xfs Exf5 35 DxfSt Gh7 36 De7! Hrs 37 dg? hs 38 6 g4 39 hxgd hxgd 40 Ges who 41 d7 Bas 42 Dg8t Hxgs (42 ... hg6 43 Afo) 43 Vfo go 44 d8W Bxd8 45 xd8 b5 46 Sef2 (46 Sg3 HIS 47 bd shed 48 doxgd hdd 49 ef dhe3 50 ded 3 51 Sed4 xa3 52 La5) 46 ... SAS 47 Ge3 Ges 48 ad3 Gd5 49 sc3 g3 50 Ghd g2 51 B£2 a5 52 b4 Bet 53 £6 (53 bxa57? BAS! =) 53.85 54 hed3 c6 $5 Bgl HdS 56 Bh2 deeb 57 edd a4 58 eS ceb6 59 dads aG!? 60 cS (60 £067? g iW) 1-0 "The highlights of this game are a brilliant sacrifice’ of the Queen, some sparkling combination play, and then a delightfully crisp ending. I consider this game to be the finest ever played by chess prodigy, and I am mindful of every perfomance by Morphy, Reshevsky, Fischer and Petrosian." (1. Chernev). 2 Corzo — Capablanca (13) co7 1 ef e5 2 Df3 Dc6 3 QbS AK6 4 0-0 Des 5 dd Dd6 6 Qxc6 bxc6? 7 Lg5? (7 dxeS Ab7 8 VgsSe7 9 Bxe7 Wre7 10 c3 0-0 11 Bel 4) 7. beT 8 Sxe7 Wxe7 9 AxeS 0-0 10 Hel Be8 11 He3 Wif6 12 Ac3 AfS 13 Des We7 14 Hel d5 15 Dc5 Wd6 16 c3 £6 17 Whs a 17... 96 18 Dxgé Exel} 19 Bxel Dg7 20 Det+ Wxe7 21 Wxh7t Gxh7 22 Bxe7 RFS 23 Bxc7 g6 24 £3 De6 25 Axes Lxe6 26 Bxc6 Me8 27 Uc? a6 28 Ho6 2d7 29 BxaG &b5 30 Lb6 Helt 31 Gef2 He2t 32 ig3 Bcd 33 b3 2d3 34 a4 He? 35 a5 Bxc3 36 a6 Hc? 37 a7 Ba? 38 Bb7 Sf1 39 BE Bxg2 40 Bbs Hhxa7 Ya-H2 13. Capablanca — Corzo (13) A80 1 dé £52 e3 Do 3 DF3 b6 4 b3 7 5 Abd2 e6 6 8b2 a5 7 a3 Le7 8 &d3 0-09 0-0 dS 10 Des Dbd7 11 AdF3 (11 f4!) 11... RAG 12 We2 Des 13 Qxd7 Wad? 14 Des (14 Ad2!? Hie 15 £3 Ih6 16 g3 &xg3 17 fxed ») 14 ... Sxe5 15 dxes Des! 16 4 Dxd3 17 cxd3 c5 18 Bfel Hic 19 4! 826 20 Wel c4 21 bxo4? (21 b4) 21... Bxcd 22 Bc3 (22 a4 S31) 22 .., Wad! 23 Wa2 Heo 24 43 Hac8 25 Wh2 a6 26 Wo2 23 27 Bd2 2 28 G3 Wot 29 2 Wa3 30 Sel h5 31 a4 31... Bxad! 32 Bxe6 Hxc6 33 Ha3 He2 34 Bxd3 Exb2 35 Ha3 &b3 36 g3 a4 37 Hal bS 38 h4 Sc2 39 Scl_Bb3 40 dd2 Sed 41 Ha3 Bb1 42 Ba2 Gf7 43 Ha3 de8 44 a2 ded7 45 Ba3 dec6 46 Had ‘¥b6 0-1 (Corzo played excellently here. Later many of Capablanca’s games proved that he benefited a lot from this defeat.) "The victory made me, morally at least, the champion of Cuba. I was then twelve years old. I had played without any book knowledge of the ‘openings; the match gave me better idea of them. I became more proficient in the middle game and I decidedly stronge once the Queens were exchanged." “Obviously, only after winning the match against Corzo did Capablanca realise that chess had its history and literature. It is possible that it was only iater that he realised that the championship could mean acknowledgement, fame, wealth and business. During this period not only he himself but also his games had developed greatly. Afterwards we hardly know of a bad game of his.’ (CT). ‘CASUAL and OTHER GAMES - 1901 Havana - 1901 14 Capablanca — Delmonte B21 Led c5 2 dé cxd4 3 DP €57! 4 c3 Dc 5 cxdd Rd44? (5 ... 4512) 6 Qd2 We7 6 ... Axd2¢ 7 Wixd2 exd4 8 Dxd4 +) 7 ds Dds! (7 ... Ded 8 Axd4 exdd 9 £3 4) 8 Ld3 Rxd24 (8 ... Df6) 9 @bxd2 d6 10 Hel a6? 11 Act VAT (11... Red 12 D6 &xf3 13 Watt) 12 Dbo Bos 13 Wer! Bed (13... Af6 14 We7) 14 3! Axf3 15 Wad yt! Deb 16 dxc6 We7 17 cxb77 SF 18 Hxc7 1-0 15, Capablanca ~ Fiol cas 1 ef e5 2 DP Deb 3 dé exdd 4 Axdd Bc5 5 Dxc6 bxc6? (5 ... WEG!) 6 Ld3 WEE 7 0-0 De7 8 We2 d6 9 Ac3 0-0 10 whi Age 11 4 Wha 12 Dat SpA 13 Wd2 206 14 g3 Whs 15 Axd6 cxb6 16 206? SF34 17 Bgl Sxe4 18 Wxdo Hads 19 Wa37 057 20 Ges Wer 21 Mh Bart 22 Beal Wxdiy 23 Hl Wxe2 24 Hr2 Walt 25 Eft Wet 26 &xa7 Bd8 27 We3 245? 28 Bel hS 29 b3 Dh4 30 He2 F331 Ma? Bs 32 M7 Dest 33 Sf Wh3t 34 Se2 Dxh2 35 a4 Dg4 36 We7 Has 37 axbS Bxa7? 38 Wxa7 Axf2 39 Wxf2 cxbS 40 xb5 Axb3 41 We3 W_24 42 Hel Whit 43 ked2 Walt 44 Sc3 Le6 45 243 Wo3t 46 sed2 Wo2t 47 Gel Wes 48 Wes Wrest 49 fxeS Y2-'le 16 Capablanca — Blanco C45 Led €5 2 Df3 Ac6 3 dd exdd 4 Dxdd cS 5 Le3 Whe 6 c3 Age? 7 BbS (7 g3; 7 Ret) 7... 0-08 ADxc6 (8 0-0 Bxd4 9 cxd4) 8 ... bxc6 9 Lxc5 cxbS 10 0-0 d6 11 @e3 &b7 12 Ad2 Wge 13 Hel Aes 1314 WES Dha 15 Wh3 Whe 16 Sd4 We7 17 5 Dxg? 18 exd6 Wg5? 19 Ded Bxed 20 Bxet Ata 21Wlgs Weg3t 22 fe e623 dec? Dec 24 He7 De6 25 Hxa7 Axd4 26 Hxa8 Hxa8 27 cxdd Had 28 d5 Hd4 29 Mel sof8 30 He5 bd 31 a4 bxa3 32 bxa3 dhe7 33 HaS Hd2 34 a4 h5 35 dot daxd6 36 ExhS Hd5? 37 Hxd5t dxd5 38 hf2 wecS 39 he3 Hot 40 dd Sad 41 heS v4 42 ds Sok 43 eT £5 44 heb £4 45 gxfd edd 46 £5 Seed 47 hd Soft 48 5 sog5 49 eT 1-0 17 Capablanca ~ E. Corzo 67 1 e4 eS 2 Df3 Deb 3 LS Afo 4 0-0 Axed 5 dt eT 6 d57! Dd6! 7 Gad ef 8 dxo6 exf3 9 cxd77 Bxd7 10 Sxd7¢ Wrd7 11 Wf 0-0 12 3 Bad’ 13 Ads Hes 14 LF4 c6 15 Dxe7t Wre7 16 h3 Wed 17 Wet Hxet 18 &xd6 Hxd6 19 Mfel Mde6? 20 Mixed Hxe4 21 Mal £5 22 Bd7 bS 23 Fl a5 24 b3 HeS 25 Ha7 Hes 26 Hxas Exc2 27 a4 Ha? 28 Ba8t G7 29 Ha7t &f8? 30 a5 Bb? 31 a6 Hxb3? 32 He7 ba 33 a7 Ba3 34 Bc8} Ge7 35 a8 1-0 18 Capablanca — Marceau C47 Led e5 2 Df3 Ac6 3 d4 exd4 4 Axda Ao 5 Dc3 2b4 6 AES! 0-07 243 d5! 8 exdS Wxds 9 WES ‘Waxf3 10 gxf3 Qxf5 11 Rxf5 Add 12 2d3 Vxc3t 13 bxc3 Best 14 Sf AxF3 15 2b2 Ded 16 deg? Ded2_ 17 Had1 He5? 18 hd! Hae8 19 04? Bhs 20 Hh3 Delf 21 Bxel! Exel 22 Sc3! Hes 23 Sxd2 Hexhd 24 He3 £5 25 He7 £4 26 3 g5 27 Hxc7 Bh3t 28 ded B3h4y 29 SfS £3 30 Qxgs ho 31 B61 1-0 19 E. Corzo — Capablanca cil 1 ef 62 dd d5 3 Ac3 AG 4 5 Afd7 5 Be3 (5 DMS; 5 f4; 5 Deer) 5 ... c5 6 Wed cxd4 7 Axdd Deb 8 0-0-0 Adxes? 9 Wg3? Axd4 10 Wxes Acé 11 &b5 @d7 12 Wg3 Whos! 13 f4 a6 14 Vxc6 bxo6_ 15 AF3 WH6 16 Hhel Bbs 17 Dad Was 18 £5! Eb7 19 fxe6 Sxe6 20 Wed! tds 21 Hxeo! fxe6 22 Ddd! de7 23 Axest kbs 24 Wray das 25 Dxf8 Wt? 26 Wxba! xb4 27 Dd7! Bas 28 14 3 Bgd 29 g3 dib7 30 Dacst a7 31 Des Mes 32 Dxcot 1-0 20 Marquez Sterling - Capablanca C77 Led e5 2 AES Ac6 3 LS a6 4 Lad AKG 5 d3 46.6 3 b5 7 Be2 Le7 8 Abd? 0-09 AFI dS 10 Dg3 dxed 11 dxed Wxd1t 12 @xd1 2d6 13 0-0 £e6 14 2b3 AaB 15 Le3 Dgd 16 h37! Dxe3 17 Fred Lixb3 18 axb3 g6 19 b4 Deb 20 Ae? a5 21 bxas @xa5 22 Del Bcd 23 Dd3 Dxe3? 24 Bxa8 BxaB 25 Hel Bed 26 b3 Da5 27 Hal Ha 28 b4 Deb 29 Bxa7 Axa7 30 DAfxeS £6 31 Dgs HFT 32 5 FxeS 33 Bagres i 34 CAPS dads 35 E002 e791 36 PD F637 Dai thot 38 De34! 3 39 Dd24! 02 40 Bet LoS 41 Ber Dc 42 Bd3 Dds 43 Dxd6 cxdo 44 cA $3 45 cxb5 dexbt 46 b6 b5 47 b7 d5 48 Dyxd5 E06 49 AfE HS 50 g4? Sexb7 Yar 2 Gavilan — Capablanca C44 Let e5 2 D3 Deo 3 dd exdd 4 Bet Bc5 5 0-0 (5 319) 5... Dge7 6 c3! dxc3 7 Axc3 0-08 Bg5? hs! 9 a3? £6 10 Bh4 Age 11 2g3 d6 12 b3 Aces 13 203 Dvl3t 14 Wrf3 eS 15 Wer Wes 16 Das Wg6! 17 Sh 17 Axe? Wags 18 Sh1 Wxb3 19 Aras Sixh3 2027 Sgt) 17... Who 18 LAI? 18 ... g6! (18... &xh3 19 Wh! 19 Arar 19 Dxc7 Vxh3 20 gxh3 Weh3t 21 gi Wyee3t 19 Gh2! c6 20 Ac3 Le6 F) 19... g5! 20 Da3 (20 DhS? g4!) 20 ..., Sxh3! 21 gxh3 Wxh3¢ 22 Gel Wrg3t 23 doh1 Wh3t 24 Sgt Anxd3 25 WES Wel3 26 Gxf3 £5 27 bt Qxf2y 28 Hxf2 Dxf2 29 e5 Dh3y 30 Gh2 dueS 31 Sxb7 Habs 32 LAS Dea 33 Mot Hbd8 34Bel Bd2y 35 dgl of 36 a4 Eto 37 b5 Bh6 38 SFI Bdh2 39 Bdl 3 0-1 2 Ettlinger ~ Capablanca cas Led 05 2 AP3 Deb 3 dé exdd 4 Dxdd B55 Led Wr6 6 c3 Dge7 7 ADS a6 8 Lad 0-07 9 0-07 9 Dxc6 Lxe3 10 Axe7t +) 9... b5 10 2b3 Lb7 LL Axc6 Wxo6 12 Lxc5 Wre5 13 Lc? ds 14 Dd Ead8 15 Ab3 Wh6 16 e5 Age 17 Wa3? Hfes 18 Hael c5 19 Wg3 d4 20 deh1?20 ... d3! 21 @xd3 Bxd3! 22 Wxd3 Sxg2}! 23 Bgl 04? 24 Wo! Wo7 25 DcS Wa8 26 06 xl 27 exf7t Gxf7 28 Wd7t Be7 29 Exe7t Dxe7 30 Best Ses 31 WaT} SE7 32 West Sfs 33 dexfl Bhi} 34 Ge2 Wrxh2 35 Dd7t+? Ges 36 Des Ghst 37 Sel Wis 38 Wide Wea 39 GF1 Was 40 BcT Was 41 WxdB> Gxd8 42 DT} Sd7 43 eer 6 44 DeS} es 45 D3 g5 46 de ds 47 Dds AS 48 £4 g4 49 b3 hd 50 £5 eS 51 £6 Dasy 52 GR Axf6 53 bxet bxed 0-1 23. Delmonte— Capablanca Doo 1d4 d5 2 €3 Dfo 3 &d3 Dbd7 4 £4 6 5 ADP c5 6 ch? Bd6 7 0-0 b6 8 b3 Bb7 9 Bb2 He8 10 Dbd2 hS 11 Wel We? 12 DeS h4 13 Adf3? dxcd 14 Axed h3 15 g3 b5? 16 Aces &xf3! 17 Bxf3 W7 18 Hf2? Sxe5 19 dxeS Aga!? 20 He? of! 21 AFL ‘Wes 22 Me2 Acs 23 Add Dd3 24 Wd2 Bas 25 Ha (See diagram next column) 25... Exd4! 26 exd4 Wxddt 27 Shi Dgf2¢ 28 ‘Bel Dxdl} 29 Hh WaSy 30 gl West 31 hl DUH 32 Hxf2 Dxf2F 0-1 4 Capablanca ~ Paredes co2 1 eh 06 2 dd d5 3 e5 c5 4.03 De6 5 f4 (5 AP3) 5 cxd4 6 exd4 Wh6 7 DF3 &d7 8 Dc3 Bc8 9 Bb1 Abt 10 Wd3 a6 11 a3 Be7 12 b4! Dho 13 Le3 DRS 14 BF2 Da7 15 g4 (4) 15 ... DS? 16 Dad ‘We? 17 gxf5 Dxa3!? 18 Wxa3 We2 19 243 Wxad 20 Wad @xa4 21 dd2 0-0 22 f6! gxf6 23 Bhd Gh8 24 Vxfot Axfo 25 exf6 Hg8 26 Bhgl h6 27 De5 Uxgl 28 Dxf7f kegs 29 Axh6t 1-0 25 Capablanca — E. Corzo C40 1 ef e5 2 DES £52! 3 DxeS (3 d4!7) 3... Deb 4 Dxc6! dxc6 5 e5 (5 dd) 5... @e6 6 dd WaT 7 Le3 0-0-0 8 Wd2 Ae7 9 Was! bxc6 6 d4 exd4 7 Axdd BA7 8 Hel 59 Al3 Be7 (9... De7 10 b3!2) 10 Dc3 6 (10 ... BEG 11 eS! etc. "but the text has the drawback of weakening the QP."R.) 11 84 &e6 12 Wa3 D6 13 Hadi 45 14 D5! d4 (14... deed 15 We3!) 15 Axes fres 16 Dad! (“Ordinarily a Knight is badly posted at the side of the board." R.) 16 ... WaS 17 b3 Hd8 18 Dv2! Dh5 (18 ... 0-0 19 Wed) 19 Les 0-0 (19 .. f6? 20 Wh3!) 20 Dct Wht 21 Wh3 g6 22 ‘Wrxe6t HET 23 g4! Bhd! (23 ... Dg7? 24 Sxg7! xg? 25 De5, 23 ... Af6? 24 Axf6! Qxf6 25 Dds +=) 24 gxhS Qxf2425 Gh1 We3! 25... Axel 26 Hd3 Bhd 27 c3 dxc3 28 Hxd8t &xd8 29 hxg6 hxg6 30 West Hes 31 Wego!) AB A one 26 He3!! (A wonderful move. After closing the third rank the Black king will be in danger sooner than his White-seemingly _uncertain-standing- counterpart) 26 ... Wxc2 (26 ... &xe3 27 hxg6 hxg6 28 Wxg6t G8 29 Dd6 Bad7 30 Bxf7 Ext? 31 Bd6t +-) 27 Hed3 We? 28 Dd6 Bxd6 29 Bxd6 Gel 30 We8} Sg7 31 h6t 1-0 (Reinfeld) 9 Marshall- Capablanca (9) DS3 1d4 d5 2.04 €6 3 Ac3 D6 4 Vg5 eT 5 e3 Ded 6 Lxe7 WreT 7 exd5S Dxc3 8 bxc3 exd5 9 W3 6 10 Af3 0-0 11 £43 Has 12 a4 We7 13 0-0 c5 14 c4! deed 15 Wot?! (15 Rxcd cxdd! 16 Axdt Ac6 17 Axc6 bxe6 18 Hacl 4 15... Le6 16 Wee2 h6 17 Dest? (17 dxeS Ad7 18 c6 4) 17 ... Ba7! 18 Axd7 Hxd7 19 dxeS Hd5 20 Bfcl He8 21 Led Exc5 22 Wrc5 WixeS 23 xcs Bxe5 24 &xb7 a5! 25 3 Bd7 26 Ba6 g5 27 Sh2 deg7 28 gd! Lc6 29 Bd3 hS!? 30 gxhs whe 31 y3 Sxhs 32 Red+ Lg6 33 Had 6 (33 ... Sg7!) (See diagram next column) 34 Mal! (It threatens 35 Bc2) 34... Rds 34 He5 35 Hb2) 35 G3 HeS 36 &xc6 Hxc6 37 Hd2! Seb [37... Bod 38 Hdd Bxd4 39 exd4 web (39... GAS 40 fa! gxf4y 41 SoS £6 42 h4) 40 gd £6 41 24 £4 +-] 38 shgt Bc5 (38 ... £6 39 f4 Hot 40 Bas Hcl 41 Bett ded5 42 Hes Bal 43 G5 exft 44 Ha8} des 45 exit Exat 46 h4 #) 39 Bas Be? 40 sdxg5! Hxf2 41 Meat! ded5 42 Hea Bg2t (42 ... Ha2 43 hd) 43 fo Hg3 44 otf heda 45 eSt Sas 46 HES! Sed! 47 Bhs EP3t 48 Se7 Wf 49 Les! ed4 50 BhS (50 Bg4? Bxgd 51 hxg4 dxeS 52 Gxf7 Sfd=) 50 ... Ge3 (50... Bet 51 wde soda 52 Bgs) 51 Bh7 Bes 52 dodo S37! (52 ... HEA!) 53 hd HP3 54 dhe He3 55 dxf?! Exes DL A I29) ae x ne a 7 ae 56 Hg? (56 Ifa! cS 57 hd Be7t 58 dog6 Host 59 dog5 daa3 60 h5 He8 61 h6 e7 62 hd Hh7 63 GF5 Bxh6 64 Bxh6 Sxa4 65 Hb6! ca3 66 det ad 67 d3 Sad 68 2 a3 69 HaG +-) 56... He5 57 Ba Bc7} 58 Sg6 Hb7 59 h4 Bod! 60 dg5 exad 61 hS a3 62 h6 Hb8 63 h7 a4 64 Bhd Ehs 65 bg6 bb3 66 Seg7 Bxh7+ 67 Sxh7 a3 'Yo-'2 10 Capablanca — Marshall (10) C63 Led e5 2 DF3 Ac 3 AbS £54 D3 Af 5 Wer (5 exf5!2) 5... Dddt 6 Axd4 exdd 7 exfSt Le7 8 Det 0-0 9 Axfo+ &xf6 10 0-0 dS 11 Whs (On 11 £03 see game 2) 11... c5 12 Se? He8 13 2g4 d3! 14 cxd3 b6 15 Hb1 a6 16 Wh3 Bd4 17 v3 Wre 18 £23! Me7 19 b4 Hae8 20 WF3 (It threatened 20 we Qxf2} 21 Bxf2 Wad 22 Bbfl Hel) 20 ... Wes 21 bxc5 bxeS 22 g3 (22 Ebel!) 22... R723 Hbelom Wal g6 25 ducd (25 dog2!? cxd3 26 Wad or Bc8 26 £4 Wb8 27 fxg6 hxg6 28 2F3) 25... Fa 26 Hel Wxel} 27 Wxel Exel} 28 Exel h5 (28... gxf5 29 2f3 4 29 He6 (29 Lh3 g5) 29... hygt 30 Bxa6 Sb6 31 £6 g eee enh a mag ‘ene inti Bos GLixg6 Hié 32 cS Bxg6 33 &xb6 axb6 © 4) 31 Hd7! (31 ... Ext6 32 Sc5 G7 33 &xb6 axb6 + +4) 32 Ab4 Hd5 33 &c3 (33 h3! gxh3 34 Gh2 Six 35 Be6 Bel 36 af 20) 33... WES 3413 Bxf2t 35 2 Lb6 36 yg Hy 37 Gh3 g5 38 Las at threatened 38 ... He2 followed by gl!) 38 ... &f7 39 Aixb6 axb6 40 Ba7t (40 Hxb6 Exe? 41 a4 Ba2 =) 40 .. xf 41 HAT b5 42 doy sbe7 43 Beds bt 44 Eixgs Bed? tte 11 Marshall— Capablanca (11) DS3 1d4 d5 2 cf €6 3 De3 AK6 4 gs Le7 5&3 Det 6 &xe7 Wxe7 7 £43 Dxc3 8 bxc3 dred 9 Bxcd b6 10 WS (10 AF3) 10 ... c6 11 De2 &b7 12 0-0 0.0 13 a4 (“oss of time, since this Pawn cannot later be advanced.”) 13... c5 14 Wg3 Dc6 15 Dea ("In order to start an attack against the @ing’s side.”) 15... Hac8 (15... e5 16 Ad5 Wa8 17 dxes DaS 18 Bfdl Eh8 19 a2) 16 2027! ("Bhe ultimate result of this move will be the loss of the Queen's Rook's Pawn.” 16 £43) 16 ... Bfd8 17 Bfel Das! 18 Hadi?! c6 19 Wed ("White threatens @xe6 etc." 19 d5 Bxad 20 dxe6 Sxd1 2Lexf7t Gh F) 19... 4 20 dS Mxa4 21 Bd2 eS (’As will be seen later on, the continuation adopted by Black is not satisfactory. The situation is such, however, that it is very difficult to point out the proper way to contintie, perhaps simply PxP would be the best.”) 22 hS g6 23 d6! ("A very fine move. From now on the position is very difficult to handle properly.) 23 ... We6 24 Wg5 EHS 24... Hxd6?? 25 Bxd6 Wxd6 26 Who WES 27 Biot Sh 28 Weh7#) 25 Af6 Hxd6 26 Bxdo ‘Bxd6 27 Vb1 (27 Wh4 eg7!) 27... Dc6 28 VFS Has (28 ... gxf52? 29 Who) 29 hd [29 a7 Wes 29 Bxd7? 30 Wha! cg7 31 DeBt) 30 Rxc6 Sxc6 31 WxeS Wie 32 Agty WxeS 33 DxeS Re8 34 Axct b5] 29... De7 30 Ded We7 31 Wot Gag8 32 Le6 32... fxe6! 33 Wxe6t (33 Ags Dd5) 33 ... SS 34 Dgs Dg8 35 £4 He8? (35 ... Re8!; 35 ... Hg7) 36 fxe5! e7 37 Rflt deg? 38 hS We8 39 hot Ghs (39 ... Gxh6 40 Wed!) 40 Wde Wes 41 Wad (41 Wxe5 bxc5 42 BFS BxeS 43 DF3 Bxe3 44 Dgs Bes 45 Df3 He7 46 Dgs Bc6 47 Af7+ Hxf7 48 Bxf7 Axh6 49 Hxa7 £45 F) 41... Bees (41... Wxe5!?) 42 Wd7 (42 BET xh6 43 Ses Dgs 44 WT ALG 45 Hxto Wxdd 46 exd4 Bxgs 47 Hfst tg7 48 Bxe8 Bg3 7) 42... He7 43 Hf7 (43 Wxe8 Wxgs) 43 .. &xd7 0-1 12 Capablanca - Marshall (12) C63 1 e4 e5 2 AF3 Acé 3 Lb5 £5 4 Dc3 Df 5 exf5!? e4 6 Dh4 (6 Dg!) 6 ... d5 7 d3 Be7? (7... da! 8 ®Db1 exd3 9 Wxd3 We7}) 8 dxed dxed 9 Wxd8t Bxd8 10 Sg5 0-0 11 0-0-0 De5 12 h3 a6 13 fad 5 14 Rf4! Afd7 15 Rxd7 Dxd7 16 Vg3 Vxh4 17 &xh4 Bxf5 18 Bhel Ass 19 Axes Le6 20 Se7! Hd5 (20 ... Dd7 21 Adé) 21 Axes Bxdlf 22 Bxd1 S£5 23 Oxf8 Bxf8 24 Bd2 &c8 25 £3 h6 26 b3 Gah7 27 ceb2 BET 28 a4 Be7 29 Des BFS 30 DAd6 &g6 31 aS h5 32 04 He7 33 Gc3 Gh6 34 hd Lh7 35 Beds Be3} 36 Sb4 Ber 2537 DET Sg6 38 Dgs Les 39 Rdor ws 40 Has Sxc4 (40... Re6 41 Be8 xc4 42 BEB) 41 Sxed Hixg? 42 RASt des 43 fat Cede 44 Bast ico 45 DS Hert 46 dbs E247 Dest ee7 48 HAT} Sc8 49 EF7 Bh2 50 Agé Be2 51 Hxg7 b6 52 axb6 aS} 53 GS a4 54 DeS axd3 55 b74 1-0 13 Marshall~Capablanca (13) D53 144 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Dc3 Af6 4 gS e7 5 e3 Det (According to Capablanca’s words he knew very little theory in those days. He played this move because he had heard that it was Lasker's idea, The early Knight move was tested nine times during the match.) 6 &xe7 Wxe7 7 cxds Dxc3 8 bxc3 exdS 9 Wh3 c6 10 43 0-0 11 APs DAT 12 a4 Hd8 13 0-0 Al 14 Hebi! bs 15 a5 Le6 16 Bad! (16 04 c5 17 Wa3) 16 ... 05! 17 Wa3” Ne 2 8 (17 c4! dxo4 18 2xc4 bS 19 axb6 Hxb6 20 Wa2 Exbl} 21 Web @xc4 22 Bxcd exdd 23 Dxd4 4) 17... B47! 18 BbS BFS 19 Hb2 a6 20 Ler £d7 21 Des Lxad 22 Wrad of 23 h3 Dd7 24 Dxd7 Wd7 25 Wa2 Wie? 26 BF3 Hd6 27 ef dxet 28 Bxe4 b5 29 axb6 Hdxb6 30 Exb6 Bxb6 31 2d5 Mb3 32 g3 96 33 Wxa6 Bxc3 34 cog? seg7 35 Wos We7! 36 Wo2 Bd3 37 We2 Bxd4 38 &xc4 W7t 39 digi Woo 40 &b3 Wre2 41 xc? F542 hg2 f6 43 ht Sees 44 fat eds 45 Gh3 Ba? 46 JLb3¢ Ged 47 hS gxh5 48 Sh4 h6 49 dh3 hd 0-1 14 Capablanca Marshall (14) C74 Led e5 2 DF3 De6 3 LDS a6 4 Lad dé 5 c3 £51? [This treatment was named later (1928) as Siesta Gambit’ in chess literature, and Capablanca was the reputed father, however, the world premiere’ was in a game between Walbrocht-Von Scheve, Dresden 1892, and as we can see even Marshall played it before Capablanca] 6 exfS Sixf5 7 dé ed 8 We27! (8 Dg5!; 8 0-017) 8 ... Le7 9 Dfd2 AEs 10 h3 (10 £3!) 10 ... dS 11 DFl bS 12 @c2 Bas! 13 Des Bg6 14 Da? 0-0 15 bd Dod 16 Ddxed dxed 17 ad Dds 18 Dxds Was 26 19 axb5 (19 Re3 a5!) 19... e3! 20 0-0 (20 fxe3?? hd!) 20 ... Hxf2 21 Bxf2 ext2¢ 22 Wrf2 Efs 23 We2 &xc2 (23 .., Rxb4 24 Sxg6 Lxc3 25 Rxh7+ BHE «) 24 Wxc2 axb5 25 Le3 Rd6 26 Bf2 Wes 27 Wet h6 28 Hel Hxf2 29 Gexf2 @g3+ 30 Sel Bxe1 31 Wxelia-"2 15 Marshall— Capablanca (15) D53 1 d4 52 cd e6 3 De3 Df6 4 Lys eT 5 e3 Ded 6 Sxe7 Wxe7 7 W3 Dxc3 bxc3 dxod 9 xed 0-0 10 Df3 Dd7 11 0-0 b6 12 Bael!? (12 4! £7 13 Hfel £4) 12... 2b7 13 e4 Bfds 14 He3 Hac8 15 h3 87! (15... c5) 16 a4 Afo 17 Bfel c5 18 dS exdS 19 &xd5? (19 exdS Wad6 20 Hdl Be8 21 Hxe8t Hxe8 22 a5 £4) 19... Oxd5 20 exd5 ta a aA Vi, i, AG wh Bae: “8 BAG Ll. g ZY 0... oA! 21 Whit? (21 Bxe7? cxb3 22 Bxa7 ®Dxd5) 21... WeS 22 Dg5 dog8 (22 ... 26? 23 He7 He7 24 Bxi7t!) 23 He? He7 24 d6! Bxe7 (24 Hed7? 25 Hxd7 Hxd7 26 Be8t Axe8 27 Wxh7t G8 28 Wh8#] 25 dxe7 He8 26 Ded! Axes 27 Wrxet We7 28 Hdl g6 29 Hds Hxd8 30 exdsbt Wads 31 Wixed Ya-th 16 Capablanca ~ Marshall (16) C49 Led 05 2 Df3 Acé 3 DAc3 Afe 4 LbS b4 5 0-0 0-0 6 d3 &xc3 7 bxc3 dé [7 ... d5!8 Lxc6 bxc6 9 Axes Wd6 (9 ... dxe4 10 £3 Bes 11 Dxcé Wd7 12 Add Dds 13 Wd2!+) 10 FaBMe8 11 WES (On 11 exd5 see Capablanca~ Tarrasch, Petersburg 1914) 11 ... dxe4 12 dxet BxeS 13 Hfdl 2g4 14 Wg3 = or 13 Kadl We7 14 LixeS WxeS 15 Hast De8 16 Hb1= Reéti-Lasker, Moscow 1925; 8 exd5!7] 8 Hel Ze7 9 d4 c6 10 dxeS dxeS 11 £03? (11 243) 11... exbS! 12 Wxd8 Bras 13 Sxe7 He8 14 Rd6 (14 Axf6 gxfo 15 Dh4 Le6 F) 14... Dd7 15 Hed f6 16 Habl a6 17 Ad? D6 18 4 Dad! (18 Axed 19 Axct bxot 20 Hb6! =) 19 Hel Ed8 20 cS 20... Dxe5? (20 ...Le6 21 Db3 Hack 22 Boel b6 4) 21 Axc5 Bxd2 22 Bb2! (22 Hed1? Hxd1 + 23 Bxdl 2e6 24 a3 Hc) 22... Re6 23 Le3 Hd7 24 £3 Bc8 25 Hel He3 26 2 Hdc7 27 Ad? Ba3 28 Hal Hod (28 ...a5 29 c3 Set followed by Hc7-d7-d3 ¥ ¥) 29 Qb4! Mad 30 Ad2! (It threatened 30 ... a5!) 30 ... £52 G0... BcB 31 c3 g6 followed by £6 £5 5) 31 exfS Qxf5 32.c3 ef (32.... GFT!%; 32 ... He7) 33 fred Bxet 34 a3! Bc6 35 Bb4 HeS 36 Bxad bxad 37 Xbt Efsy 38 dl Mads 39 Mb2 Ma3 40 hf2 Ads 41 el! Gf? 42 Hd? Bxd2t 43 Bxd2 Seo 44 g3 202 45 Bf4 dS 46 Ge3 Get 47 Bd2 Hb3 48 Qd6 Ab1 49 hd LFS 50 2F8 bs 51 Sd6 a5 52 18 g6 53 Le7 b4 54 cxb4 Gxa3 55 bxaSt G3 56 a6 wed Vata 17 Marshall - Capablanca (17) C49 Leb e5 2 Dc3 Deb 3 DL DK 4 LS Ab4 5 0-0 0.06 43 d6 7 &g5 &xc3 8 bxc3 De7 9 Ah4 c6 10 Aad De8! 11 Lb3 Le6? (11... Gh8 12 Ws?! fe 13 Re3 g5 ~) 12 Mxe6 fxe6 13 Wed! Wd7 14 £4 exfl 15 Bxfa Bxfa 16 WeFd Avo [16 ... he 17 Axh6! gxh6 18 Hfl Dg7 19 WETt Sh7 20 Dgo He8 21 DlBt Hxf8 22 Wxfs Dgo 23 WET! +] 17 Axio Bfs 18 We3! (18 e5 Dd5) 18 ... Bxfo 19 ‘Bxa7 g5!? 20 AAF3 (20 e5!7) 20... g4 21 Wd EET! 22 Be5? (22 Dd2 ++) (See diagram next column) 22... ¢5! 23 Dxd7 cxd4 24 Hl [24 e5 Dcé (24 ... dxc3? 25 exd6 Ac6 26 Acs) 25 At Sg7 26 N @ ~ a PES Axgd h5 27 DAfe Hg6 28 De8 dxeS 29 Adé Hd? 30 dxc3 31 Dxc3 Add! or 24 cxdd Dc6 25 Doo Dxd4 26 c4 De2} 27 Whi HA2 =] 24 ... Uxflt 25 Sxfl dxc3 26 Avot 7 27 Dxgd Dc6 28 De3 b5! 29 a3 b4! 30 axb4 Axb4 31 We? ds! 32 exd5 exd5 33 d4 &f6 34 g3 h5 35 h3 tg5 36 hd Ef6 37 G3 Geo 38 gd hixgdt 39 Sexed Dc6 40 DFS Db4 41 hS F742 De3 eb 43 h6 Sze 44 Dxd5 Axdd 45 De3 Dxc2 Va-Va 18 Capablanca — Marshall (18) c49 1 ed e5 2 AF3 Dc6 3 Ac3 DFG 4 Bb5 Ab4 5 0.0 0-06 d3 Lxc3 7 bxc3 d6 8 Bes Sg (8... We7) 9 h3 &hS (9... 2d7) 10 Bh2 h6 11 Le3 (11 Lh4 g5 12 &g3 g4!) 11... d5! 12 ga deed! 13 Sxc6 (13 dxed 2g6 14 Bxc6 bxo6 15 Axes xet) 13 ‘bxc6 14 dxed &g6 15 Wxd8 Bfxd8 16 Axes xed 17 £3 xc? 18 Axe6 Hd3 19 dd Bd2+ 20 BA? Bx2t 21 Axf2 a6 22 &g3 He8 23 Hel 23 &xc7 He3) 23... Hxel 24 Bel "a-t2 19 — Marshall- Capablanca (19) DOO 1 a4 dS 2 €3 Df 3 2d37! e6 4 Ad27! 5 5 c3 cb 6 £417 We7 7 Ddf3 (7 Dgf3) 7... Des & De5 cxd4 9 Bxed (9 exdd DxeS 10 fxeS f6 11 ®f3 £5 4) 9... Axes 10 fxeS deed 11 exdd (11 Wxd4? Sc5 12 Wxe4 2d7 © F) 11... f5 12 exfo v De2 Le7 13 D4 0-0 14 Wh3 Wes (14 jd7) 15 d5! exd5? 16 Dxd5+-] 12... gxf6 13 Wns WHT 14 Wost Wa7 15 Ws WET 2-1/2 20 Capablanca — Marshall (20) C42 L ef e5 2 A3 Df6 3 DxeS d6 4 DL3 Axed 5 dt d5 6 2d3 2d6 (6 ...2e7) 7 0-0 0-0 8 cd! c6 9 D3 Dxc3 10 bxe3 Hed (10 ... dxot 1 Lxed Aga 12 Wad3!) 11 h3 (11 cxd5) LL... SHS 12 exd5 cxd5 13 Wb3%! (13 Hb1! b6 14 4) 13 Rxf3! 14 Wxb7 Dd7 (14 ... Rxg2 15 Sxg2 DdT 16 Wxd5 +) 15 gxf3 Abs 16 Hbi Wee 17 w_2 Hac8 18 Wxa7 Hxc3 19 Bxb6 Bxd3 20 £3 Wet 21 Gh Web 22 Sg2 West 23 Shi Wes 24 Sg2 Wg6t 25 Hh1 Wes '2-2 2721 Marshall — Capablanca (21) DS53 1d4 d52 04 €6 3 Dc3 Afo 4 BgS Ve7 5 e3 Ded 6 Sixe7 Wxe7 7 cxd5 Axc3 8 bxc3 exdS 9 Wb3 c6 10 Af3 0-0 11 2d3 Dd7 12 0-0 Hd8 13 Babl (13 ad!?) 13 ... DEB (13 ... Df6) 14 Bfel We7 15 et det 16 Sxe4 Hb 17 Wa3 a6 18 He3 Le6 19 h3 £5 20 Bxd5 Bxds 21 Be7! Bd7 22 Bxd7 Wad? (22 ... Axd7? 23 We!) 23 DeS Wic7 24 WieS Dge (24 ... Des 25 Wo6!) 25 Dxg6 (25 Acd! #) 25... hxg6 26 Bel b6 27 We7 Wre7 28 Hxe7 c5 29 dxeS (29 ds Bd8 30 4 bS!) 29 ... bxeS 30 Ba? Eblt 31 th2 Bcl 32 Hxa6 Hxc3 33 a4 Ha3 34 Ba8t oh7 35 a7 £6 36 a5 c4 37 a6 ¢3 38 Bc7 Bxa6 39 Exc3 Va-He2 22 Capablanca ~ Marshall (22) C42 Led e5 2 Af3 Af6 3 Axes d6 4 D3 Axes 5 dt d5 6 &d3 246 7 0-0 0-0 8 Bel (8 c4!) 8... A629 2g5 Qed 10 Dbd2 Dbd7 113 h6 12 Lh4 5 13 ‘We2 Who 143 Sxf3 15 Dxf3 Hfes 16 25! We7 17 dxe5 &xc5 18 Wd3!? [18 Badl (18 Gh1)) 18 .. £5 19 Bxd7 a 20 WES © or 18... Bxelt 19 Hxel He8 = A 4 penita h 18 ... g5! 19 @xd7 Axd7 20 Rxgs (20 2g377 Wx g3) 20... hxg5 21 Waxds We6 22 Wxgst (a5 Wee 24 West Wigs 25 Wd5 2-1 28 23° Marshall - Capablanca (23) 33 1 dé d5 2 cf e6 3 Ac3 c5 ("Before this game was played Rubinstein and Mieses had engaged in a series of games which were shown to me by some of my friends desirous of knowing my opinion with respect to them) 4 cxd5 exd5 5 DF3 Dcé 6 g3 Reb (6... Df6) 7 Bg2 Le7 8 0-0 A6 (“Both parties have developed four pieces, but Black has a more aggressive Pawn position and thus, he has a little advantage." Tarrasch.) 9 &g5 (9 dxc5!) 9... Ded (“A very good reply which frees Black’s game”) 10 &xe7 (10 &e3 o4 11 Dd2 f5 F) 10... Wxe7 11 Des (11 dxe5? Dxe3 12 bxe3 Wxc5; LL Hel! @xc3 12 Hxc3 cf 13 Des 0-0 14 FA) 11. Axd4 (11... Axe3? 12 bxe3 DxeS 13 dxeS 0-0 14 Axd5 Bad8 15 ef +) 12 Axes dre 13 3 (13 Bxet? 2h3) 13... DBT 14 DxF3 ? (14 Vxf3 exf3 15 Wa4y Sf8! 16 Hfdl £6 17 Axé3 St7 18 Wes +) 14... exf3 15 Wxf3 0-0 16 Bfcl? (16 Wxb7? Wxb7 17 Qxb7 Hab8 18 &g2 Bxb2; 16 ef!2) 16 ... Habs 17 Wes We7 18 Bc3 (18 f4) 18 ... b5 19 a3 c4 20 £3 (20 b3 Was; 20 Hdl Hfd8 21 Kec!) 20... fds 21 Bal Bxdi} 22 Qxdi Hd8 23 263 g6! (23... Ads 24 Wgd hS =) 24 Wic6 WeS 25 Wes Wxet 26 “Oxet Halt! 26 ... a5 27 Gfl) 27 Sg? a5 28 He2 bt 29 axbt axb4 30 2f3 Hb1 31 £2 31... D3! 32 Bd2 (32 Bc3 Bxb2 33 @xc4 Bo2!) 32 (cl(It threatens 33 ... Hc2!) 33 &d1 c3 34 bxc3 35 Exb2 Exdl 36 He2 £5 37 Bb2 Hel 38 Hb3 Bett 39 Gh3 He2 40 f4 h5 41 gd hegdt 42 sdxgd Hxh2 43 Ebt fs} 44 wg3 He2 45 Bot Exe3} 46 hd wg7 47 He7t Sf6 48 Hd7 S249 Hdot Sg7 0-1 "One of the most instructive examples I know of in the art of exploiting a slight advantage in position. Capablanca shows how to extract a win out of so small advantage as a majority of Pawns on the Queen side of the board.” (1. Chernev). "His play is an example of how slight advantages should be utilized." (Lasker)."THE MATCH WITH MARSHALL" “No difficulty was experienced in arranging the match. Marshall was disposed to play in this case where he nawrally discounted his victory, How far he was wrong the result proved. I beat him eight to one with Jourteen drams thrown in between. I can safely say that no player ever performed such a feat, ax it was my first ‘encounter against a master, and such a master, one of the first ten in the whole world. The most surprising Jeaure ofall was the fact that I played without having ever opened a book to study the openings; in fact, had Marshall played such things as Danish Gambits, Vienna openings, or the like, the result might have been diferent I certainly should have experienced more difficulty in obtaining such a result". “The play during the match showed that I was weak in the openings and just about strong ‘enough in the simple play for position. My great strength lay in the end game, and I also excelled in combinations of the middle game." "The match against Marshall increased Capablanca’s popularity on the American continent greatly, where the press was celebrating the "Cuban Morphy" exuberantly." (L). “Shortly after the conelusion of the match I returned home. I had been away five consecutive years ard had nearly forgotten Spanish - my mother tongue. In the winter of the same year, 1909-1910, I made second tour of the U.S." "Before going any further I will narrate an incident which proves that my good sense was not Inpaired by my surprising victory over Marshall. Soon after the match some of my new admirers talked to ‘me about arranging a match with Dr. Lasker for the championship of the world, and I told them that 1 would not consider it, for the simple reason that he was a much better player, and that I had to improve a great deal before I contemplated such a thing." . Wed! Wd7 20 26! 2e6 21 Qxe6 fxe6 (21 ... LAN x EE tee Wxe6??22 exf7}) 22.225 Wes (Itthreatened 23 eae Wh4) 23 Bxf8f Vxf8 24 Hl e5 25 Exf8}! exis uM Capablanca — Northrop C42 2g Wes digs 27 dxeS Hd8 28 Bxd8 Wxds 29 Lol 052. Df3 Af6 3 Dxes d6 4 DE3 Axed $d4d56 — Weot Hh8 30 Wh3t sags 31 Wh7y Sts 32 Whey Md3 2d6 (6... eT) 7 0-0 0-0 (7... De6!2) 8 cA! 6 dhe 33 Wg Tt dees 34 WEY dexeS 35 e7 West 9.83 Zixc3 10 bxe3 dxot 11 Wxo4 Bed 12 Wa 3G se Whdy 37 ed Welt 38 anid Wert 39 Qd7 (12... LHS 13 gS!) 13 Dgs Do (13 .. gu bel Welt 40 dic2 Wied 41 We7t 1-0 Bet!) 14 13 BhS 15 £4 ho 16 g4 hxgs 17 Fxgs Dxgd (17.65! 18 hxgd 25 Capablanca ~ Jaffe C90 1 ef 5 2 AP3 Acé 3 LbS a6 4 Lad DFG 5 0-0 Be7 6 Hel b5 7 2b3 d6 8 c3 2g47! 9 d3! 0.0 10 Dbd2 Das 11 Bc2 5 12 DF (12 h3! VS 13 ®F1 Dd7 14 g4! Vg6 15 Dg3 +) 12... We7 13 Xg5 (13 1312) 13... h6 14 Axio Bxfo 15 De3 Re6 16 We2 Hfd8 17 h4 We7 18 g3 Wd7 19 Aas Axd5 20 exdS g6 21 hS_gxhS 22 tg2 Wed 23 Eh hd 24 We3 @g5 25 Axes hxgs 26 di WS 27 gxht gxhd 28 Wns Wgok 29 Wager txg6 30 Eixh4 @g7 31 bt Db7 32 Vgd a5 33 Hahl Bhs 34 Exh8 Exh8 35 Bxh8 @xh8 36 a3 axb4 37 cxb4 o4 38 dxo4 bxe4 39 a4 c3 40 @d1 1-0 26 Capablanca — Rosenthal C65 Led 65 2 Df3 Dc6 3 &bS Afo 4 0-0 Be7 5 d3 do 18... Sxg4? [18 ... Wa7! 19 gxhS Wet 20 Sf2 6 Hel 0-0 7 Dbd2 Bed 8 c3 Sh8 9 Df1 Dhs 10 Dae8! 21 Mgl What 22 dg2 b5 23 &b3 (see h3 Sxf3 11 Wxf3 APE 12 g4 a6 13 Bad dS 14 Short-Hibner Tilburg, 1988) 23... Heal © 2] 19 -Gc2 d5 15 Dg3 dxed 16 dxed We8 17 DFS Bes 2918 Axg7! doxg7 19 Bh6t skg6 20 g5 DhS (20... Dg8 21 West WxF5 22 extSt hs 23 Lary ehd 24 Hest Gxh3 25 Sg4t Hh4 26 2F3¢ Gh3 27 Bg2i#) 21 WES Wxf5 22 exfS# 1-0 EXHIBITION GAMES - 1909 Havana - 1909 27 Capablanca - Jover co2 Led e5 2 DF3 Dc6 3 BbS dé 4 0-0 2d7 5 Hel a6 6 Sat 05 7 Gb3 £5 8 exfS Bxf5 9 d4 Dfo 10 dxeSdxeS 11 Wxd84 Hxd8 12 Ags Bd7 13 c3 Das 14 Ldl h6 15 DBF3 Ld6 16 DxeS Be? 17 DEB Hxelf 18 Axel 0-0 19 a4 b4 20 d2 c5 21 exb4 exb4 22 Bc2 xc? 23 Dxc2 He8 24 Del 2Dv3.25 Ha? Del 26 Hal "r-"r Schenectady - 1909 28 Capablanca — Watson cl4 Led 06 2 d4 d5 3 De3 Df6 4 Lg5 eT 5 eS DFd7 6 Lxe7 (6 ha!) 6 ... Wxe7 7 DbS Dbo!? 8 c3 (8 a4 a6 9 a5 axbS 10 axb6 Bxal 11 Wxal 6 =) 8... a6 9 a3 e5 10 De2 (10 F4; 10 AF3) 10 .., 0-0 11 Wd2 Dad 12 De3 bs 13 £4 £5 14 Df3 Lb7 15 Bd3 c4 16 Le2 Dd7 17 0-0 Dabé 18 Dgs h6 19 DF3 g5 20 g3 Wg7 21 Shi Wee 22 dl BAT 23 Bc2 DFS 24 fxgs hxgs 25 Dxf5! ext5 26 Axgs Rg7 27 Ext Who 28 Hafl Dbd7 29 h4 De6 30 HG Axfé 31 Hxfs Whs 32 Ad1 We8 33 Hxe6 1-0 St Louis - 1909 29 Capablanca ~ Wolbrecht C42 Led 05 2 D3 AVG 3 DxeS d6 4 Al3 Dos 5 dA ds 6 2d3 246 (6 ... eT) 7 0-0 &p4 8 Hel £59 04 067 9 0-0! 10h3! =) 10 c3 0-0 11 exd5% (11 h3!) 11 Qxh2t 12 dexh2 Axf2 13 We2 Axd3 14 Wrd3 Qxf3 15 Bs! (15 Wxd3? Wh4y) 15... Wxgs 16 Wef3 Wha}? (16 .. Dd7!) 17 Wh3 Wedd 18 Badd Wat 19 Sgl Wd6 20 He6 WeS} 21 dhl cxd5 22 Exds Wr2 23 He7 Welt 24 sbh2 Witt 25 Wg3 Wh6t 26 dg] Dc6 27 Exb7 Hae8 28 Hdd7 g6 30 29 Wgs!! 1-0 ‘CASUAL and OTHER GAMES - 1909 Havana - 1909 30 J. Corzo ~ Capablanca C46 Led &5 2 e3 Aco 3 DP Lb4 4 Dds Ba571 (4 BF6) 5 BoA (5 03!) 5... Dge7 6 De3 0-0 7 0-0 d6 & d4 exd4 9 Axd4 Dxd4 10 Wixd4 He2 Hfes? (14 .. Bac8) 15 e5! dxeS 16 fxe5.b6 11 Wa3 Dg6 12 £471 Wo 13 g3 Gh3 14 DxeS 17 Bxf6 Dxd3 18 Bxbs Dxcl 19 Exb7 Hxe3 20 Excl He? 21 LAS Le6 22 ExcT 22 @g2!) 22... Hxc7 23 @xa8 x02! 24 Bed [24 D3 g6! (24 ... @xb3? 25 Bdl Bc8 26 7 xc? 27 Rd2) 25 dS a5 26 Bot a4 27 Bal axb3 28 cxb3 Exot! =] 24... g6 25 wf2 £526 Bd3 &d5 27 b4 G7 28 04 Sf 29 Hel Leb 30 c5 g5 31 e3 hs 32 dd Hd7¢ 33 ce3 £4 34 Hel 2h3 35 BA 2£57! (35... e5) 36 &bS Bb7 37 a6 fxg3! 38 ExfSt! (38 hxg3 He7 39 c6 Sg6 40 243 Bxd3 41 xd3 He7 4) 38... SxfF 39 Lxb7 gxh2 40 Sd5? (40 ddd!) 40 ... Ges! 41 wed h4 42 bS £4.43 b6 axb6 44 cxb6 d6 45 b7 Gc7 46 Set3 g3 47 Seed 13.48 SFL Na-Ne Havana - 1909 31 J. Corzo — Capablanca C46 Led e5 2 Ac3 Ac6 3 AF3 Lb4 (3... DG; 3... 26)