The Daily Deal
One Best-Selling Item
At an Incredible Price
View Today's Daily Deal Now

Home * Contact Us
My Account
View Cart * Shipping Info
Member Login

Members

Downloads

Articles

Beginners

Reviews

Tech Help

Chess Software
Chess Playing Chess Training Database Mgmt Chess Databases Chess for MAC Chess Handhelds
Chess Equipment
Chess Sets/Pieces Chess Boards Chess Boxes/Bags Chess Computers Chess Clocks Schools/Clubs
Chess by Subject
Beginners Chess for Kids Chess Openings King's Pawn Queen's Pawn Various Middlegame Endgame Biographies Tournaments Classic Chess General
Chess by Format
Chess in Print Chess on CD Chess E-Books Chess Download Chess DVDs Chess Magazines
Chess & Beyond
Chess Accessories Chess Art Variant Software eClassics Gift Ideas Gift Wrap
Ordering Info
Shipping Rates Delivery Time Returns Privacy Security Help Contact Us Affiliate Program Link to Us

Chess Goldmine!

Battle Chess and Battle Chess 4000
Chess Software
FREE Demo
Chess Download!

Read about ChessCentral
in the
New York Times

Chess Forum
Help, Tips and
Discussion

Jose Capablanca

3rd World Champion

by
Convekta

$25.95

Capablanca was possibly the greatest player in the entire history of chess. - Bobby Fischer

640 commented games played by the 3rd World Champion, Jose Raul Capablanca. All the games are deeply annotated by GM Khailfman and various St. Petersburg IMs.
Biography, tournament and match records
A large number of rare photos
250 of the most interesting and instructive positions from his games in an additional instructional program “Play as Capablanca”

Jose Raul Capablanca was crowned the third World Chess Champion in 1921. A colorful diplomat and renowned author of several chess books, his flamboyant style and chess genius are still marveled at today!

He was first acquainted with chess at the age of 4 by watching his father play. In 1901, when he was 13, he defeated the Cuban champion, Juan Corzo, in a match 7-6 (+4 –3 =6). His play at that time was already remarkable for its deep positional understanding and efficiency in calculating.

In 1911, he went to Europe for the first time where he took part in a top international tournament in the town of San Sebastian, Spain. In 1913, Capablanca appeared in no less than 3 tournaments, achieving 1st place in both the New York events and 2nd place in Havana.

The spring of 1914 saw him participating in the international tournament in St. Petersburg, coming in a remarkable 2nd, just half a point behind Lasker (2nd World Champion), and 3 points ahead of 3rd place holder Alekhine (4th World Champion).

During World War I Capablanca played 3 tournaments held in New York (1915, 1916, and 1918) and triumphed in all three. Shortly after the Great War, in 1919, he won the classic Hastings event in England. The match Lasker - Capablanca took place in Havana in the spring of 1921, and after 14 games, towards the end of April, Jose Raul Capablanca gained a persuasive victory and was declared the 3rd World Chess Champion.

He was dubbed The Chess Machine, for his chess technique, making use of the tiniest advantages in a position. In fact, he went undefeated for 8 whole years, until up New York 1924 in a famous game against Reti (his only defeat). Since winning his title he had been challenged by many of the top masters of the time (Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Alekhine and so on), and as such he had created a full set of rules to govern world championship matches, which was presented at the London tournament in 1922 and signed by the contenders. In 1927 Capablanca played in a very strong New York tournament, where all players faced each other 4 times, and featured the world’s best players, including Alekhine. The Cuban scored a resounding victory with 8 wins and 12 draws, and a mini-match victory over Alekhine. This perhaps led him to underestimate Alekhine, to whom he lost his title later that year in Buenos Aires with a score of 15.5 – 18.5 (+3, - 6, =25).

From 1928 to 1931, Capablanca took part in no less than 10 tournaments, taking first place in Berlin (1928), Ramsgate (1929), Budapest (1928 and 1929), Barcelona (1929), Hastings (1929/30), New York (1931) and 2nd place in the other 3 (Bad Kissingen (1928), Carlsbad (1929), Hastings (1930/31), not to mention winning a 10-game match against Euwe in 1931 (+2, =8). During this period he played no less than 116 games, losing only 4.

In 1936 Capablanca once more achieved impressive results, coming 1st in Moscow, ahead of Botvinnik, and 1st/2nd in Nottingham (tied with Botvinnik), leaving Euwe, Alekhine and Lasker behind.

Jose Raul Capablanca continued to be one of the world’s strongest chess players until his death.

Here is what other champions have said about Capablanca:

“I have known other great masters, but only one genius: Capablanca.” - Emanuel Lasker

“I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent. When a pianist plays, we don’t hear separate notes, but we hear a musical picture. Capablanca as well didn’t make separate moves – he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this.” (Mikhail Botvinnik – 1984)

“Among the champions who I met a lot, it was just Capablanca that impressed me most.” - M. Botvinnik, The 6th World Champion.

“Personally, I think the best chessplayer of all times was Capablanca […]” - Boris Spassky

Here is a collection of 630 commented games played by the 3rd World Champion, Jose Raul Capablanca, spanning his entire career. All the games are deeply annotated by GM Khalifman and St. Petersburg IMs. Includes also a biography, tournament and match records, and a number of rare photos.

A special interactive tutorial section, “Play as Capablanca”, contains 220 selected quiz positions taken from Capablanca’s games, in which you can try to find both strong and beautiful moves played by Capablanca. While solving, you are provided with refutations for your wrong moves and hints to help you. Your rating is calculated according to your success and is adjusted after each example.

It comes supplied with Chess Assistant abridged version, and the built-in chess playing program Crafty, so that:

No additional software is required.

Essential: IBM-compatible PC with Pentium 75 CPU, 12 MB memory (RAM), Hard Disk (30 MB of free disk space for the program and databases), VGA graphics, Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP, CD-ROM drive, Microsoft-compatible mouse.

Recommended: P2 CPU, 32 MB or more RAM, Super VGA graphics with 256 colors and 1024x768 screen mode.