"e;Chess was his mother tongue."e; − Richard RétiUndoubtedly one of the strongest players the games has ever seen, the Cuban master José Raul Capablanca (1888–1942) was renowned for his lightning-quick chess comprehension, faultless judgment, and nearly unrivaled endgame skill, qualities which enabled him to win and retain the World Championship from 1921 to 1927.His remarkable talent is evident in this superbly annotated treasury of 113 of his greatest games, regarded as one of the classics of chess literature. Study "e;the chess machine"e; in action against a host of the world's finest layers, including Marshall, Alekhine, Nimzovich, Dr. Lasjer, Bogolyubov, Tartakower, Marocsy, Euwe, Colle, Znosko-Borovsky, and many others. Although he claimed to have learned more from his losses than his victories, Capablanca was seldom in a position to benefit from defeat. In a career that spanned over 40 years, he lost only 36 serious games.Capablanca's success was largely due to his enormous natural talent for the game. He disliked learning chess from books and was seldom inclined to prepare for a match. He simply played. And when he did, he made it seem easy. His best games are models of beauty, economy, clarity, and imagination.Now chess players can study his incredible prowess in this superb games collection, which also contains a revealing biography of Capablanca, his tournament and match record, and an Index of Openings. Any chess player will derive great satisfaction from this book, whether he studies the games for sheer pleasure or to increase his playing skill.
