Capablanca's Sources

As I am rereading J. R. Capablanca's classic Chess Fundamentals (1921), I marvel at how much content he packs into such a short book. With respect to pawn endgames, in particular, he presents a small number of examples that together constitute a substantial amount endgame knowledge.

When Nate Fewel showed me this position at the Spokane Chess Club in the mid-1990s, I had a copy of Chess Fundamentals, but had not spent much time studying it. I failed to solve this elementary position. When I was glancing through Capablanca's book a short time after Nate showed the position to me and saw it there, I began to to read the text with some diligence. Over the next few years, my endgame skills improved dramatically.

White to move

Capablanca did not compose the exercise. The breakthrough idea with pawns lined up as they are here dates back at least to Carlo Cozio, Il Giuoco degli Scacchi (1766). Endgame Study Database VI by Harold van der Heiden has this position credited to Cozio (see "Endgame Study Database").

White to move

Although I do not know the contents of Capablanca's library, it seems reasonable to believe that he would have had access to Johann Berger, Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele (1891), as it was the standard endgame work of the day. Position number 539 of Berger's book credits J. H. Sarratt, A Treatise on the Game of Chess (1808).

White to move

Sarratt has the White king on h1 and the Black king on g3, which is closer to what Nate showed me. In all cases, the moves are the same. White achieves the breakthrough by advancing the b-pawn, which Black captures. Then, depending on how Black captures, White sacrifices either the a-pawn or the c-pawn, so the other may promote.

Capablanca also notes that Black on the move draws by advancing the b-pawn.