Capablanca and Books

There should be no question that study of the games of José Raúl Capablanca will benefit any chess player.

Had I made a New Year's Resolution to study the games and works of Capablanca in 2021, it would be my satisfaction to report excellent progress. But I have lost that particular self-improvement habit. Nonetheless, the pursuit of knowledge is central to all that I do. 

My long-lasting advocacy of Chess Fundamentals (1921) as a terrific resource for beginning players was given as a boost as Netflix's Queen's Gambit (2020) brought a surge in the number of beginners seeking advice. I created "Advice for Beginners" so that I could avoid typing the same thing day-after-day, and so my answer could be more detailed. 

Writing that article motivated me to reread Chess Fundamentals, a task made easier by purchasing both the algebraic edition in paperback and an ebook version in ChessBase format. Rapidly, my collection of books by and about Capablanca began to grow from two books that I have had several years to fifteen (at the moment of this writing).

Capablanca, José R. Chess Fundamentals. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934.

I have only a vague recollection of buying this book sometime in the 1990s. Much clearer is my horror when I found a position in the text that I had been shown at the Spokane Chess Club, and proven myself ignorant as to the solution (see "Capablanca's Sources").

Capablanca, José. Chess Fundamentals. London: Everyman Chess Classics, 1994.

Anyone lacking a copy of Chess Fundamentals should order this book forthwith. Be careful that you are getting this copy (a reprint) or a used copy of the original Cadogan Chess version from 1994. See my footnote to "Advice for Beginners" for more detail.

Capablanca, José. Chess Fundamentals, rev. and updated by Nick de Firmian. New York: Random House, 2006.

Aside from acknowledging that I bought a used copy last spring, I have nothing to add to Edward Winter, "Capablanca Book Destroyed", Chess History Center, updated 6 August 2020.

Capablanca, José R. A Primer of Chess, rpt. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc, 1977 (1935).

Capablanca considered A Primer of Chess as a companion to Chess Fundamentals. There is some overlap, especially in the section on elementary checkmates and basic pawn endings. This book, however, begins with the basic rules of the game, omitted from the earlier book. Some of the discussion on openings is a bit more detailed than in Chess Fundamentals, and the tactics portion is less oriented towards forced checkmates. I concur with the author's assessment.

Capablanca, José Raoul. Last Lectures: The Chess Legacy of José Raoul Capablanca. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1966.

This book offers a print version of lectures that Capablanca delivered over the radio shortly before his death. It could be seen as the third in his trilogy for beginners. The themes are in the spirit of the two earlier books, but the examples differ.

Capablanca, José Raúl. World's Championship Matches, 1921 and 1927. New York: Dover, 1977.

This book is a republication of Capablanca's limited edition book on the match that was published by American Chess Bulletin in 1921. It also republishes a 1928 book on the match with Alekhine with annotations by Fred D. Yates and William Winter.

Capablanca, José Raúl. Capablanca x3: My Chess Career, A Primer of Chess, Chess Fundamentals. London: Everyman Chess Classics, 2017.

This book presents in facsimile the text of My Chess Career (1920), along with algebraic versions of Capablanca's other two books. The pagination of each volume is retained. With the others listed above, this gives me three print copies of Chess Fundamentals, two of which are identical.

Chernev, Irving. Capablanca's Best Chess Endings. New York: Dover, 1978.

This is one of prolific author Irving Chernev's most highly regarded books. He offers sixty complete games arranged chronologically, selected based on the endings. The index, "Principal themes in the endings" (287), has been useful to me while looking for instructive lessons for my students. I bought this book after losing the Spokane City Championship in 2012. My opponent beat me in a nice endgame in one of the games and credited study of this book for having prepared him.

Del Rosario, Frisco. Capablanca: A Primer of Checkmate. Newton Highlands, MA: Mongoose Press, 2010.

Frisco del Rosario took the structure of the classic Renaud and Kahn, The Art of the Checkmate and developed a similar text using Capablanca's games. Naturally, it is less comprehensive than Renaud and Kahn, as Capablanca did not have the opportunity to employ the full range of patterns. Even so, it is a terrific instructional book.

Gilchrist, J., and D. Hooper. Weltgeschichte des Scachs, no. 14: Jose Raoul Capablanca. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. E. Wildhagen, 1963.

This book contains all of Capablanca's match and tournament games with a diagram every five moves. There is not much need for such texts in these days of databases and websites, but it served a purpose when it was published.

Golombek, Harry. Capablanca's 100 Best Games of Chess. London: B.C.M. Classic Reprints, 1989.

This book offers reasonably insightful annotations for the pre-computer age. I examine the annotations to the first game in some detail in "Is Less More?"

Hooper, David, and Dale Brandreth. The Unknown Capablanca. New York: R.H.M. Press, 1975.

This book gathers games from exhibitions and lesser matches. It serves well as a companion to Gilchrist and Hooper, above, when you need to study Capablanca's games without computers and the internet.

Linder, Isaak, and Vladimir Linder. José Raúl Capablanca: 3rd World Chess Champion, trans. Boris Belitsky. Milford, CT: Russell Enterprises, 2010.

Although I read this book in two afternoons after it arrived, I cannot recommend it enthusiastically. The authors are a bit sloppy with factual matters, even claiming to find a forced checkmate that Capablanca missed because they have incorrect notation. Lasker played 41...Qd7, but they have 41...Qd2 (82). Even so, it is readable. For a quick overview of Capablanca's life and chess achievements, it is a place to begin.

Reinfeld, Fred. The Immortal Games of Capablanca. New York: Dover, 1990.

Which is preferable, the annotations of Harry Golombek or those of Fred Reinfeld? This book contains 112 games.

Sánchez, Miguel A. José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2015.

This book is the definitive biography of Capablanca, expanding on a Spanish edition published decades earlier, Capablanca, Leyenda y Realidad (1978). Miguel Sánchez's scholarship is first-rate and the book is well-written.

Winter, Edward. Capablanca: A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Chess Genius José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1989.

As the long title indicated, this book assembles primary materials relating to Capablanca's work and life. These are presented with Edward Winter's exemplary attention to detail and often wit.

There are other books about Capablanca, but these are the ones I have on my shelves.