Capablanca reminiscences

[Hans Jung]

https://en.chessbase.com/post/capabl...uvencio-blanco Fascinating article about Capablanca. Presented as an imaginary interview. I learned several things about Capa I had not known before.

[Frank Dixon]

The biggest element which the chess world missed out on was a possible World Championship rematch between Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, after Alekhine won their 1927 title match. Capablanca had never lost a game to Alekhine leading into that match, over nearly 15 years of competition.

Not only that, but Alekhine used the power of his position as champion to keep Capablanca out of tournaments which he was playing, for the next nine years! This dreadful conduct by the champion did much to hold back worldwide interest in chess during that time.

Not until the 1936 Nottingham super-tournament, by which time Alekhine was no longer world champion, did they meet again over the board, and Capablanca won that game!! Looking at the tournament book for Nottingham (written by Alekhine), particularly at their head-to-head game, one can easily see that Alekhine stinted on the notes and analysis for it, not giving Capablanca sufficient credit for his victory (the diagram in the book is incorrect as well!). Capablanca tied for first place at Nottingham with Mikhail Botvinnik (23 years younger), after finishing ahead of him, in clear first place, unbeaten, in the Moscow 1936 super-tournament.

Looking at Capablanca's results over those nine years, one can only conclude that a possible rematch would have been a very close-run affair. Alekhine, after disparaging Capablanca's play after their title match as not worthy of a rematch, did lose to amateur Max Euwe in 1935; Euwe granted Alekhine a rematch in 1937 (being under no obligation to do so), and Alekhine reclaimed the title. Happily, the world championship system was soon to be reformed, into a vastly better format. The leadership role in that reform effort was performed by Max Euwe.

The only player with a lifetime plus score over Capablanca was Paul Keres, 28 years younger. And not until Zurich 1934 did Alekhine manage to defeat former champion Emanuel Lasker (24 years older) head-to-head in a tournament game!

[Erik Malmsten]

From Alekhine's viewpoint Capablanca had wealthy patrons and Capa would only agree to a match if Alekhine could raise an equal amount. It took years of touring and toil for Alekhine to raise that kind of money. Capablanca didn't have to do any work to raise his half of the prize fund, could just relax and live a lavish lifestyle. So Alekhine was very bitter about it.

[Frank Dixon]

So, Erik, when you point this out, and it is important, you are discussing the lead-in period to their FIRST match, in 1927, yes!?

My counter is this: Perhaps if Alekhine had had a somewhat more open and friendly personality, he could also have raised money for the first match more easily, from wealthy patrons in France, USA, and perhaps the UK, and elsewhere in Europe. He also lived a luxurious lifestyle, apparently.

For the never-to-be-held rematch, Alekhine probably realized that if he did play it, he could very easily lose to Capablanca, even if he played excellently. He evidently liked the experience of being World Champion too much to be concerned with the criticism he endured for not granting Capa a rematch. Instead, he granted Efim Bogolyubov TWO World Title matches, in 1929 and 1934, winning both handily. Bogo at that stage, while still strong, was very much below the level of Alekhine and Capablanca; Bogo's peak had been 1924-25, before he defected from the USSR.

[Erik Malmsten]

So, Erik, when you point this out, and it is important, you are discussing the lead-in period to their FIRST match, in 1927, yes!?

My counter is this: Perhaps if Alekhine had had a somewhat more open and friendly personality, he could also have raised money for the first match more easily, from wealthy patrons in France, USA, and perhaps the UK, and elsewhere in Europe. He also lived a luxurious lifestyle, apparently.

Travelling across Canada was not luxurious, and Alekhine had to save most of his money for the match, not spend it lavishly. But yes, why couldn't he get sponsors?

Yes, lazy Capa would have to actually do some work and prepare to win the rematch. He was the more talented, better player.

[Brad Thomson]

Capablanca was Nick's favourite player. He said he would ask himself what Capablanca would do in certain positions and then play the move. Do some of you see similarities in their respective styles?

[Erik Malmsten]

After Capablanca defeated Lasker it was quite clear that Alekhine was the only natural challenger, but Capablanca didn’t want that and put strict terms on money and location. Capablanca and Alekhine’s ratings remained pretty close, but Alekhine overtook him after their match. Bogoljubow was next on the list, or should Alekhine have also played Nimzowitsch or Vidmar?

Edo historical chess ratings:

1917
Capablanca 2783
Lasker 2721
Alekhine 2686

1918
Capablanca 2797 +14
Lasker 2706
Alekhine 2704 +18
Vidmar 2605

1919
Capablanca 2811 +14 highest ever
Lasker 2696
Alekhine 2694 -10
Vidmar 2602

1920
Capablanca 2798 -13
Lasker 2687
Alekhine 2676 -18
Vidmar 2602

1921
Capablanca 9-5 Lasker
Capablanca 2786 -12
Lasker 2693
Alekhine 2674 -2
Rubinstein 2604
Vidmar 2601

1922
Capablanca 2768 -18
Lasker 2706
Alekhine 2675 +1
Vidmar 2616
Rubinstein 2611

1923
Capablanca 2745 -23
Lasker 2719
Alekhine 2668 -7
Vidmar 2609
Nimzowitsch 2604

1924
Lasker 2731
Capablanca 2722 -21
Alekhine 2666 -2
Bogoljubow 2644
Nimzowitsch 2618
Vidmar 2614

1925
Lasker 2699
Capablanca 2693 -31
Alekhine 2685 +19
Bogoljubow 2653 highest ever
Vidmar 2619
Nimzowitsch 2613

1926
Alekhine 2701 +16
Capablanca 2682 -11
Lasker 2670
Nimzowitsch 2638 highest ever
Vidmar 2624 highest ever
Bogoljubow 2615

1927
Alekhine 18.5-15.5 Capablanca
Alekhine 2683 -18
Capablanca 2679 -3
Lasker 2656
Nimzowitsch 2619

1928
Alekhine 2693 +10
Capablanca 2662 -17
Lasker 2642
Nimzowitsch 2610
Bogolijubow 2592

1929
Alekhine 15.5-10.5 Bogolijubow
Alekhine 2702 +9
Capablanca 2653 -9
Lasker 2628
Nimzowitsch 2607
Bogolijubow 2580
Botvinnik 2579
Rubinstein 2570
Euwe 2569
Vidmar 2538

1930
Alekhine 2722 +20 highest ever
Capablanca 2634 -19
Lasker 2614
Botvinnik 2608

[Erik Malmsten]

Capablanca was Nick's favourite player. He said he would ask himself what Capablanca would do in certain positions and then play the move. Do some of you see similarities in their respective styles?

Nick might have enjoyed the song My Dear Capablanca:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21QpsK7LRM4

[Hans Jung]

Capablanca was Nick's favourite player. He said he would ask himself what Capablanca would do in certain positions and then play the move. Do some of you see similarities in their respective styles?

Yes, some of Nick's best were Capablanca-like. On the other hand, more often Nick liked to finish with tactical flourishes. I'll have to go consult Nick's Best.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131010 This was the first game chronologically in Nick's Best and surprisingly the only reference to Capablanca by Lawrence Day was in regards to Nick's opponents position. Not meaning to upstage Lawrence but I can certainly do one better, In the book there is a diagram after White's 26.Nc6. Lawrence says: "Out of the fog, Nickoloff has established a clear advantage" and after move 21.Ra4 "Very blunt". I would say the whole sequence is Capablanca -like. At move 36 Lawrence who usually paints verbal vistas just uses four sparse words. "The rest is gruesome". I would say: "Look at those knights!"

This was the first game I personally saw between the two heavy weights. Of course, back then it was all in the future, in reality expert vs master., two raw talents.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1479329 This game was Lawrence's Capablanca choice. Its annotated on pg 172 to 174 of Nick's Best. His annotation on 15...Bxa3 is: "Frankly this move, although good, surprised me. Having the bee-bees versus Bishop and Knight is a well-known edge. But part of Capablanca theory was simplifying by exchanging one advantage for another.. With the opposite coloured Bees White's Kingside will remain fatally weak, and right into the endgame.
and on move 33.Kh3 after the diagram: "The Nick's Capablanca impersonation has arrived at a winning position. However a key difference would have been that Capa had lots of time on his clock to thoroughly analyse the attacking 33...g5! whereas Nick was entering a time scramble etc."

[Frank Dixon]

The Edo rating lists include many more events, as compared to chessmetrics.com, for historical players, which is much better from the standpoint of completeness and accuracy. However, the chessmetrics ratings seem more in balance with current and more recent FIDE ratings. For the very top players of historical eras, the ranking order is very close, comparing the two systems.

What is clear from both is that Capablanca maintained a very high position, even after losing the world title match to Alekhine in 1927. Alekhine's public criticism of Capablanca's performances following the match seems inaccurate.

I was looking at Fedor Bohatirchuk on both systems. He tied for the Soviet Championship title in 1927, among several other strong results, but never had the chance to compete outside the USSR during his prime years; that makes it tricky from a statistical measurement standpoint. Edo has the most complete formulation of his career I have ever seen, vastly beyond chessmetrics. Edo has him in the mid-2500s, at his peak, while chessmetrics has him in the 2620 range, #15 in the world, at that time.

Returning to the Nickoloff debate, related to Capablanca's style, my favorite Nick game remains Wachtel vs Nickoloff, Toronto Closed 1975. It was annotated in Masters' Forum in the magazine. Nick, playing Black in one of his pet lines, the Archangelsk variation of the Spanish. He had reached NM and was on his way up at that time. He would earn the IM title through Mexican events in the early 1980s. I think he would have made GM had he followed that up with a couple of years in Europe circa 1982-86.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1479303 Here you go Frank. Copiously annotated by Lawrence it is titled: The Birth of the Nick System. pg 23 -26 in Nick's Best. I would agree: Capablanca - like, especially with the pawn islands, simplification, and the exquisite finish.

[Frank Dixon]

Thanks, Hans. When I wrote my Nickoloff memorial tribute article for chessbase.com, a few days after he passed away in August 2004, they told me I could include no more than ten Nick games.

Here is that reference: http://en.chessbase.com/post/im-bryo...off-1956-2004-

Both the wins over Spraggett and Wachtel are included in that group of ten super Nick games. I aimed to span his master career of 30 years, with a variety of openings, and these games cover 1975-2004. All the games included in the article can be played through there, on the screen.

Here are my other selections:
BN 1/2 GM Daniel Fridman, Kapuskasing Canadian Open 2004 (I was an arbiter for this event);
Y. Molchanov 0-1 BN, Kapuskasing Canadian Open 2004 (his last tournament game);
GM Michael Wilder 0-1 BN, Toronto International Open 1987;
GM William Watson 0-1 BN, Saint John International Open II 1988;
BN 1-0 GM Krunoslav Hulak, New York Open 1989;
BN 1-0 IM (later GM) Alexander LeSiege, Canadian Zonal, Hamilton 1994;
BN 1-0 IM (later GM) Alexander LeSiege, Toronto vs. Montreal team match, Kingston 1994 (an event I helped organize!);
GM Alexei Shirov 1/2 BN, North Bay International Open 1994.

A final gem with BN: on the Saturday evening, July 17, following round nine at Kapuskasing 2004, I hosted a small party for Bryon and a few others, players and organizers, at the apartment I was using for the event (courtesy of the organizers). I put together some wine, beer, brandy, juice, fruit, pastries, sub sandwiches, etc. It was clear to all that Bryon was in rough shape, but he fought like a lion in that tournament. There was a combined spirit of both happiness and sadness enveloping the party. Probably 15 to 20 people stopped by, for a drink, sandwich, and visit, along with some blitz chess (I had borrowed some sets and clocks!). We wrapped up just before midnight, in deference to an earlier starting time the next day for the final round.

AND: I paid IM Bryon Nickoloff for a training session, and game, FD vs. BN, at G/45', in my new line in the Nimzo-Indian, with 4.Nh3. The result was an honorable draw, and I believe I still have the game score somewhere! BN liked the line! My tournament colleague, IA Yves Casaubon, held the fee for that, for Bryon, until the last round was over; with an agreement that should I, as an arbiter be called upon to rule on BN's last round game, I would defer to Yves. As it turned out, nothing happened, except for a wonderful win by Bryon. And Bryon apologized to me in person for his conduct at the 1992 Canadian Zonal in Kingston; he had at the time apologized to IA Alex Knox, head arbiter. So that meant a lot to me!

Bryon left the party very happy, with a half-full bottle of exotic Bulgarian apricot brandy! I had bought it at a specialty shop in Gatineau.

Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

[Frank Dixon]

Jose Raul Capablanca, born in late 1888, grew up in a prosperous and influential Cuban military family; his father was a senior officer. He was a child prodigy in chess, and was already his nation's strongest player by his early teens, defeating the adult champion Juan Corzo in a match. He enrolled as an outstanding student at the prestigious Columbia University in New York City; this opportunity was itself a major indicator of his family's prestige. But Capa was soon spending much more time on chess than his studies, leaving Columbia without a degree after losing interest in his engineering course. Capa did compete in a few university matches for Columbia; these were the early years of what has evolved into the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championships of today. New York was one of the world's great chess cities; then, since, and now.

Capa became a world-class player at 20, with his 1909 astonishing, one-sided match defeat (8 wins to 1, with 14 draws) of USA champion Frank Marshall. Marshall was already a world-class international player for a decade when that match took place, and the result made news around the chess world. Capa became a member of the Cuban diplomatic service, once he attained world-class stature in chess, and was the most famous Cuban in the world from his mid-20s. This role allowed him travel around the world on the Cuban government payroll, to fulfill his duties as his nation's ambassador, and to further develop his chess. Extraordinarily handsome, and invariably dressed elegantly in public settings. he was evidently very charming from a personal standpoint. Combining all this with exceptional chess talent, he became a world-level figure, known simply as 'Capa!'; one name was enough to be everywhere known by! All of this made him friends and admirers wherever he went, especially in the heavily class-emphasized hierarchy of that era. Already in a very good position for his future life, as a youth, he steadily expanded and improved it.

Alexander Alekhine, born in late 1892, was the son of a very wealthy Russian nobleman, who was a member of the conservative Fourth Duma of Czar Nicholas II. Young Alekhine lived a luxurious life as a youth, already travelling to Germany on an extended trip, to compete in chess as a 15-year-old in 1908, and either a Master or close to it from that juncture. This was an unheard-of privilege in that era! He became one of the top players in the world by his early 20s, and encountered Capablanca first on the Cuban's exhibition tour of Europe, following his victory at San Sebastian 1911, over a world-class field. Capa soon proved his chess superiority over the young Russian. At the St. Petersburg 1914 super tournament, held in winter, and sponsored by the Czar, the final outcome had World Champion Emanuel Lasker first, Capablanca (20 years younger than Lasker) very narrowly second, and Alekhine an excellent third. This was the last major chess event held before the outbreak of World War I several months later. The War brought international chess activity to an almost complete stop until 1919.

The war was to bring a drastic change to Alekhine's life. He served in the Czar's army, but the war was going badly for the Russian leadership, who also faced major class upheaval at home. The Czar was overthrown in 1917, after making a separate peace with Germany and its allies. The Czar and his family were slaughtered by the insurgent Lenin-led Bolsheviks the next year. The new Soviet Union, fully formed only by 1922 following vicious civil war, became the world's first Communist state. Alekhine became a hunted figure, in fear for his life, with, evidently, several narrow escapes, and having lost the wealth, power, and privilege his birthright had seemingly secured for him. He did win what was later recognized as the first Soviet Championship in 1920, but left the evolving new Soviet Union with little more than the clothes on his back the next year, never to return. It was a mighty fall for the very proud young Russian.

Meanwhile, Capa defeated Lasker convincingly in a world title match held in his home city Havana in 1921. Evidently, Alekhine was intensely jealous of his Cuban rival; this should not be surprising, on examination of the reversal of their fortunes. Alekhine, very much the busier tournament campaigner and tourer in the 1920s, compared to Capablanca, was not to defeat him head-to-head over the board, until their very first match game, Buenos Aires 1927. Alekhine went on to win the match, 6-3, with 25 draws; only one game remained between them until very late, when Capa lost steam as the marathon encounter lasted well beyond previous world title matches.