Capablanca

All Things Chess
1

I recall Capablanca making a move in the opening of some game which should have cost him a piece but his opponent did not see the piece winning move. Does anyone know the game and opponent?

“In chess one can lose with age the strength and fullness of one’s vision, sureness in the order of one’s moves, resistance to fatigue, etc., but one never loses one’s judgement, and I imagine I still possess it.” - Capablanca aged 51

2

I noticed today would have been Capa’s 130th birthday. Does that count?

Alex Relyea

3

Very cool.

4

en.chessbase.com/post/raul-capa … rch-8-1942

5

Well, in Karlsbad 1929 Capa did drop a piece against Saemisch:

[Event “Karlsbad”]
[Date “1929.??.??”]
[White “Saemisch, Fritz”]
[Black “Capablanca, Jose Raul”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “E24”]
[EventCountry “SWE”]

  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 d6 6. f3 e5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be3 b6 9. Bd3 Ba6 10. Qa4 Bb7 11. d5 Qd7 12. dxc6 Bxc6 13. Qc2 O-O-O 14. Ne2 Qe6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. O-O h5 18. f4 Qh6 19. Rae1 Rhe8 20. f5 Qe3+ 21. Kh1 Qc5 22. Qc1 f6 23. Rf3 Rh8 24. Qb2 a5 25. Rb1 h4 26. Nd4 Bd7 27. Nb3 Qc6 28. Nxa5 Qa8 29. Nb3 h3 30. g3 g6 31. fxg6 f5 32. Qc2 Rhg8 33. Nd2 f4 34. gxf4 Rxg6 35. f5 Rg2 36. Rg1 Rdg8 37. Rxg2 hxg2+ 38. Kg1 Qxa3 39. Rg3 Rxg3 40. hxg3 Ba4 41. Qb1 Qxc3 42. Nf3 Bb3 43. Kxg2 Bxc4 44. Bxc4 Qxc4 45. Kf2 d5 46. exd5 e4 47. Nd2 Qxd5 48. Ke2 Qxf5 49. Qxe4 Qb5+ 50. Kf3 Qa5 51. Nc4 Qa1 52. g4 Qf1+ 53. Kg3 Qg1+ 54. Kh4 Qh2+ 55. Kg5 Kb8 56. Kg6 Ka7 57. g5 b5 58. Ne5 c5 59. Qd5 Qc2+ 60. Kf6 b4 61. g6 b3 62. g7 1-0

I first saw this in Chess Traps, Pitfalls and Swindles by Horowitz & Reinfeld (1954, page 41 diagram 34 of the paperback.) Kasparov in My Great Predecessors-I said that Capa was distracted by the unexpected arrival of his wife Gloria - since he was having an affair at the time. (p. 330)

There was also Capablanca - Euwe 1931 where Euwe missed a shot in the early middlegame on Black’s 18th (please ignore the unconverted ChessBase symbols in the below):

[Event “Match to Challenge Alekhine”]
[Site “Amsterdam”]
[Date “1931.28.07”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Capablanca, J.”]
[Black “Euwe, M.”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D17”]
[Annotator “Bachler,Kevin”]

  1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 Be6 {Deviating from the Brinckmann game.} 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. O-O Qa5 {[#] Trying to break the pin, and pressure the queenside to stop the minority attack.} 14. Ne4 Rd8 15. Qc2 Be7 {Diagram [#]} 16. b4 $3 {The minority attack comes anyway.} Bxb4 (16… Qc7 17. Nc5 Bc8 (17… Bxc5 18. Qxc5 f6 19. b5 $16) 18. Qe4 f6 19. Nd3 Bd6 20. b5 c5 21. Rac1 b6 22. Bxe5 fxe5 23. f4 $18) 17. Qb2 f6 18. Rfb1 $2 (18. Rab1 Be7 19. Bxe5 fxe5 20. Qxb7 Bd5 21. Rfd1 Kf7 22. Ng5+ Kf6 23. Bxd5 cxd5 24. Rb5 Qxa4 25. Rdxd5 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 h6 27. Nf3 e4 28. Nd4 $18) 18… O-O $2 (18… Nc4 19. Nxf6+ Kf7 $1 20. Qxb4 Rd1+ 21. Rxd1 Qxb4 22. Ne4 h6 23. Rab1 Qe7 24. Nd6+ Nxd6 25. Bxd6 Qd7 26. Be5 Qc8 $19) 19. Bxe5 fxe5 20. Ng5 Bc3 21. Qc2 Bf5 22. Be4 g6 23. Qa2+ Kg7 24. Rxb7+ Rd7 25. Rab1 Qa6 26. Qb3 Rxb7 27. Qxb7+ Qxb7 28. Rxb7+ Kg8 29. Bxc6 Rd8 30. Rxa7 Rd6 31. Be4 Bd7 32. h4 Bd4 33. Ra8+ Kg7 34. e3 Bc3 35. Bf3 1-0
6

Thanks for this Kevin. My memory is not what is was earlier in life but what has stuck with me is that Capa could have lost a piece very early in the game, but his opponent did not see it. By early I mean before the tenth move, maybe earlier. Then again, it could be the Saemisch game and my memory is playing tricks on me, but for some reason my tricky memory is telling me Capa was white in the game to which I am referring.

Players who want to improve should take their defeats as lessons, and endeavor to learn what to avoid in the future. You must also have the courage of your convictions. If you think your move is good, make it. -
Jose Raul Capablanca

7

This article may be of interest: chesshistory.com/winter/extr … lanca.html

I recall Capablanca’s annotation error against Chajes, and wonder if it might be something like that. I’m not aware of Capablanca otherwise ever hanging material early.