My Chess Career by José R. Capablanca in new format
“They show the vivacious spirit of enterprise and combination proper in a youngster, but lack, naturally, some of the compact, machine-like force which characterises the games of the great masters.”
I have had an idea to take a look at Capablanca’s book ‘My Chess Career’ since I published the anniversary edition of ‘Chess Fundamentals’. My educational background is in history and I work as an archivist, so I have a great interest in the past and would love to bring an important chess book from the past back into the spotlight.
The plan is to turn ‘My Chess Career’ into a newsletter series with one game per post, that you hopefully will enjoy reading. If you don’t know the book it was first published in 1920 and contains 35 games annotated by Capablanca.
I will take some liberties with the editing due to the format. I will add pictures, extra diagrams, engine evals (these will be included in a section at the end of each post I will call ‘The Post Mortem’), highlighted quotes, links to a Lichess study, and a GIF of the game. Hopefully, it will bring some new life into the book and make it an interesting read.
Remember to leave a comment below with your thoughts about the game or any feedback about the first post. If the newsletter series becomes a success I might turn it into a book in the end. We will see how it goes. Enjoy!
Games
Game 1: Corzo vs. Capablanca, 1900
Game 2: Capablanca vs. Corzo, 1900
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/Martin
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