This November 19 is World Chess Day, a celebration instituted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in recognition of the trajectory of the Cuban world champion Jose Raul Capablanca Graupera, born on a similar date in 1888.
José Raúl Capablanca, the most brilliant Cuban chess player and one of the best chess players of all times worldwide, who learned to play the so-called science game at the age of four by observing his father’s technique.
Grand Master, Glory of Cuban Sport and World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927, Capablanca was known as «The chess playing machine»; in his career he accumulated a total of 302 victories, 246 draws and 35 defeats, he has been the only holder of the orb that Cuba and Latin America have had in history.
The oldest surviving game of Jose Raul dates back to the age of five and was played at the Havana Chess Club on September 17, 1893 against Ramon Iglesias, who offered the youngster the queen advantage; at seven he beat the Frenchman Tabernhaus, who was visiting the Cuban capital, with the same handicap; and in December 1901 he defeated Master Juan Corzo y Principe, and won the title of Champion of Cuba.
Jose Raul Capablanca was an exceptional player recognized, also, as «The Mozart of Chess»; his best games are considered a paradigm of the simplicity of geniuses, true works of art, because his deep understanding of strategy was far superior to what was known until then.
In his honor, since 1962, the classic International Capablanca In Memoriam Tournament has been held every year in Cuba, an event in which world champions and the main Grand Masters have participated, international chess players from all over the world have reached international standards and it is also the cradle of the development of Latin American chess.