Book Review: Capablanca, Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala
Book Review: Capablanca, Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala
A not-too-shabby look at Capablanca, and not just his endgames.
This is a very decent collection of 59 games by 3rd official chess world champion Jose Raul Capablanca, divided into five themes as chapters (though some games could have been included in multiple chapters): attack, defense, exploiting imbalances (e.g. knight vs bishop, two rooks vs queen), accumulating advantages, and endings (endgames).
The chapter on the attack is perhaps a shock, because Capablanca wasn't known for dashing play. He might even have had a reputation of being “boring”, but this certainly was not the case all the time. He was a pure genius on the board and the games in this chapter are just further proof. Capa was no less an attacking player than Morphy or Alekhine.
The chapter on defense might make you cringe -- it's unbelievable some of the positions that Capablanca willfully placed himself in and then managed to draw or even swindle a win from his opponent.
The next two chapters are pretty similar thematically, though they have their emphases. This is where the book takes on the role of a light guide to chess strategy. The nice thing about Capa's games is that his competition wasn't nearly as fierce as in later eras of chess, so his ideas are much clearer. In fact, there are many moments in multiple games here and elsewhere in the book where Capa's play looks like it's from the 21st century -- he was that ahead of his time.
Last chapter: In my opinion, if you desire to understand strategic endgames at their core, you must study Capablanca's. His play is often simple and understated, methodical yet elegant. His moves are subtle and smooth as butter. And I think seeing lots of his endgames all in a row is a great way to learn how to play the game. He himself advocated learning the endgame first, and the way he plays, he might even convince you of it. Certainly, he didn't care that much for openings (his opening play was usually boring and theoretically non-critical, and Cyrus is sure to critique Capa when he can't excuse him for lacking future knowledge).
Because this is Cyrus Lakdawala, it should be said that the eccentric sense of humor pervades on many pages of the book. It’s mostly in good fun — and clearly intended to exaggerate. Cyrus’s description of Capablanca's rivalry with Alekhine is rather a caricature. The analysis is rather lightly touched; I’m still unsure if this is because Capablanca’s ideas were just that simple and elegant, or it was a choice by Cyrus not to overwhelm the reader with thick analysis variations. In any case I enjoyed the light touch. This isn’t a must-have, but it’s a decent game collection that shows Capablanca’s style as something that had more than two dimensions. It kind of reminds me of Chernev’s book, but with a broader scope, and not quite as endearing.
3.5/5
Looking for a different book about Capablanca? Maybe try this one:
