♟️ Chess · Grandmaster

José Raúl Capablanca

Cuba · 1901–1942

Lost around thirty-five serious games in his entire life.

1921–1927
World champion: 1916–1924
Unbeaten years: ~35
Career losses: 4
Learned chess at

Career

Capablanca played with a clarity that made complicated positions look simple, and almost never made an outright mistake — he went eight years without losing a tournament game. He claimed never to have studied an opening book seriously, which was probably not quite true but felt like it.

Honours

World Chess Champion, 1921–1927
Eight years without a single tournament loss
Beat Lasker for the title without losing a game
His endgame technique is still standard teaching material

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