José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) was a Cuban chess player and world champion from 1921 to 1927. He learned the game at four by watching his father, beat the Cuban champion at thirteen, and in 1909, while a student at Columbia University, defeated the American champion Frank Marshall in a match without losing a game. He won the great tournament at San Sebastián in 1911, took the world title from Emanuel Lasker in Havana in 1921 and lost it to Alexander Alekhine in Buenos Aires in 1927. From 1916 to 1924 he did not lose a serious game. His books, Chess Fundamentals and My Chess Career, are models of clear instruction.