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CAPABLANCA, JOSÉ RAÚL. My chess career. il *$2.50 Macmillan 794
20–6061
The author, born in Havana, Cuba, in 1888, began to play chess at the age of five. At eleven he was matched against the Cuban champion, J. Corzo. In his introductory chapter he says: “The object of this little book is to give to the reader some idea of the many stages through which I have passed before reaching my present strength.... As I go along narrating my chess career, I will stop at those points which I consider most important, giving examples of my games with my own notes written at the time the games were played, or when not, expressing the ideas I had while the game was in progress.” This plan is followed thruout the book, beginning with the match with Corzo and continuing to the Hastings victory congress in 1919. The conclusion gives points for beginners.
“There is not a trace of boastfulness in the book. Capablanca’s passion is for exact scientific truth. The general spirit is one of detached and critical self-observation. Altogether, a book of great psychological interest.” R. O. M.
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“This refreshing little book probably contains more real information on the science of chess than a dozen of the more weighty tomes put together. Capablanca’s comments on his own and his adversary’s play throughout the book are of a most original and illuminating sort.” Moreby Adlom
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“It is in many ways the most egotistical, and incidentally subjective book we have ever come across; the note of satisfaction sounds like a loud gong throughout, nor does the voice of self-praise die away. The book, in fact, has been written in a mood of positively aboriginal conceit. All this, however, should not obscure the fact that Senor Capablanca’s chess-games are very brilliant, and his notes full of interest.”