José Raúl Capablanca was a child prodigy surrounded by legends. During his best times he was considered to be unbeatable, and he is still considered by many to be the greatest chess talent of all time. Born in 1888 in Havana, he became Cuban champion at 13; in 1909 he sensationally defeated Marshall and was thus catapulted into the world elite. In 1921 he defeated the reigning world champion, Emanuel Lasker, and wore the crown himself.
The CCCNY is proud to sponsor the New York City launching of the most complete and thorough biography of José Raúl Capablanca, written by Miguel Ángel Sánchez. Beginning with his family background, birth, childhood and introduction to the game in Cuba, the book examines his life and play as a young man; follows his evolution as a player and rise to prominence, first as challenger and then world champion; his loss of the title to Alekhine and his efforts to recapture the championship in the last years of his too-short life. What emerges is a portrait of a complex man with far-ranging interests and concerns, in stark contrast to his robotic reputation as “the chess machine.” Meticulously researched, utilizing many sources available only in Cuba, it puts truth to legend regarding a man who stood astride the chess world in one of its most dynamic and dramatic eras.
The book presentation will be complemented with historical film and photo archives shown to a New York City public for the first time. Award winning-writer and Columbia University professor Gustavo Pérez-Firmat, a chess aficionado, will introduce the author.
THE DIANA CENTER
Barnard College ~ Room LL104
3009 Broadway (& 117th St.), NYC
SPACE IS LIMITED
RSVP: cccofny@aol.com
Author Miguel A. Sánchez was born in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of Havana. In 1976 received the UNEAC Award for Biography for his book, Capablanca, leyenda y realidad, which he expanded into a definitive English version, published last year under the title, José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography. Among his other books are Girón no fue sólo en abril (1978) and Salida 19, published in Cuba in 1983 under the co-author’s name only, since Mr. Sánchez had left the Island three years earlier. In the United States he has worked as a radio correspondent, and as a journalist for El Nuevo Herald and El Diario/La Prensa. He is a frequent panelist in symposia on Cuban history topics.
Gustavo Pérez-Firmat is the author of many books and numerous essays. His books of literary and cultural criticism include, among others: The Havana Habit (2010);Tongue
Ties (2003); Cincuenta lecciones de exilio y desexilio (2000); My Own Private Cuba (1999); and Life on the Hyphen (1994). He is the recipient of many awards, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently the David Feinson Professor in the Humanities at Columbia.
This event is co-sponsored by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund of Columbia University
With the promotional collaboration of
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