Sixteen games from José Raúl Capablanca's own My Chess Career, from a boy in Havana to the match that announced a future World Champion. Each one teaches a single idea, worked to the finish and checked by engine: how to attack, read a structure, place a piece, judge a position, defend, and convert. Built for the serious adult improver who wants structured mastery, not more content.
Book a Strategy AssessmentThe games run in the order Capablanca played them, and the ideas grow with him: first raw attacks on the king, then structure and the centre, the pieces at their best, judgment and defence, and finally the quiet technique that wins won games. Read them in order for the whole arc, or jump to the idea costing you points.
The building blocks of Capablanca's method, in the order a game unfolds. Each lesson below is filed under one of them.
How to drag a king into the open, storm a castled one, and sacrifice to break through.
Reading the structure for your plan, dominating the centre, and handling the isolated queen's pawn.
Planting a knight on a dream outpost, and winning against a bishop with no scope.
Weighing the factors, choosing your side of the board, and valuing king safety above material.
Checking every check and capture, and taking the sting out of an attack before it lands.
Turning a small advantage into a full point, and marching a passed pawn home.
Pick a theme and open the lessons that teach it. Every lesson has the game board, the prose, and six puzzles.
Open lines against the king and bring more attackers than defenders.
The pawns tell you where to play, and the centre is the launchpad.
Give every piece its best square and exploit the opponent's worst.
Evaluate the position honestly, then play where you are strong.
See every forcing move, and defend by preventing the plan.
Convert the edge; a passed pawn is the simplest way to win.
All sixteen, in the order Capablanca played them.
In a 2-hour Strategy Assessment I go through your own games, find the ideas costing you points, and hand you a roadmap built for your chess, not a textbook student's.
Book a Strategy Assessment