Jose Raul Capablanca

Jose Raul Capablanca (1888–1942) was the third World Chess Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest natural talent in the history of the game. Born in Havana, Cuba, he famously learned chess by watching his father play at age four and was correcting his father's moves within days. Between 1916 and 1924 he went undefeated in serious tournament play for eight years — a streak of 63 games without loss — and his game was defined by extraordinary clarity and economy: stripping every position to its essentials and achieving victory with apparently effortless efficiency. Retroactive ELO calculations place his peak rating around 2725, remarkable for the early 20th century.