Last Lectures The Chess Legacy of Jose Raoul Capabanca

This book is old and out of print, but it is a great book. It repeats and expands some of Capablanca’s core commitments to formulating and explicating fundamental principles of chess strategy. In this text, he is even more clear than in his earlier books of the importance of endgame study as a foundation for developing chess skill. The chapters in this book began as radio lectures in Spanish in 1942, the year Capablanca died. They were translated into English and published in this text in 1966. A few lectures repeat content in “Chess Fundamentals” (1921), but most of the book expands on that classic with new material.The book uses descriptive notation, which was standard in English language books when this was published. If a publisher made the effort to bring this book back into print in algebraic notation, they would be doing a service to chess enthusiasts. Note: this review refers only to the hardback edition. I can offer no positive assessment about the paperback reprint.

This is the best chess book because it is the easiest to understand and gives the most basic information for any player to succeed.

I really like this book - the last written by Capablanca's wife Olga and done as a radio series before Jose's Death in 1942. Many tidbits on evolution of moves in some common openings of the era, and great middle game study leading to endgame theory, which Capa was well known to be a master of!I think this and Chess Primer and Chess Fundamentals should be put in ONE volume to cover all aspects of the game from Capa's standpoint. These have some duplicate information, but presented a bit differently. Combining these would be amazing.Anyway - highly recommended for those who want the last words from their hero... Capa!

Last Lectures is a hidden gem! Capablanca was a great teacher and his chess principles throughout this work are simple yet profound and extremely enlightening! I really enjoyed reading this book and getting to see how the chess master thought about games and positions. This is definitely one of my most favorite chess books of all time!!!

Apply divide and conquer algorithm to crack bigger problems.The book explains how to solve the big chess problem, using simple rules.

As with all Capablanca's books his writing is as clear, simple, and instructive as his games.Having sought this book for a long time I was delighted to see it back in print.

Great book for Capablanca enthusiasts