Capablanca Memorial

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held.

1962 tournament

The first José Raúl Capablanca Memorial was held from 29 April to 30 May 1962 in the Habana Libre hotel in Havana, Cuba. Miguel Najdorf was first in a field of 22 players, followed by Lev Polugaevsky and Boris Spassky, Svetozar Gligorić and Vasily Smyslov, Borislav Ivkov, etc.

1965 tournament

The fourth tournament held in 1965 was marked by an unusual circumstance. U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer had been invited to play and was offered a $3000 appearance fee, but the United States Department of State would not allow him to travel to Cuba due to tensions in Cuba–United States relations. American Grandmaster Larry Evans had been permitted to play in the tournament the year before, as he was also acting as a journalist. The U.S. Department of State often allowed newsmen and journalists to travel to off-limits countries, but it would not budge on Fischer even though he had made arrangements to write about the event for the Saturday Review. Fischer instead played his games by telex from the Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Capablanca's son Dr. José Raúl Capablanca Jr relayed the moves in Havana. When Fischer's participation seemed assured, Cuban President Fidel Castro called it a "great propaganda victory for Cuba", making headlines. When Fischer heard of this, he cabled Castro threatening to withdraw unless Castro stopped making political statements about Fischer's participation. A cabled reply from Castro eased Fischer's concern and he joined the field of twenty-two players, with thirteen Grandmasters and seven International Masters. Play by teletype added to the strain of the tournament. Although the English magazine CHESS thought that this was an advantage for Fischer who became accustomed to this manner of play (each of his opponents experienced it only once), others considered it a handicap for Fischer who endured the extra labor in every game. Former World Champion Vasily Smyslov (USSR) won the tournament with 15½ points of 21. Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia), Efim Geller (USSR), and Fischer shared second through fourth, a half point behind. Although Fischer did not win, his performance was widely considered a success given the playing conditions and the fact that Fischer was playing his first international tournament in three years.

Winners

#	Year	City	Winner
1	1962	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
2	1963	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
3	1964	Havana	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
4	1965	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
5	1967	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
6	1968	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
7	1969	Havana	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
8	1971	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
9	1972	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
10	1973	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
11	1974	Camagüey	Template:Flagathlete
12	1975	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
13	1976	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
14	1977	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
15	1979	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
16	1980	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
17	1981	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
18	1983	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
19	1984	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
20	1985	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
21	1986	Havana	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
22	1987	Camagüey	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
23	1988	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
24	1989	Holguín	Template:Flagathlete
25	1990	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
26	1991	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
27	1992	Matanzas	Template:Flagathlete
28	1993	Matanzas	Template:Flagathlete
29	1994	Matanzas	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
30	1995	Matanzas	Template:Flagathlete
31	1996	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
32	1997	Cienfuegos	Template:Flagathlete
33	1998	Havana	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
34	1999	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
35	2000	Varadero	Template:Flagathlete
36	2001	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
37	2002	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
38	2003	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
39	2004	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
40	2005	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
41	2006	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
42	2007	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
43	2008	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
44	2009	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
45	2010	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
46	2011	Havana	Template:Flagathlete Template:Flagathlete
47	2012	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
48	2013	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
49	2014	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
50	2015	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
51	2016	Varadero	Template:Flagathlete
52	2017	Varadero	Template:Flagathlete
53	2018	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
54	2019	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
55	2022	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
56	2023	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
57	2024	Havana	Template:Flagathlete
58	2025	Havana	Template:Flagathlete

51st Capablanca Memorial (9–19 June 2016)

The 51st edition of the Capablanca Memorial took place in the Hotel Barceló Solymar Arenas Blancas, Varadero, Cuba, from June 9 to 19, 2016. The tournament format was a six-player ten-round double round robin. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 additional minutes starting from move 41, plus a 30-second increment starting from the first move.

Cat. XVIII (2695)

	Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	Points	TPR
1	Template:Flagathlete	2710	* *	½ ½	½ ½	1 ½	1 ½	1 1	7	2845
2	Template:Flagathlete	2682	½ ½	* *	½ ½	½ 1	½ ½	½ 1	6	2772
3	Template:Flagathlete	2687	½ ½	½ ½	* *	½ ½	½ ½	½ ½	5	2700
4	Template:Flagathlete	2688	0 ½	½ 0	½ ½	* *	½ ½	1 1	5	2699
5	Template:Flagathlete	2723	0 ½	½ ½	½ ½	½ ½	* *	½ ½	4½	2657
6	Template:Flagathlete	2681	0 0	½ 0	½ ½	0 0	½ ½	* *	2½	2509

External links

• Szachowa Vistula | Memorials Jose Raul Capablanca