Capablanca At San Sebastion 1911

     There were two tournaments held in San Sebastian, Spain: 1911 and 1912. The 1911 tournament, organized by Jacques Mieses, was held from February 20 to March 17, 1911. The second tournament was one of five that Rubinstein won in a one-year time span (San Sebastian, Breslau, Bad Pistyan, Warsaw and Vilna).

     Almost all the top players were at the 1911 tournament with the notable exception of Emanuel Lasker. Perhaps his absence had something to do with the fact that on March first of 1911 he got married Martha Cohn. 

     Martha Lasker was born November 19, 1867 in Berlin as Martha Bamberger and died on Chicago on October 18, 1942. She was a writer who used the pseudonym L. Marco. She was the daughter of bank employee Jacob Bamberger and his wife Lina and she grew up in Berlin. 

     Her first marriage was from 1886 to the piano manufacturer Emil Cohn, with whom she had a daughter, Charlotte, who was born in 1887. From 1900 she worked as a writer and wrote song texts that were performed in the Uberbrettl cabaret and humorous articles for various newspapers. In 1901 her first book with short prose was published under the title How They Love. Her second book, a collection of satirical verses under the title Shocking!, appeared in the same year. 

     In mid-1902 she first met the reigning world champion and mathematician Emanuel Lasker with whom she exchanged many letters in the years that followed. After Lasker returned to Germany in 1908 from a stay of several years in the US the two often met which was tolerated by her husband who was already seriously ill at the time. Emil Cohn died on December 18, 1909, and after a year of mourning Martha Cohn and Emanuel Lasker married on March 1, 1911 in Berlin. 

     In 1912 she published a collection of poems under the title From the Department Store of Life. During the First World War she was a lecturer in hospitals. Later she largely gave up her own writing activity and supported Lasker in his work. Numerous letters that have been preserved in private collections testify to their harmonious partnership. 

     In the 1920s she organized “literary afternoons” in her apartment in Berlin with well-known intellectuals as guests. After the seizure of power by the National Socialists, she and Lasker went into exile, initially to the Soviet Union then to the US. After Lasker's death she went to see her granddaughter Lissi Hirschberg in Chicago, where she died on October 18, 1942. Her memories were processed by Jacques Hannak, to whom she had given access to her files, in his book on Lasker. 

     Now back to San Sebastion which was won by newcomer Jose Capablanca who was completely unknown in Europe. Besides Lasker, Henry E. Atkins of England had been invited but did not accept his invitation. The time control was set at one hour for 15 moves and the tournament director was Mieses. He had managed to convince the tournament’s sponsor to reimburse the players for their travel expenses and to give them free board and lodging during the tournament. This set a precedent because this practice was not common, but became the norm after this tournament. 

     When it became known that Capablanca was to take part, Ossip Bernstein and Aaron Nimzovich are said to have protested to Mieses, but after Capablanca defeated Bernstein in the first round the complaint was put to rest. It's a nice story, but there seems to be no evidence to support this story. In any case, up to that time Capablanca had only proven his strength in April 1909 when he crushed Frank Marshall 15-8 in a match. 

     Capablanca’s participation in the tournament was largely the result of the efforts of Manuel Marquez Sterling, a journalist and later a diplomat who was active in the Cuban independence movement. 

     Sterling, an avid player, traveled extensively and exported goods from Cuba to Europe. During a stay in France, he took part in the 1900 Paris tournament where he finished next to last. He then lived in Belgium for a while and developed close ties to the Belgian royal family. Under the pseudonym M. Marquet, he financed the tournaments in Ostend in 1905, 1906 and 1907. He also supported the publication of chess magazines in various Latin American countries. 

    Under the name Marquet he became the operator of the Grand Casino in San Sebastian and financed the tournament. Hence, Capablanca's participation. Sterling died May 3, 1991 in Miami, Florida where he had been living in exile since Castro took over Cuba.