On September 4th, 1961, the José Raúl Capablanca Chess Academy opens its doors in our city, with the purpose of further promoting the development of the science game.

The property maintains the same old structure, as it is located in the oldest segment of the historic center of the city, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

In 2015, within the framework of culture week, we had the presence of the Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez. During his visit he commented on the making of his testimonial book about what chess represented for him and his four fighting brothers: Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Labañino and Fernando González and his epistolary link with the International Master Lázaro Bueno, professor at the University of Camagüey Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz.

The work is entitled “Chess towards the light”, whose volume came out under the publishing house “El Lugareño”, from the Office of the Historian of Camagüey city (OHCC, by its acronym in Spanish).

The issue collects Guerrero’s experiences with the science game; key factor in the search for spiritual freedom in during his unjust imprisonment in the United States, and where he explains to us that it was specially dedicated to the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and to Ernesto Che Guevara.

In addition, he also explained that the book contains photos and the reproduction of 16 watercolors, under his authorship. The presentation of the text was held at the Cultural Management Center of the OHCC, which was part of the celebrations for the institution’s 20th anniversary.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García