Capablanca, born in Havana, Cuba, was something of a chess prodigy having beaten the Cuban national champion at the age of 12. His brilliance was noted at an early age, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever, especially his handling of the endgame and his positional style are renowned.
He learned the rules of the game by watching his father play. Even later, as a mature master, he very much remained a "natural" player, spending very little time preparing for his tournament appearances.
His bitter rival Alexander Alekhine, who had beaten Capablanca to become the fourth World Champion, wrote on Capablanca's death that, "With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again."
Capablanca predicted that chess would in near future, die a death of draws, meaning that every game would end in a draw. (This has not yet come to pass.)
Capablanca invented his variation on chess, called "Capablanca Chess", played on a 10x8 board.
See also: List of chess players, List of chess world championship matches, Milan Vidmar.