María Teresa Mora Iturralde

Child prodigy, student of José Raúl Capablanca, first Cuban chess champion, and of Ibero-America. In addition to chess, she had a great vocation for music, mastering the violin and mandolin, and taught chess to several generations.

Her last matches took place in 1962, at age 62, in the First International Match held between two women, via radiotelephone, against Colombian Anita de Sánchez. No woman has managed to equal her, as she was national champion of the science sport for twenty-two years.

From a very young age, just like Capablanca, she played chess against her father and was capable of beating him, which is why she was considered a child prodigy.

María Teresa graduated with a degree in Humanities and Sciences and managed to combine her passion for music, teaching, and chess.

José Raúl Capablanca felt great admiration for her, to the point that he accepted her as his student, she was the only person to whom he granted such a high honor. One of the few times the King of Kings was observed consulting chess books was precisely for the dozen lessons he gave to María Teresa. These classes were very complete, including opening and endgame sessions.

She was also a student of Rafael de Pazos, who served for several years as president of the Havana Chess Club.

At the age of 11, she participated in her first tournament, held at the Havana Chess Club, where she obtained first place, marking her first achievement in the sport.

Gradually her name became better known in chess circles throughout the country, but no one could have predicted that at age 20, in 1922, she would win Cuba's national title. This impressive feat was achieved when she won the Copa Dewars tournament, an event that was considered the national championship at that time and with the exception of her, all other participants were men.

The chronicle, signed by the champion of Washington, Edward Everet, reported the Cuban girl's victory over him, with a score of 3 points to 1 and three draws, in a match held in Havana. Against Capablanca, the brilliant Cuban woman played three games, all in simultaneous exhibitions, and the result could not have been better: two wins and one draw. Few people in the world could ever boast of having defeated the great master, not even in simultaneous exhibitions, and she accomplished it twice.

She managed to reign among men, and in 1938 she obtained the national women's title, which she maintained until 1960. For 22 years she held the crown, retiring undefeated. No Cuban woman was able to defeat her.

There were many triumphs of this remarkable chess player, among the most significant:

1913. First Tournament at the Havana Chess Club. She obtained first place.
1922. Copa Dewars Tournament, at the Havana Chess Club. National Champion.
1938. She obtains the national title of Women's Champion.
1939. World Championship, in Argentina, she obtains 7th place, with an accumulated score of 11 points.
1950. World Championship, in Moscow, she wins four games, four draws and loses seven.
1962. First International Match, via radiotelephone, against Colombian Anita de Sánchez.

The Moscow 1950 performance was not her best; however, she left the event with the satisfaction of having defeated the world champion, Elizabetha Bikova. That same year she received from the hands of the president of the International Chess Federation, Folke Rogard, the title of International Master for her lifetime achievement and thus became the first Latin American woman with such distinction.

In addition to chess, she had a great vocation for music, dedicating part of her time to the violin and mandolin, and these were her favorite pastimes. In 1921 she gave a violin concert, but she devoted herself more to chess.

The first time María Teresa Mora Iturralde's name appeared in the foreign press was in 1917. According to Jesús González Bayolo, Cuban journalist specialized in chess topics, in the American Chess Bulletin there appeared an article under the title "In Havana There is Another Prodigy" and in which it was stated that "not content with having given José Raúl Capablanca to the world, Havana calls attention to another chess prodigy in the person of the girl María Teresa Mora."

The respect and admiration that Capablanca felt toward María Teresa was so great that he requested the organizers of the London tournament, in 1922, to include her in the official roster to give greater strength to the championship, and it was accepted, but she was unable to attend due to economic difficulties.

She died on October 3, 1980 in Havana, leaving a great legacy of sacrifice and love for chess. The national championships have existed for more than 30 years and no woman has managed to equal her.