Jose Raul Capablanca was born in Castillo del Príncipe, a military facility in Havana, on November 19, 1888. José Raúl was the second child of José María Capablanca Fernández, a Spanish army officer, and Matilde María Graupera Marín, a native of Matanzas of Catalan origin. According to his own account, Capablanca learned to play chess at the age of four by watching his father play with friends. During one of the games, which he used to play in the afternoons with General Francisco de Paula Loño y Pérez, whom he served as an assistant, he noticed that Don José María was moving the knight in an unauthorized manner. To everyone's surprise, he accused him of cheating and proceeded to demonstrate what he had done. Shortly after, Capablanca played a game of chess with his father and defeated him. When the boy was five years old, his father started taking him to the Havana Chess Club. The best players in the club found it impossible to defeat him even when giving him the advantage of the queen (meaning the opponent was playing without a queen). In December 1901, at the age of thirteen, he defeated the Cuban national champion Juan Corzo with a score of 4 wins, 3 losses, and 6 draws, thus earning the title of Cuban champion.