During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey.

The purpose of human life and the sense of happiness is to give the maximum what the man is able to give.

I think that for the highest achievements nowadays... need to have the stable as a rock scientific base. And also need to own modesty.

I study chess eight hours a day, on principle.

Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.

I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine.

The retreat of a minor piece to the back rank, where it cuts the lines of communication between the rooks, is permissable only in exceptional cases.