Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against his will, whose notion of Beauty always differs from yours and whose means (strength, imagination, technique) are often too limited to help you effectively! What torment, to have your thinking and your phantasy tied down by another person!

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

Never before and never since have I seen - and I cannot even imagine, such an amazing rapidity of chess thinking that Capablanca possessed in 1913-14. In blitz games he gave all the St. Petersburg players odds of five minutes to one - and he won.

I have had to work long and hard to eradicate the dangerous delusion that, in a bad position, I could always, or nearly always, conjure up some unexpected combination to extricate me from my difficulties.

Psychology is the most important factor in chess.

Play on both sides of the board is my favourite strategy.

I consider chess an art, and accept all those responsibilities which art places upon its devotees.