The infallible criterion by which to distinguish the true from the would-be strategist is the degree of originality of his conceptions. It makes little difference whether this originality is carried to excess, as was the case with Steinitz and Nimzowitsch.

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

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

You can become a big master in chess only if you see your mistakes and short-comings. Exactly the same as in life itself.

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.

Young players expose themselves to grave risks when they blindly imitate the innovations of masters without themselves first checking all the details and consequences of these innovations.

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