Dictators are not strategists in the way I normally use that term. All the dictator cares about is survival. That means constantly worrying about the tactical response, "What do I do today, tonight, tomorrow morning, to stay alive?" Vladimir Putin doesn't care what happens a year or five years from now. He just cares about staying in the game. That is all he needs to survive.

Women, by their nature, are not exceptional chess players: they are not great fighters.

There can be no finer example of the inspiring powers of competition to shatter the status quo than Hungary's Judit Polgar.

I can't think of a scenario under which [Vladimir Putin] would gradually resign from power. For him and those around him, power became a source of unlimited enrichment. A loss of power would be tantamount to an annihilation of the economic success that has been achieved so far.

For us to make sure that we have full lives, meaningful lives, we will have to elevate our unique human qualities. And I think we know now, we can see clearly what makes us different from machines. And that's why the future is enhanced humanity.

For me, chess is a language, and if it's not my native tongue, it is one I learned via the immersion method at a young age.

By this measure (on the gap between Fischer & his contemporaries), I consider him the greatest world champion