Only he, who penetrates into the depth of the game, can express his personality in it.

The Berlin Defence suited my strategy for the match. I had a defensive strategy - Actually, I had in my pocket some other sharper stuff to fall back on - but first I wanted to try the defensive strategy with Black and it worked so well.

In chess one cannot control everything. Sometimes a game takes an unexpected turn, in which beauty begins to emerge. Both players are always instrumental in this.

Intellectual effort gives me enormous pleasure

Objectivity consists in understanding that the only one who never makes a mistake is the one who never does anything.

When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play.

My very first book was a games collection of Anatoly Karpov. On the whole I was attracted by positonal play with some tactics, and already then I was aiming for universality.