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Akiba Rubinstein's Best Games The best games of Rubinstein's career. Who is your opponent tonight, tonight I am playing against the Black pieces. - Akiba Rubinstein 60 days a year I play in tournaments, 5 days I rest, and 300 days I work on my game. – Akiba Rubinstein Rubinstein was an artist whose masterpieces are the priceless legacy of an unhappy genius. – Reuben Fine The games of Steinitz himself, the creator of the theory, are by no means the best demonstration of its correctness. A whole generation of chess masters extracted from this theory everything in it that is of value for practical play. Rubinstein was the central figure of this generation, and his games are the most complete embodiment of Steinitz's teaching. - Richard Réti He possessed almost a super-natural feeling for the endings and rook endings in particular. - Max Euwe Better chess cannot be played by mortal man. - Reuben Fine There is scarcely another master who suffers so from nerves, which cause him moments of complete exhaustion so that he commits crude blunders. – Richard Réti (on Rubinstein) Rubinstein is the rook ending of a game begun by the Gods thousands of years ago. – Saviely Tartakower One of the greatest positional players ever, who influenced many future generations of great players, including such great scientists and champions as Mikhail Botvinnik. - Garry Kasparov (on Akiba Rubinstein) Careful analysis shows that modern chess, proceeding from the Botvinnik era, is very strongly influenced by the games of Rubinstein, who was, essentially, one of the fathers of modern chess history. - Garry Kasparov For the purity and logicality of his style of play, this great chess artist was compared with an ancient sculptor, whose smooth and monumental work provokes admiration. - Garry Kasparov We should not forget Rubinstein, an incredibly talented and fantastic chess player. It is a pity that with his extensive knowledge of chess, he was not a World Champion. Sometimes he created true masterpieces and was way ahead of his time. To understand this, you should just go through the collection of his best games. Why didn't he become a World Champion? That's a mystery to me. His nerves might have played a role or he might not have been very good in practice. Anyway, he was a man of great talent. -Vladimir Kramnik 88 games, 1907-1931 Alexander Alekhine's Best Games The best games of Alekhine's career. Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post card. - Max Euwe During a Chess competition a Chessmaster should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk. - Alexander Alekhine When asked, "How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?", I responded: I'm very glad you asked me that, because, as it happens, there is a very simple answer. I think up my own moves, and I make my opponent think up his. - Alexander Alekhine 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! - Alexander Alekhine I study chess eight hours a day, on principle. - Alexander Alekhine I am Alekhine, chess champion of the world. I need no passport. – Alexander Alekhine What I do is not play but struggle. – Alexander Alekhine 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. – Alexander Alekhine 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. – Alexander Alekhine To win against me, you must beat me three times: in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. – Alexander Alekhine He lived in and for chess like no one before him, nor any since until Fischer. – Taylor Kingston (on Alekhine) No master before or since sank himself with greater gusto into what Vladimir Nabokov called Caissa’s “abysmal depths." – Larry Parr (on Alekhine) I just can’t win in such a way! – Jose R. Capablanca (on an Alekhine combination in the 11th game of their title match) It was impossible to win against Capablanca; against Alekhine it was impossible to play. – Paul Keres Against Alekhine you never knew what to expect. Against Capablanca, you knew what to expect, but you couldn't prevent it! – George Thomas Alekhine's chess is like a god's. – Chess World Magazine In playing through an Alekhine game one suddenly meets a move which simply takes one's breath away. – C. H. O'D. Alexander Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture post card. – Max Euwe Capablanca never took his eyes off the chorus; Alekhine never looked up from his pocket chess set. – A patron who took both players to a show in 1922 Capablanca was the greatest talent, but Alekhine was the greatest in his achievements. – Mikhail Botvinnik Sir, I am the book! – Alexander Alekhine (to a player who, not realizing who Alekhine was, had commented on each of Alekhine's moves with, "The book says…") The openings consist of Alekhine's games with a few variations. – Source Unknown While he was hospitalized (during WW I) after being wounded (a contusion of the spine), he became the strongest blindfold chess player in the world. That's how great this guy was. I mean, when normal people go to the hospital, they are totally sad and in pain. Instead, he devoted himself to blindfold chess and became the best in the world in an extremely short period of time. You have to love this guy. – Terry Crandall (on Alekhine) Since we are, of course, the two best blindfold players in the world, I think it would be better if we had recourse to a chessboard and men. – Alexander Alekhine (to Reti when they disagreed during a blindfold analysis session) Analyze! Analyze! Analyze! That was the doctor’s motto, and his deeply ingrained habit of investigating every line was obviously unsuitable in rapid transit. – Arthur Dake (on Alekhine's relative weakness in rapid play) I learned a lot about how the world champion analyzed chess positions. Alekhine taught me to sit on my hands and not to play the first move that came to mind, no matter how good it looked. He examined everything, whipping through an astonishing number of variations. – Arnold Denker Alekhine's attacks came suddenly, like destructive thunderstorms that erupted from a clear sky. – Garry Kasparov I can comprehend Alekhine's combinations well enough; but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such life into the very opening - that is beyond me. – Rudolf Spielmann I can see the combinations as well as Alekhine, but I cannot get into the same positions. – Rudolf Spielmann Somehow the match will never take place. – Alexander Alekhine (on his avoidance of a rematch with Capablanca) It is bad to be a self-centered manipulative alcoholic liar who seduces women for their money. – Taylor Kingston (on Alekhine, of course) Alexander Alekhine may have been a drunk and anti-Semite, but he certainly had manners: he showed up for the last game of his losing match in 1935 wearing a tuxedo, and gave his "Hurrah to the new World Champion! – Alex Yermolinsky Alekhine grew out of the combination. He is in love with it. Everything strategic is only a preperation for him, almost a neccessary evil. The stunning blow, the unexpected thrust - this is his element... His imagination catches fire in the attack on the king. - Emanuel Lasker Alekhine evidently possesses the most remarkable chess memory that has ever existed. It is said that he remembers by heart all the games played by the leading masters during the past 15-20 years. - Jose Raul Capablanca Alekhine is dear to the chess world, mainly as an artist. Typical of him are deep plans, far-sighted calculation and inexhaustible imagination. However, his main strength, which developed from year to year, was his combinative vision: he saw combinations with great ease and accuracy. For this reason Alekhine's combinations possessed such staggering, crushing force... Yes, this truly was an amazing gift! - Mikhail Botvinnik The name of Alekhine is illuminated by the brilliance of his chess combinations. Alekhine possessed an exceptionally rich chess imagination, and his skill in creating combinativ ve complications is incomparable. it should be mentioned that Alekhine had a mastery of technique, and his striving for combinations was not an end to itself, but stemmed logically from the demands of the position. - Vasily Smyslov In Alekhine we are captivated by his exceptional combinative talent and his whole-hearted love for chess. - Mikhail Tal I consider Alexander Alekhine to be a very great player. Possibly, because for me and for many he remains an enigma. He considered that chess was closest to an art, and he was able to demonstrate this with his optimistic, eternally youthful play. - Boris Spassky Alekhine is a player I've never really understood; yet, strangely, if you've seen one Alekhine game you've seen them all. He always wanted a superior center; he maneuvered his pieces towards the King's-side, and around the twenty-fifth move began to mate his opponent. – Robert Fischer Alekhine has never been a hero of mine, and I've never cared for his style of play. There is nothing light or breezy about it; it worked for him, but it could scarcely work for anybody else. - Robert Fischer His conceptions were gigantic, full of outrageous and unprecedented ideas. It's hard to find mistakes in his games, but in a sense his whole method was a mistake. – Robert Fischer (on Alekhine) He had great imagination; he could see more deeply into a situation than any other player in chess history... Many consider Alekhine a great opening theoretician, but I don't think he was. He played book lines, but didn't know them very well. He always felt that his natural powers would get him out of any dilemma. - Robert Fischer The next (after Steinitz) changes were outlined by Alekhine, but applied and developed by Botvnnik - the scientific approach to chess... Alekhine worked a great deal at home. He won a number of well-known games, by right from the opening holding his opponent in a vice prepared at home. And his grip was strong: after seizing his victim, he would no longer release him. - Anatoly Karpov In contrast to Fischer with his propensity for clarity, and to Karpov who grew up on Capablanca's games, from my early years I was enormously influenced by Alekhine's play and won over by his unprecedented feat in the 1927 match. I admired the refinement of his ideas, and I tried as far as possible to imitate his furious attacking style, with its sudden and thunderous sacrifices. - Garry Kasparov Alekhine definitely was a workaholic. He had a strategic talent and was the first player who had a conscious feel for dynamics. - Vladimir Kramnik Fortune favors the bold, especially when they are Alekhine. – Lodewijk Prins His fantastic combinative vision was based on a sound positional foundation, and was the fruit of strong, energetic strategy. Therefore Alekhine can safely be called the pioneer of the universal style of play, based on a close interweaving of stategic and tactical motifs. - Garry Kasparov 120 games, 1907-1943 alip's favorite games 30 games, 1874-2020 Anatoly Karpov's Best Games The best games of Karpov's career. The boy doesn't have a clue about chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession. – Mikhail Botvinnik (referring to a 12-year-old boy named Anatoly Karpov) I like 1.e4 very much but my results with 1.d4 are better. – Anatoly Karpov Style? I have no style. – Anatoly Karpov Let us say that a game may be continued in two ways: one of them is a beautiful tactical blow that gives rise to variations that don't yield to precise calculations; the other is clear positional pressure that leads to an endgame with microscopic chances of victory. I would choose the latter without thinking twice. If the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of strategy with its ruthless logic. – Anatoly Karpov Chess is everything: art, science and sport. - Anatoly Karpov I simply developed that universal style which dominated with the arrival of Spassky and then Fischer. But all the same we were different chess players, of course. Both Spassky and Fischer were brilliant at developing and sensing the initiative. In that regard I was, perhaps, a little inferior, but on the other hand I stood out by having excellent technique for converting an advantage, positional sense and an ability to maneuver positionally – in that area I was clearly superior to Spassky, and Fischer, and perhaps everyone, except Petrosian. - Anatoly Karpov At first I found some of his moves not altogether understandable, and only after careful analysis did I discover their hidden strength. – Ljubomir Ljubojevic (on Karpov) When observing Karpov's play or playing against him, one cannot help thinking that all his pieces are linked by invisible threads. This net moves forward unhurriedly, gradually covering the enemy squares, but, amazingly, not relinquishing its own. – Alexander Roshal When having an edge, Karpov often marked time and still gained the advantage! I don't know anyone else who could do that, it's incredible. I was always impressed and delighted by this skill. When it looked like it was high time to start a decisive attack, Karpov played a3, h3, and his opponent's position collapsed. - Vladimir Kramnik There are very few madmen who risk employing Pirc or King's Indian against Karpov. - Alexsander Shashin Many of Karpov's intentions become understandable to his opponents only when salvation is no longer possible. – Mikhail Tal Known as a negative player, Karpov sets up deep traps and creates moves that seem to allow his opponent possibilities - but that really don't. He takes no chances, and he gives his opponents nothing. He's a trench-warfare fighter who keeps the game moving just an inch at a time. – Bruce Pandolfini Karpov defeated me in Linares-94 where he scored 11 out of 13. I got into an inferior endgame. However, it did not seem awful. Then I made some appropriate moves and could not understand how I had managed to get into a losing position. Although I was already in the world top ten, I failed to understand it even after the game. This was one of the few games after which I felt like a complete idiot with a total lack of chess understanding! Such things happen very rarely to top level players. Usually you realise why you have lost. This moment defies description - there is something almost imperceptible about it and so characteristic of Karpov. - Vladimir Kramnik 153 games, 1968-2008 Boris Spassky's Best Games The best games of Spassky's career. Chess is like life. - Boris Spassky Which do I prefer? Sex or chess? It depends on the position. - Boris Spassky When I am in form, my style is a little bit stubborn, almost brutal. Sometimes I feel a great spirit of fight which drives me on. – Boris Spassky After I won the title, I was confronted with the real world. People do not behave naturally anymore - hypocrisy is everywhere. - Boris Spassky In my country, at that time, being a champion of chess was like being a King. At that time I was a King … and when you are King you feel a lot of responsibility, but there is nobody there to help you. - Boris Spassky I don’t want ever to be champion again. - Boris Spassky I enjoy life, sometimes with a good bottle of wine! But don't count on me in tournaments that demand a lot of nervous energy, like the French championship. I am empty; these are not for me anymore. - Boris Spassky The Cary Grant of the 64 Squares. - Larry Parr Highly cultured with interests in all fields of human knowledge, a man of impeccable comportment, great modesty ... one of the favorites of all chessplayers. - Max Euwe When Spassky offers you a piece, you may just as well resign. – Miguel Najdorf I believe that judged by his style of play, Spassky is much closer to Alekhine and Tal than to Smyslov, Botvinnik, or Petrosian. This is probably why, when Spassky was in his best form, neither Tal nor Korchnoi could really put up much resistance against him. Spassky could read their play (especially that of Tal) like an open book. – Garry Kasparov The universal chess style, characterized by the ability to play quite different types of chess positions, is considered by many to derive from that of Boris Spassky. But I think that the general idea that Spassky has a universal style overlooks the fact that from an early age, Spassky had a bent for sharp, attacking play and a good eye for the initiative. – Garry Kasparov It is characteristic that Spassky has never in his life started a game with 1.Nf3. He must have considered it a “semi-move”, real moves being only those that lead to an immediate fight. All of those notorious opening peculiarities (such as avoiding this, that, and the other and preventing the other that and this) seemed repulsive to him. – Garry Kasparov Spassky was the first great chess player to use both 1.e4 and 1.d4 with equal success. He managed to employ these moves more harmoniously than any other world champion. – Garry Kasparov One of the soundest attacking players ever, Spassky nonetheless took very few chances. Totally dominant until he lost to the irresistible juggernaut known as Bobby Fischer. After that loss, he was never the same. – Bruce Pandolfini Spassky sacrifices his pieces with the utmost imperturbability. He can blunder away a piece, and you are never sure whether it's a blunder or a fantastically deep sacrifice. He sits at the board with the same dead expression whether he's mating or being mated. – Bobby Fischer Spassky is also a correct player, in this 'classical' aspect he is like Smyslov. But whereas Smyslov is a sedate player, Spassky has an attacking style. He combines the qualities of different chess players. Like Alekhine he values time. He is a very good strategic player. His games are pleasant to watch: he uses the whole board. He manages to deal with everything, grabs space, turns on the pressure here and there... - Vladimir Kramnik He was less concerned about the position’s evaluation than about the character of the arising struggle. If he liked the character of the battle, he felt absolutely at home and, as a rule, didn’t fail to outplay his opponents. – Garry Kasparov (on Spassky) 122 games, 1949-2001 David Bronstein's Best Games The best games of Bronstein's career. 46 games, 1941-1991 Efim Geller's Best Games The best games of Geller's career. 58 games, 1949-1992 Emanuel Lasker's Best Games The best games of Lasker's career. Chess is a contest between creative minds representative of their period. – Emanuel Lasker I, who vanquished Steinitz, must see to it that his great achievement, his theories, should find justice, and I must avenge the wrongs he suffered. – Emanuel Lasker I keep on fighting as long as my opponent can make a mistake. – Emanuel Lasker Dr. Tarrasch is a thinker, fond of deep and complex speculation. He will accept the efficacy and usefulness of a move if at the same time he considers it beautiful and theoretically right. But I accept that sort of beauty only if and when it happens to be useful. He admires an idea for its depth, I admire it for its efficacy. My opponent believes in beauty, I believe in strength. I think that by being strong, a move is beautiful too. – Emanuel Lasker Of my 57 years, I’ve applied at least 30 to forgetting most of what I learned or read, and since I succeeded in this I have acquired a certain ease and cheer which I should never again like to be without. If need be, I can increase my skill in chess, if need be I can do that of which I have no idea present. I have stored little in my memory, but I can apply that little, and it is of good use in many and varied emergencies. I keep it in order, but resist every attempt to increase its dead weight. – Emanuel Lasker It is too beautiful to spend your life upon. Many times have I managed to break with chess, yet I have always fallen in love with it again. I was too captivated by the conflict between ideas and opinions, attack and defence, life and death. – Emanuel Lasker I will not suffer liars in my house! – Emanuel Lasker (on throwing away an expensive mantel clock that kept time poorly) Such was my play when I was still a youngster. The rest is history. – Emanuel Lasker (as an old man showing some of his games to someone who didn't realize who he was) A King of chess. – Emanuel Lasker (his final words on his deathbed) Tarrasch teaches knowledge, Lasker teaches wisdom. – Fred Reinfeld As I pored over the games of the great masters, two styles appealed to me above all others: Lasker and Steinitz. In Lasker I saw, above all, the supreme tactical genius. Whether a game was won or lost mattered little to him; he fought on to get the most out of every position. And in Steinitz I saw the master of consistency; he had a plan from the beginning of the game, and would stick to it, regardless of the consequences. – Reuben Fine Steinitz always looked for the objectively right move. Tarrasch always claimed to have found the objectively right move. Lasker did nothing of the kind. He never bothered about what might or might not be the objectively right move; all he cared for was to find whatever move was likely to be most embarrassing for the specific person sitting on the other side of the board. – Jacques Hannak Although he had a great grasp and appreciation of Steinitz' theories, Lasker always played the man as well as the board. – Dave Regis Lasker could make a mistake and smile, knowing that perfection is not granted to mortal man. – Reuben Fine Lasker won so many games from bad positions that he was accused by at least one opponent of witchcraft, by another of hypnotism and by many more as being grossly over-endowed with good luck. In fact, he often deliberately courted difficult positions because he understood the mental stress that can be built up in the mind of an attacker when he meets with a resolute defense. By building up an opponent's hopes and then placing a trail of difficulties in his path, Lasker would induce feelings of doubt, confusion and finally panic. In his own terminology, Lasker was deliberately avoiding "eumachic" strategies because they tended to guide the opponent too easily towards "eumachic" replies. An "amachic" move here and there, however, may introduce just the "jont" needed to prompt your opponent to send his "stratoi" in the wrong direction. – Bill Hartston While both Steinitz and Tarrasch had set themselves up as "macheeides", putting into practice a perfect strategy, playing only the best possible moves on every occasion, Lasker's approach to the game was certainly more flexible. For Lasker understood better than anyone that the true nature of the struggle in chess was not an objective search for the truth, but a psychological battle against both oneself and the opponent, in conditions of extreme uncertainty. – Bill Hartston [Lasker] employed many of the techniques that have become common today. He violated general principles when he felt confident in doing so. He played "practical" moves. He focused on specifics, such as targets, rather than the theoretical. He didn't calculate what didn't need to be calculated. He realized the clock was the 33rd piece. He complicated before his position got bad. He took calculated risks. He sacrificed for purely positional compensation. He used tactics to advance positional goals. - Andrew Soltis It used to be said that Lasker, unlike his contemporaries, formed no school of thought. But we're all his students. - Andrew Soltis In life, as in chess, Lasker was a fighter. – Fred Reinfeld Lasker's inexhaustible store of genius provided us with many hours of pleasure. – Fred Reinfeld It is remarkable, and deserves special mention that the great masters, such as Pillsbury, Maroczy and Janowsky play against Lasker as though hypnotized. – George Marco Nobody had such a fine feeling as Lasker for activating pieces. Often his opponents (and annotators too) would still be wondering long afterwards where the game had actually been lost. Advantages seemed to disappear mysteriously when facing Lasker! – Richard Forster It is no easy matter to reply correctly to Lasker's bad moves. – William Pollock Lasker's style is like limpid clear water - with a dash of poison in it! – Source Unknown The older the player, the greater the odds his idol is Lasker! – Lev Alburt Ah, Dr. Lasker, I presume. – Unknown blind player after the first few moves of a game against Lasker Emanuel Lasker was undoubtedly one of the most interesting people I came to know in my later life. – Albert Einstein For me, this personality, notwithstanding his fundamentally optimistic attitude, had a tragic note. The enormous mental resilience, without which no chess player can exist, was so much taken up by chess that he could never free his mind of this game, even when he was occupied by philosophical and humanitarian questions. – Albert Einstein (about Lasker) In my view, Lasker was a pioneer of modern chess. When you look through Steinitz's games you understand they were played in the century before last whereas Lasker had a lot of games that modern chess players could have had. - Vladimir Kramnik Lasker was an impressive person. He managed to understand a lot in chess. I was looking through his games again some time ago and was astonished: his knowledge was incredibly extensive for his time! He was the first to understand the importance of psychological factors and started to pay attention to them. - Vladimir Kramnik In my opinion, when Lasker was stripping Steinitz of his title, he was head and shoulders above all the others. Since that time chess history has not seen such a yawning gap. Lasker had surpassed everyone until a new generation grew up and his opponents, namely Tarrasch, got stronger. - Vladimir Kramnik 38 games, 1889-1936 Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen By Mikhalchishin and Stetsko 152 games, 2001-2016 Frank Marshall's Best Games 8 games, 1916-1930 Garry Kasparov's Best Games The best games of Kasparov's career. In the hands of this young man lies the future of chess. – Mikhail Botvinnik (on Kasparov in the late Seventies) It was the beauty and brilliance of tactical blows that captivated me in early childhood. – Garry Kasparov My chess philosophy has largely been developed under the influence of Ex-World Champion Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik. I am sure that the five years I spent at Botvinnik's school (1973-1978) played a decisive role in my formation as a chess player and determined the path of my subsequent improvement. – Garry Kasparov I singled out for me a group of chess players from whom I wanted to borrow the best qualities: the psychological stability from Karpov, the meticulous positional technique from Petrosian, the logic from Botvinnik, the intuition from Alekhine, the ability of taking a risk from Tal. – Garry Kasparov Alexander Alekhine is the first luminary among the others who are still having the greatest influence on me. I like his universality, his approach to the game, his chess ideas. I am sure that the future belongs to "Alekhine" chess. – Garry Kasparov I try to play, always, beautiful games…always I wanted to create masterpieces. – Garry Kasparov I want to win, I want to beat everyone, but I want to do it in style! – Garry Kasparov Chess for me is art. – Garry Kasparov Chess is mental torture. - Garry Kasparov My play is based on the most general laws of chess and the particular features of the position. – Garry Kasparov The point about concentration is that it is the only way to find something new and unusual at the chessboard; the only way to create surprise with fresh ideas. – Garry Kasparov We like to think. – Gary Kasparov (on why he and Karpov get into time trouble so often) In conclusion, if you want to unravel the multitude of secrets of chess then don't begrudge the time. - Garry Kasparov My nature is that I have to excite myself with a big challenge. - Garry Kasparov Kasparov feels Indian positions with his fingertips, but did not risk playing the KID against Karpov until their 4th match. And when Garry did not lose, he confirmed his absolute dominance over Karpov. It became clear that Karpov's attempts to regain the title would never succeed. - Alexsander Shashin To make a rather primitive classification, the average grandmaster knows about 1,500 - 2,000 typical positions, including the opening, possible middlegame plans, and some outlines of endgame. Super GMs, like Kramnik or Anand, have a wider and deeper knowledge. As for Kasparov, his knowledge is truly head-spinning, I guess, his number of positions might exceed 10,000. Garry's memory is phenomenal! I think it even impedes him during the game. - Valeri Tsaturian Potentially, Garry is an outstanding tactician who thinks originally and has a fine, sharp sense for dynamic positions. The trainers who worked with him concentrated on another of his assets, the most obvious one being his unique memory. This natural gift and his strong character, multiplied by his tremendous working ability, along with his ability to accumulate and retain information, produced the world champion; perhaps the greatest chess player of all time. Nevertheless, I believe that Garry did not realize his true chess potential to the maximum. Great knowledge is a great burden. Young Kasparov was incredibly inventive, even in difficult positions. He knew how to transform them, to explode the situation on the board in his favor, and he collected points from the strongest opponents, who could not cope with such complications. Garry's chess talent had a lot in common with Tal's. Later these traits were greatly developed. Garry has been the world's strongest player for 20 years and still he is not fully satisfied. Due to the constant pressure on him, Garry can't play a single game for his own pleasure. Those who've seen friendly games by Kasparov, when he plays in a relaxed manner without worrying about the outcome, will never forget it: what spectacular chess! - Valeri Tsaturian An aggressively inscrutable player, Kasparov strives to gain deep positional sacrifices: Even when he can't calculate the end result conclusively, he can make sophisticated generalizations. He does anything to get the initiative and to force the play. Inevitably, he emerges from a forest of complications - in which his intentions aren't all that clear - with the advantage. He's not as artful or as clear as Fischer, but his play coincides with the realities of the day, which are all about defense. Clarity of style no longer makes sense. Great players hide their intentions. – Bruce Pandolfini Kasparov always seems to find some sparks to create a fire on the board. – Lubomir Kavalek Typical Kasparov. Instead of simplifying to stagnant equality, he seeks counter chances on the kingside. Forever confident. That's why he's the best in the world! – Yasser Seirawan (commenting on a Kasparov game) When your house is on fire, you can’t be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in Chess, if your King is under attack you don’t worry about losing a Pawn on the Queen's side. - Gary Kasparov Sometimes Kasparov does things that no other chessplayer is able to do, things that are so stunning that colleagues and spectators ask themselves in astounded admiration how for heaven's sake it is possible that a human being can invent them. – Hans Ree Look at Garry Kasparov. After he loses, invariably he wins the next game. He just kills the next guy. That's something that we have to learn to be able to do. - Maurice Ashley If there is one single facet of chess in which Garry has well and truly dominated his opposition it is in the opening phase of the game. The breadth of his opening preparation is as vast as it is deep, ensnaring practically every chess grandmaster he has ever faced. I've witnessed some of the world's very best grandmasters shaking their heads, staring at a lost position shortly after breaking beyond the opening stages. – Yasser Seirawan Kasparov has won many Najdorfs and King's Indians not only because he had the best novelties, but because he fundamentally understood those positions better than his opponents. On the other hand he was too stubborn to admit that the Berlin Variation of the Ruy Lopez was not 'his cup of tea', which ultimately cost him his World Championship title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. - Ivan Sokolov Considering the youth of many of today's chess fans it might be better to reminisce about how terrifying Kasparov was in the 80s, but no time for ancient history today. Nobody gets a name like "Beast" after they're 35. – Mig Greengard He has been known by many names: the Prince of Darkness, the Boss, the Great One, Gazza, the Beast, and the Dark One. I think he enjoys all of this very much. – Kelly Atkins Garry Kasparov, the man who throws rocks as if they are tennis balls, uproots heavy trees with bare hands and eats strong international masters for breakfast. – Hans Ree Kasparov had an especially honed feel for the initiative and developed the deep preparation for tournaments and matches that was applied by Alekhine, Botvinnik and Fischer... - Anatoly Karpov Kasparov definitely has a great talent. There is nothing in chess he has been unable to deal with. The other world champions had something 'missing'. I can't say the same about Kasparov: he can do everything. If he wishes to play some type of positions brilliantly, he will do it. Nothing is impossible for him in chess. - Vladimir Kramnik Kasparov is the greatest player in the history of chess. I am a big fan of Capablanca, but Kasparov is the greatest. - Alexsander Shashin 181 games, 1976-2005 Harry Pillsbury's Best Games 15 games, 1895-1904 Howard Staunton's Best Games 8 games, 1839-1851 Jose Raul Capablanca's Best Games The best games of Capablanca's career. As one by one I mowed them down, my superiority soon became apparent. – Jose Raul Capablanca Why should I give her publicity? – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being asked to pose for a photo with a famous actress) I always play carefully and try to avoid unnecessary risks. I consider my method to be right as any superfluous ‘daring’ runs counter to the essential character of chess, which is not a gamble but a purely intellectual combat conducted in accordance with the exact rules of logic. – Jose Raul Capablanca When you sti down to play a game you should think only about the psotion, but not about the opponent. Whether chess is regarded as a science, or an art, or a sport, all the same psychology bears no relation to it and only stands in the way of real chess. Jose Raul Capablanca I always use only the openings that bring fruitful results in practice, regardless of the positions arising in the middle-game. – Jose Raul Capablanca I thought for a little while before playing this, knowing that I would be subjected thereafter to a terrific attack, all the lines of which would be of necessity familiar to my adversary. The lust of battle, however, had been aroused within me. I felt that my judgment and skill were being challenged. I decided that I was honor bound, so to speak, to take the pawn and accept the challenge, as my judgment told me that my position should then be defensible. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on being confronted by Marshall's new Marshall Attack) When a match is over I forget it. You can only remember so many things, so it is better to forget useless things that you can’t use and remember useful things that you can use. For instance, I remember and will always remember that in 1927 Babe Ruth hit sixty home runs. – Jose Raul Capablanca I had to keep walking from table to table. I must have walked ten miles. In chess, as in baseball, the legs go first. Chess is not an old man’s game. – Jose Raul Capablanca (on giving a simul) Sir, if you could beat me, I would know you. – Jose Raul Capablanca (to an unknown player who had rejected Capablanca's offer of queen odds, on the grounds that Capablanca didn't know him, and might lose) Young man, you play remarkable chess! You never make a mistake! – Emanuel Lasker (after losing most of the games in a 10 game rapid transit match against a very young Capablanca) He was of medium height, lean, but no padding needed for his shoulders. And such pride in the posture of his head! You would know no one could dingle-dangle that man. I can visualize him so clearly, with his dark hair and large gray-green eyes. Believe me, when he took a stroll, in his black derby hat and carrying a cane, no handsomer young gentleman ever graced Fifth Avenue. – Bernard Epstein (Capa's college roommate) Capablanca's planning of the game is so full of that freshness of his genius for position play, that every hypermodern player can only envy him. – Alexander Alekhine It is astonishing how carefully Capablanca's combinations are calculated. Turn and twist as you will, search the variations in every way possible, you come to the inevitable conclusion that the moves all fit in with the utmost precision. – Max Euwe There is nothing more to fear from the Capablanca technique. – Efim Bogoljubow (shortly after which, Capablanca proceeded to crush him) Capablanca didn’t make separate moves - he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this. – Mikhail Botvinnik Whether this advantage is theoretically sufficient to win or not does not worry Capablanca. He simply wins the ending. That is why he is Capablanca! – Max Euwe (on a Capablanca game) Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue. – Richard Reti Learn carefully to work out strategic plans like Capablanca, and you will laugh at the plans told to you in ridiculous stories. – Emanuel Lasker Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one. – Max Euwe It’s entirely possible that Capa could not imagine that there could be a better move than one he thought was good and he was usually right. – Mike Franett I was surprised to see that Capablanca did not initiate any active maneuvers and instead adopted a waiting game. In the end, his opponent made an imprecise move, the Cuban won a second pawn and soon the game. 'Why didn't you try to convert your material advantage straight away?' I ventured to ask the great chess virtuoso. He smiled indulgently: 'It was more practical to wait'. – Mikhail Botvinnik Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Center in Moscow a group of masters were analyzing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things and there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always find of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to the position, said 'Si, si,' and suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side trying to win. I haven't exaggerated. Don Jose literally pushed the pieces around the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up and now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery. – Alexander Kotov During the last twenty years, Capablanca has contested in successive tournaments, and his games form a series of classics, noted chiefly for their grace and simplicity. This simplicity is, of course, the result of that art which conceals art. – B. Winkleman He makes the game look easy. Art lies in the concealment of art. – Philip W. Sergeant (on Capablanca) Capablanca had that art which hides art to an overwhelming degree. – Harry Golombek I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca. – Emanuel Lasker I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent. – Mikhail Botvinnik Capablanca was possibly the greatest player in the entire history of chess. – Bobby Fischer. Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability. – Raymond Chandler (on a Capablanca game) What others could not see in a month's study, he saw at a glance. – Reuben Fine (on Capablanca) I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one. – Jose R. Capablanca Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position. – Garry Kasparov. Capablanca’s games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent’s attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique. – Aaron Nimzowitsch He had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending - even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. – Bobby Fischer (on Capablanca) I honestly feel very humble when I study Capablanca's games. – Max Euwe You cannot play chess unless you have studied his games. – Mikhail Botvinnik (on Capablanca) Capablanca's play produced and still produces an irresistible artistic effect. In his games a tendency towards simplicity predominated, and in this simplicity there was a unique beauty of genuine depth. - Mikhail Botvinnik Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique. - Mikhail Tal I was brought up on the games of Capablanca and Nimzowitsch, and they became part of my chess flesh and blood. - Tigran Petrosian Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his opponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending. - Robert Fischer Capablanca never really devoted himself to chess, seldom made match preperations. His simplicity is a myth. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position. Every move he made had to be super-sharp so as to make something out of nothing. His play was forced. He had to try harder than anybody else because he had so little to begin with. - Robert Fischer The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this... His book was the first chess book that I studied from cover to cover. Of course, his ideas influenced me. - Anatoly Karpov 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. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) With his death, we have lost a very great chess genius whose like we shall never see again. – Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca) Alekhine was the rock-thrower, Capablanca the man who made it all seem easy. – Hans Ree It was impossible to win against Capablanca; against Alekhine it was impossible to play. – Paul Keres Against Alekhine you never knew what to expect. Against Capablanca, you knew what to expect, but you couldn't prevent it! – George Thomas Capa's games looked as though they were turned out by a lathe, while Alekhine's resembled something produced with a mallet and chisel. – Charles Yaffe I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca! His ideal was to win by manoeuvering. Capablanca's genius reveals itself in his probing of the opponent's weak points. The slightest weakness cannot escape from his keene eye. - Emanuel Lasker Whereas Anderssen and Chigorin looked for accidental positions, Capablanca is guided by the logicality of strong positions. He values only that which is well-founded: solidity of position, pressure on a weak point, he does not trust the accidental, even if it be a problem-like mate, at the required moment he discovers and carries out subtle and far-sighted combinations... - Emanuel Lasker Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with it's logic. - Garry Kasparov Capablanca was a genius. He was an exception that did not obey any rule. - Vladimir Kramnik We can compare Capablanca with Mozart, whose charming music appeared to have been a smooth flow. I get the impression that Capablanca did not even know why he preferred this or that move, he just moved the pieces with his hand. If he had worked a lot on chess, he might have played worse because he would have started to try to comprehend things. But Capablanca did not have to comprehend anything, he just had to move the pieces! - Vladimir Kramnik 127 games, 1901-1939 Karpov's Strategic Wins, volume 1 The games from Tibor Karolyi's book "Karpov's Strategic Wins" Volume 1: The Making of a Champion 75 games, 1961-1985 Karpov's Strategic Wins, volume 2 The games from Tibor Karolyi's book "Karpov's Strategic Wins" Volume 2: The Prime Years 66 games, 1986-2009 MAGNUS CARLSEN'S BEST GAMES 99 games, 2000-2013 Vladimir Kramnik's Best Games 95 games, 1990-2018