Deux fous gagnent toujours, mais trois fous, non!

During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an

ascetic monk and a beast of prey.

Psychology is the most important factor in chess.

A lifetime in not enough to learn everything about chess.

For my victory over Capablanca I am indebted primarily to my superiority in the field of

psychology. Capablanca played, relying almost exclusively on his rich intuitive talent.
But for the chess struggle nowadays one needs a subtle knowledge of human nature,
an understanding of the opponent's psychology.

I do not play chess – I fight at chess. Therefore, I willingly combine the tactical with the
strategic, the fantastic with the scientific, the combinative with the positional, and I aim
to respond to the demands of each given position.

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

Combination is a soul of chess.

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

For success I consider three factors are necessary: firstly, an awareness of my own
strengths and weaknesses; secondly, an accurate understanding of my opponent's
strengths and weaknesses; thirdly, a higher aim than momentary satisfaction. I see this
aim as being scientific and artistic achievements, which place the game of chess on a
par with other arts.
Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when
he cannot find a clear and logical plan.

Chess first of all teaches you to be objective.

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.

I study chess eight hours a

day, on principle.
I believe that true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands.
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.

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

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 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 is a matter of vanity.

That which Steinitz gave to the theoretical aspect of the game when he was at his best
is very remote to all out home-bred chess philosophers, but with his views on Morphy,
whom he tries to discredit completely, it is of course impossible to agree.
Alexander Alekhine

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

The fact that a player is very short of time is to my mind, as little to be considered as an
excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time
he committed the crime.

The fact that a player is very short of time is to my mind, as little to be considered as an
excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time
he committed the crime.

In my opinion, a master is morally obliged to seize every sort of opportunity and to try to
solve the problems of the position without fear of some simplifications.

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.

During a Chess competition a Chessmaster should be a combination of a beast of prey

and a monk