If you have disabled Java for your browser, use the Site Map (linked in the header and footer).

Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints
 

Advertise
with
Chessville!!

Advertise to
thousands
of chess
fans for
as little
as $25.

Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

New Additions - Part Three

New quotes that we haven't even had time to categorize yet!

It is often more important to emphasize the obvious, than to elucidate the obscure. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

At the beginning of the game, the pieces are arranged in a pattern that is simple and easy to understand. But the game evolves. The players make small decisions, one turn at a time, each decision fairly simple in and of itself, and made for reasons that can be easily understood, even by a novice. But over the course of many such turns, the pattern develops such great complexity that only the finest minds - or the finest computers - can comprehend it. – Neal Stephenson

It’s impossible to compare two players from different epochs. It’s extremely unfair because we know more now and also because my opponents are stronger than those Fischer had to face. I am not trying to underestimate Fischer’s achievements! The only real point of comparison between the two of us is the size of the gaps between ourselves and our respective opponents. I think that the gap between Fischer and his opponents is still the widest in [modern] chess history. The only possible way to compare Fischer, Botvinnik, Morphy, Steinitz and Kasparov is to place them in the context of their eras and to measure the distance between themselves and their opponents. Fischer’s distance was vast! – Garry Kasparov

Work on my chess is permanent. – Vladimir Kramnik

I don't think about my place in chess history. It’s not a good way to think. I want to play chess well, win and play good games. But this doesn't bother me. – Vladimir Kramnik

I probably do better than most of my opponents in tactical combinations, but I'm not mad to go into these kinds of positions with a computer. To start calculating - it would not be a very wise idea. When the computer sees forced lines, it plays like God.  – Garry Kasparov

The beauty sometimes means you have to allow a little mistake. Not a blunder, but some inaccuracy. The human factor. In computer games, there is no room for a human factor. You make one inaccuracy, and you blow up five hours' work.  – Garry Kasparov

It's about the numbers. If you have one million kids going into chess clubs, as it was in the Soviet Union, eventually you come up with great talents. If you have maybe 50,000 kids, you're lucky to have one Bobby Fischer in a quarter of a century. Now in America, with parents happy to see their kids playing chess in the schools, I would say that at one point we'll see the change. Chess is the only sport that has equal access to all groups of people - age, racial factors, sex, physical abilities - so if you look at it from the angle of political correctness, which I'm not a big fan of, you find a lot of agendas are promoting the game.  – Garry Kasparov

It’s a very interesting time; we're having a small revolution. There are so many young players, of course Ponomariov, but also Grischuk, Radjabov and Volokitin (very good). For me it is very pleasant to see. Its not because I dislike my old opponents. The youngsters are eager to beat you and they provide an additional challenge. There will certainly be more names in the future. I'm also pretty sure I will stay at the top. There are many things I can still teach them! – Vladimir Kramnik

You know, it will not be just who is going to win the match. It will be whether we can win one single game. I'm quite serious. The experiment goes on as long as we are winning one single game. If we can win one game, we're in business. For a while we'll be able to win the match. I think I'm still the favorite. But I'm not sure it will last. – Garry Kasparov (on playing computers)

The situation in women's chess is dramatically improving, but remember, 40 years ago, Fischer was proudly saying, ''I could give one knight'' - an extra knight - ''for any female player.'' Now I wonder whether I could be so prudent to give a pawn. The gap is closing. It's still a long way to go. I don't think it will be equal, but it'll be close. – Garry Kasparov

Even with a good position, a player, no matter how strong, cannot afford to relax his attention even for one move.  – Jose R. Capablanca

He left it en prise and I took it en passant. – Joseph Henry Blackburne (on draining his opponent’s glass of whiskey in a simul)

The service of chess does not profit by it. He who plays well without seeing the board will play even better if he does look at it. Therefore these displays are merely shows to dazzle the public. – Alexander Petroff (on blindfold play)

He handled the pieces gracefully, never hovered over them, nor fiercely stamped them down upon the board, nor exulted when he gained a victory; in short, he was a highly chivalrous player. – Wilhelm Steinitz (on Cecil De Vere)

De Vere was second to no man, living or dead. – Wilhelm Steinitz (on De Vere’s natural talent & genius)

I think it is important to teach children to play chess. From my own experience, I can trace how it has helped me acquire analytical skills and make balanced decisions. Call it an art, a sport or a game; I believe chess can help bring out people's talents. – Maria Kouvatsou

Chess is like life. When one lets me down I have the other. I did not become a professional player not because I didn't want to, but because under the present circumstances it is financial suicide. There is very little support and one needs to think long term. – Maria Kouvatsou

Chess has all the qualifications to become an Olympic sport. It is competitive and it has clear rules. It is certainly in agreement with the ancient Greek saying 'nous igiis en somati igies' (a healthy mind breeds a healthy body). – Maria Kouvatsou

It's better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life. – Elizabeth Kenny

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.  – Frank Lloyd Wright

I’m completely mystified how such a superb player as Alexei can lose game after game to Garry. – Yasser Seirawan (on Shirov’s record against Kasparov)

If you admit that great chess talent usually causes jealousy, envy or even blind hatred among miserable chess players, the explanation of cases like Alekhine or Fisher may lie not in the purity of administrative principles, but in much more bastard interests. – Ricardo Calvo

A ban against a chess player based on any political ideas is in itself an intellectual and juridical monstrosity. A non-suspicious authority like Prof. Nathan Divinsky told me once, "I would have accepted the participation of Hitler in any chess tournament". Yes, any Hitler, Stalin, Pol-Pot, Mao, Saddam or Ilyumzhinov has the right, if he wishes, to play in a chess tournament. This is the real greatness of our game, a spiritual refuge far above the dirty politics of everyday life in any country. – Ricardo Calvo

Thrown games, political punishments, libels or defamatory propaganda, electoral fraud and administrative manipulations became a Soviet specialty quickly absorbed by FIDE officials of any nationality. They could sincerely say once and again "Gens una sumus". In the true sense of the word, they are a family. – Ricardo Calvo

It can’t hurt to solve tactical exercises daily. These should reflect real-game situations and not be so obvious that you don’t have to work a bit. Furthermore, you should always do them in your head, never moving the pieces, at least until the planet loses all its oxygen or there’s peace on Earth, whichever comes first. – Bruce Pandolfini

That Fred produced accurate and deep analysis should surprise no one who played him over-the-board. His chess was precise, positional and poisonous. – Arnold Denker and Larry Parr (on Reinfeld)

Reinfeld's greatest contribution was as a communicator and teacher. In an age when television was in its infancy and computers were only of academic interest, he reached more people than anyone else. – Brian Gosling

Quick: name a chess writer. I am willing to bet a dollar to a dime that you named Fred Reinfeld. Reinfeld was inspired principally by chess players. Reinfeld was responsible for introducing Keres, Tarrasch, Nimzowitsch, and, to some extent, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine to the modern American chess fan. He popularized chess by popularizing chess masters. Reinfeld gave us heroes and taught us to love them, so we appreciate chess all the more. – Burt Hochberg

In his early works Reinfeld attempted to add to chess knowledge, but soon realized that he could make a better career by writing for the larger market created by weaker players. His readers liked his clear style, and his publishers liked his reliability.  – David Hooper and Ken Whyld

Reinfeld had a real gift for bringing the Game - the clash of intellect and personality - to life in a way that few others ever have.  – Frank Berry, 1995

It seems to me that little effort is exerted as a rule (by most writers) to make the study of a chess book an interesting and pleasant occupation. – Fred Reinfeld

Fred had that rare facility to see humor in almost everything, and when he laughed, he roared so hard that you lost control with him. – Arnold Denker & Larry Parr (on Reinfeld)

He will plant the banner of Castile upon the walls of Madrid, amidst the cries of the conquered city, and the little king will go away looking very sheepish. – Paul Morphy (phrase he was often heard muttering in French during his later years as he strolled the streets of New Orleans)

Fischer's like Morphy. What's the story with you Americans? You win the title, go home, and don't play any more. – Igor Ivanov

Whatever people say about him, he has a very kind heart. He always impressed me as a normal, kind, decent human being. He visited my husband in the hospital when he was dying of cancer, and walked my dog every night. Bobby was part of the family.  – Lina Grumette (Fischer friend with whom he often stayed during the Sixties)

After Fischer relinquished the title, Karpov was named champion. Karpov still holds the title, but his crown has not been without a singularly painful thorn, for Fischer is still alive, out there somewhere in Southern California. No longer merely a former world chess champion, he has grown to almost mythic size, leaving behind him a trail of rumors and a chess world that is still reaching out for him in the void. – William Nack (Sports Illustrated - July 29, 1985)

It's like this god of chess hanging over everybody's head. – Larry Christiansen (on Fischer)

The brain that once ate Moscow. – William Nack (on Fischer)

It's a tragedy. Imagine: The greatest chess player who ever lived is living in our time, and he's not even playing. I've never even met him. It's very frustrating. – Yasser Seirawan (on Fischer, 1985)

Players Bobby's age, like myself, are a lost generation. We always lived in the shadow of Bobby. We had him as an idol. He was someone to follow. When he stopped playing, I somehow got lost. We lost our inspiration. The last decade belonged to me in the United States. I was always ahead in ratings; but I can't say I was first because, in the back of my mind, there was always Bobby. He was still alive. He is still alive. – Lubomir Kavalek

I'm still the world champion! Karpov isn't. My friends still consider me champion. They took my title from me. – Bobby Fischer (in 1985)

If somebody took a filling out and put in an electronic device, he could influence your thinking. I don't want anything artificial in my head… I had all my fillings taken out some time ago. – Bobby Fischer

I'll gum it if I have to. I'll gum it. – Bobby Fischer (on how he’d chew food if all his teeth rotted out from having his fillings removed)

He does not return my messages. I'm a journalist now. – Robert Byrne (on Fischer)

I worry about him, but I can't worry about him night and day. I've made efforts to get in touch with him. I've tried to get his phone number, but he doesn't like his number given out. I can't be chasing him around, just to get hold of him to talk to him. In L.A., I've tried to find him. I've asked people where he might live, where you might see him. My door is always open. If he wants to get in touch with me, he can. – William Lombardy

We talked about chess. He didn't have much respect for Karpov's play. He launched into a tirade against the Jews, the world conspiracy. He seemed like a nice guy, then he launched into that tirade. I felt kind of sorry for him. – Larry Christiansen (on his first meeting with Fischer in ’78)

He began to visit us when he was just 13. We played thousands and thousands of speed games. You can't predict what a boy that age will be. The next thing I knew, he went up like a Roman candle. It's hard to believe he's not the Bobby Fischer we knew. I still think of him as the little prodigy who lived with us years ago. We had a lot of fun together. They're one thing as boys; they're another as men. – Jack Collins (on Fischer)

Chess players don't get better as they get older, they get worse. Their careers roughly parallel those of big league pitchers. It's hard to know why. Maybe it's nerves. Maybe it's the will to win. But Bobby always admired players who competed into old age, such as Wilhelm Steinitz, a world champion who played till he died. Bobby always told me he'd do that. He loved chess. That's the strange part, that he should drop it. Everyone asks me why. I don't know. – Jack Collins

His view of the world is completely incompatible with mine. He wants to talk about that all the time. What do you do with a person who insists the Holocaust didn't happen? – Jack Collins

He would really like to be just left alone. He's trying to live a normal life, with regular hours. He is saying, `I want my own space.’ – Harry Sneider (Fischer's former personal fitness trainer and confidant)

That's none of your business. Just be my friend. – Bobby Fischer (to friends who tried to get him to play again)

We have a deal. The only thing I can tell you is he is in very good shape. He hasn't lost anything. – Miguel Quinteros (on Fischer in the early 80’s, when asked about his friend, Fischer)

He was too good. There was no use in playing him. It wasn't interesting. I was getting beaten, and it wasn't clear to me why. It wasn't like I made this mistake or that mistake. It was like I was being gradually outplayed, from the start. He wasn't taking any time to think. The most depressing thing about it is that I wasn't even getting out of the middle game to an endgame. I don't ever remember an endgame. He honestly believes there is no one for him to play, no one worthy of him. I played him, and I can attest to that. It's not interesting. – Peter Biyiasas (after losing 17 straight blitz games to Fischer in 1981)

If the Commies come to poison me, I don't want to make it easy for them. – Bobby Fischer (on why his suitcase of vitamins was locked)

I'm bothered by a lot of weirdos. – Bobby Fischer (on his reclusiveness)

As I started studying the games systematically, I was amazed to find that the first nine games are totally devoid of the whole idea of fighting chess. It is only afterwards that a surplus of fighting spirit comes to the fore. Maybe this unexpected development was the result of the turbulent imbroglios at the beginning. Spassky, probably completely off balance, certainly played the third game at a level that wouldn’t have been out of place for an average international master. – Jan Timman (on the Fischer-Spassky match of ’72)

Even if I were not punch-drunk from struggling with the previous nineteen games, nothing except being paid for it could make me annotate this game - and nothing at all could make me annotate it well. – C. H. O'D. Alexander (on the 20^th game of the ’72 Fischer-Spassky match)

Who then could have guessed that Fischer would play no more chess for 20 years? Or that the return match would be not for any official title? Or that in its wake Fischer would exile himself from America and publicly descend into a noxious, paranoiac solipsism? In a mid-book nine-page photo gallery we see Fischer, celebrating after the 1972 match, happily dancing with young Icelandic ladies and socializing with a large crowd. What a tragedy that is not the Fischer we have known since then.  – Taylor Kingston (in a review of a book about the ’72 Fischer-Spassky match)

Image is everything and right now, the image of girls playing chess in America is not too popular. – Susan Polgar

Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a GM so you can barely make $20,000 a year? Some say they play chess for the love of the game. It is a noble concept but the love of the game does not pay the rent or put food on the table for your family. – Susan Polgar

Imagine the stress of feeling that Kasparov is breathing down your neck. – Frederic Friedel

He went into a monumental sulk after losing to Deep Blue. He was disorientated, so much so that he wasn't psychologically prepared to see off his challenger in 2000 [Kramnik]. It was a huge knock to his confidence because he hadn't known what it was like to lose. – Anonymous friend of Kasparov

I was by Garry's side morning, noon and night during that match and I can tell you it was horrifyingly loaded in favor of the computer. Garry was brutalized by a giant corporation: IBM. In his final game he practically committed suicide, like a petulant child. – Frederic Friedel (on the ’97 match with Deep Blue)

He organized the Jerusalem match because the original 'Man versus Machine' in 1997 was his baby and he has been desperate for a rematch with IBM since, but they won't give him one. Now, as he sees it, the pretender Kramnik has not only taken his crown but has also stolen his 'Man versus Machine' idea. – Frederic Friedel (on Kasparov’s match with Deep Junior)

The truth of what really happened in 1997 is hotly contested. But, in his more paranoid moments, Kasparov is convinced that IBM cheated by concealing a team of top class grandmasters, including his old foe Anatoly Karpov, in a hotel opposite the match venue so that they could beam their collective strategies and tactics direct to Deep Blue. There is perhaps more legitimacy to Kasparov's complaint that he was "conned" by the organizers of the Deep Blue match because not only did IBM's team change the program after every game - so that Kasparov was always facing a new opponent - they also refused to show him a single game by the current version of Deep Blue before the match. – Nigel Farndale

A grandmaster would never normally play against another grandmaster he knew nothing about. You do research so you know your opponent's weaknesses. Kasparov was being made to play blind. – Frederic Friedel (on the ’97 match with Deep Blue)

In theory, Kramnik should have the advantage because when he asks the computer as part of his training: 'If I play this, what will you play?' the computer will be truthful. It cannot lie. It will say: 'If you do that, you'll kill me.' This is as it should be. The human should be given too many rights in order to avoid the possibility of being given too few. – Frederic Friedel (on the Kramnik-Deep Fritz match)

He is like every other grandmaster except he doesn't join you in the bar after a game. – Viswanathan Anand (on Deep Fritz)

I do think Fritz has intelligence. Maybe he even has feelings. I can sense when he is feeling afraid, for instance. He gets worried when there is a king's side attack, you can feel him wanting to move his pieces back into a defensive position. We have programmed Fritz to worry about pieces amassed against his king. – Frederic Friedel

I tested Fritz on my laptop and let him replay the games of Deep Blue against Kasparov in 1997. To be honest, the result was more than surprising to me: in almost every position Fritz was suggesting objectively better variations. The program is clearly stronger than Deep Blue, whatever the hardware. – Vladimir Kramnik

Computers are inferior in tactics. There is nothing else to say. – Vladimir Kramnik

I should have been exulting, but I was feeling empty inside. The game felt too easy. – Feng-Hsiung Hsu (Deep Blue team member after the final game in the ’97 Kasparov-Deep Blue match)

The question was still open; is still open: Is it stronger than, let's say, the strongest human being? – Vladimir Kramnik (on Deep Blue)

Once you've been run over by a freight train, you know it's real painful. But until you do, you can only imagine. – Robert Hyatt (on playing super-fast chess computers & programs)

Of all the things that have really hurt computer chess, that has hurt the most. – Robert Hyatt (on the dismantling of Deep Blue so that no further testing is possible)

Back to the Quotes Index

search tips

The
Chessville
Chess Store
 

Reference
Center

The Chessville
 Weekly
The Best Free
Chess
Newsletter
On the Planet!

Subscribe
Today -
It's Free!!

The
Chessville
Weekly
Archives

Discussion
Forum

Chess Links

Chess Rules

Visit the
Chessville
Chess Store