Chess First Of All Teaches You To

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.

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.

Young Players Expose Themselves To Grave Risks When They Blindly Imitate The Innovations Of Masters Without Themselves First Checking All The Details And Consequences Of These Innovations.

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.

The Retreat Of A Minor Piece To The Back Rank, Where It Cuts The Lines Of Communication Between The Rooks, Is Permissable Only In Exceptional Cases.