Capablanca Quotes

• You will already have noticed how often Capablanca repeated moves, often returning to positions which he had had before. This is not lack of deciciveness or slowness, but the employment of a basic endgame principle which is 'Do not hurry'.

  Alexander Kotov

  Moving, Principles, Employment

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• 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.

  Alexander Alekhine

  Struggle, Psychology, Understanding

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• No one has ever played these endgames with such elegant ease as Capablanca.

  Richard Reti

  Ease, Chess, Endgame

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• Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue.

  Richard Reti

  Mother, Chess, Tongue

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• 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

  Believe, Style, Chess

  20 Copy quote

• 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 ooponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending.

  Bobby Fischer

  Simple, Player, Games

  88 Copy quote

• Many an expert says that there is a certain affinity between (Capablanca's style) and that of the world master, Lasker. There may be some truth in it. Lasker's style is clear water, but with a drop of poison which is clouding it. Capablanca's style is perhaps still clearer, but it lacks that drop of poison.

  Jacques Mieses

  Water, Style, Experts

  8 Copy quote

• Capablanca's phenomenal move-searching algorithm in those early years, when he possessed a wonderful ability for calculating variations very rapidly, made him invincible.

  Mikhail Botvinnik

  Moving, Years, Variation

  13 Copy quote

• 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

  Trying, Technique, Chess

  87 Copy quote

• Capablanca's play produced and still produces an irresistable artistic effect. In his games a tendency towards simplicity predominated, and in this simplicity there was a unique beauty of genuine depth.

  Mikhail Botvinnik

  Unique, Games, Play

  16 Copy quote

• Capablanca did not apply himself to opening theory (in which he never therefore achieved much), but delved deeply into the study of end-games and other simple positions which respond to technique rather than to imagination.

  Max Euwe

  Simple, Games, Imagination

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• 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 his logic.

  Garry Kasparov

  Style, Chess, Crystals

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• 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.

  Alexander Alekhine

  Player, Thinking, Odds

  35 Copy quote

• But the thing that was great about Capablanca was that he really spoke his mind, he said what he believed was true, he said what he felt. He [Capablanca] wanted to change the rules [of chess] already, back in the twenties, because he said chess was getting played out. He was right. Now chess is completely dead. It is all just memorisation and prearrangement. It's a terrible game now. Very uncreative.

  Bobby Fischer

  Games, Mind, Twenties

  Radio Interview, www.geocities.jp. October 16, 2006.

  15 Copy quote

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• The greatest compliment one can pay a master is to compare him with Capablanca.

  Irving Chernev

  Pay, Compliment, Masters

  "The Chess Companion". Book by Irving Chernev, 1970.

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• I honestly feel very humble when I study Capablanca's games.

  Max Euwe

  Humble, Games, Study

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• Capablanca was snatched too early from the chess world. With his death we have lost a great chess genius, the like of whom we will never see again.

  Alexander Alekhine

  Genius, World, Chess

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• The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this.

  Anatoly Karpov

  Chess, Opinion, Approach

  53 Copy quote

• When I used to go to the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifties, I met a lot of old-timers there who knew Capablanca, because he used to come around to the Manhattan club in the forties - before he died in the early forties. They spoke about Capablanca with awe. I have never seen people speak about any chess player like that, before or since.

  Bobby Fischer

  Player, People, Manhattan

  Radio Interview, www.geocities.jp. October 16, 2006.

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• I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!

  Emanuel Lasker

  Player, Genius, Chess

  35 Copy quote

• One interesting indication of Capablanca's greatness is that to non-chess players his name was better known than the names of all other chess masters together! This was due partly to his engaging personality and distinguished appearance: he was one of those exceptional people who at once stand out in a crowd.

  Fred Reinfeld

  Player, Greatness, Names

  Fred Reinfeld (2012). “The Immortal Games of Capablanca”, p.2, Courier Corporation

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• Capablanca used to talk calmly and moderately about everything. However, when our conversation turned to the problems of the battle for the world championship, in front of me was a quite different person: an enraged lion, although with the fervour typical only of a southerner, with his temperamental patter, which made it hard to follow the torrent of his indignant exclamations and words.

  Alexander Koblencs

  Battle, Typical, Different

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• The essence of Capablanca's greatness is his rare talent for avoiding all that can complicate or confuse the conflict.

  Max Euwe

  Greatness, Essence, Chess

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• He can be regarded as the great master of simplification. The art of resolving the tension at the critical moment and in the most effacious way so as to clarify the position as desired is Capablanca's own.

  Max Euwe

  Art, Critical Moments, Chess

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• Capablanca plays very superficially sometimes, in a way that can only be ascribed to lack of concentration. This is an integral weakness of his make-up and can only be partially compensated by his employing his time allowance to the full.

  Max Euwe

  Play, Weakness, Chess

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