33 Quotes by Alexander Kotov

It has always been recognized that chess is an art, and its best practitioners have been described as artists.

I soon realized that it is not enough for a master simply to analyse variations scrupulously just like an accountant. He must learn to work out which particular moves he should consider and then examine just as many variations as necessary – no more and no less.

Once in a Moscow chess club I saw how two first-category players knocked pieces off the board as they were exchanged, so that the pieces fell onto the floor. It was as if they were playing skittles and not chess!

There is no doubt that the reason for my awful oversight was over-confidence that sapped my sense of danger. So that is where to look for the cause of bad blunders – in the exulting feeling of self-congratulation.

Sit there for five hours? Certainly not! A player must walk about between moves, it helps his thinking.

The masters and grandmasters can be divided into three groups – the inveterate time trouble merchants, those who sometimes get into trouble, and those for whom the phenomenon is a very rare occurence.