When you sit down to play a game you should think only about the position, but not about the opponent. Whether chess is regarded as a science, or an art, or a sport, all the same psychology bears no relation to it and only stands in the way of real chess.

— José Raul Capablanca

José Raul Capablanca Quotes

Chess is a very logical game and it is the man who can reason most logically and profoundly in it that ought to win.

— José Raul Capablanca

Ninety percent of the book variations have no great value, because either they contain mistakes or they are based on fallacious assumptions; just forget about the openings and spend all that time on the endings.

— José Raul Capablanca

The game might be divided into three parts, the opening, the middle-game and the end-game. There is one thing you must strive for, to be equally efficient in the three parts.

— José Raul Capablanca

Chess books should be used as we use glasses: to assist the sight, although some players make use of them as if they thought they conferred sight.

— José Raul Capablanca

During the course of many years I have observed that a great number of doctors, lawyers, and important businessmen make a habit of visiting a chess club during the late afternoon or evening to relax and find relief from the preoccupations of their work.

— José Raul Capablanca

In chess, as played by a good player, logic and imagination must go hand in hand, compensating each other.

— José Raul Capablanca

The great World Champions Morphy, Steinitz, and Lasker were past masters in the art of Pawn play; they had no superiors in their handling of endgames. The present World Champion has not the strength of the other three as an endgame player, and is therefore inferior to them.

— José Raul Capablanca

An hour’s history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.

— José Raul Capablanca

I have not given any drawn or lost games, because I thought them inadequate to the purpose of the book.

— José Raul Capablanca

Alekhine evidently possesses the most remarkable chess memory that has ever existed. It is said that he remembers by heart all the games played by the leading masters during the last 15-20 years.

— José Raul Capablanca

The best way to learn endings, as well as openings, is from the games of the masters.

— José Raul Capablanca

To my way of thinking, Troitzky has no peer among endgame compsers; no one else has composed so many and such varied endings of the first rank.

— José Raul Capablanca

Although the Knight is generally considered to be on a par with the Bishop in strength, the latter piece is somehat stronger in the majority of cases in which they are opposed to each other.

— José Raul Capablanca

Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate.

— José Raul Capablanca

Morphy gained most of his wins by playing directly and simply, and it is simple and logical method that constitutes the true brilliance of his play, if it is considered from the viewpoint of the great masters.

— José Raul Capablanca

Excellent! I will still be in time for the ballet!

— José Raul Capablanca

As one by one I mowed them down, my superiority soon became apparent.

— José Raul Capablanca

The weaker the player the more terrible the Knight is to him, but as a player increases in strength the value of the Bishop becomes more evident to him, and of course there is, or should be, a corresponding decease in his estimation of the value of the Knight as compared to the bishop.

— José Raul Capablanca

A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.

— José Raul Capablanca

It was Steinitz who was the first to establish the basic principles of general chess strategy. He was a pioneer and one of the most profound researchers into the thruth of the game, which was hidden from his contemporaries.

— José Raul Capablanca
More José Raul Capablanca Quote >>
Privacy Policy   9.20ms  0.72MB