Anatoly Karpov Quotes

I have never in my life played the French Defence, which is the dullest of all openings.

Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against. (on the 2013 World Championship match)

There isn't a woman player in the world I can't give knights-odds to and still beat.

I play a lot of chess. I probably played 200 games while we were making 'Andromeda.'

I play chess badly and I've been beaten by my 10-year old son.

Having marshalled the men in battle order, as shown in the first diagram, you will observe that each party has two ranks of men, on the first of which stand the superior Pieces, and on the next the eight Pawns.

We are studying the opponent all the time and it is maybe about chess and finding the right move at the right moment and that makes this so interesting.

Like MCs, each chess player has his own style: how he likes to open, when he likes to attack. Just like we face off with each other lyrically, we challenge each other's minds on the chessboard. Sharpen each other's swords.

Chess is a matter of daily training.

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

Playing black, I put great stake in the Ruy Lopez: I liked it, feel it, and understand it; in matches with Hjartarson and Timman it served me well. - on preparing for World Championship versus Garry Kasparov

I dropped the King's Indian in 1997 after one too many bad experiences against Kramnik.

Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. (in a letter to his wife)

The Nanjing games are homework by Garry Kasparov and me, [...] Today's game was provided by Garry.

Boris Vasilievich was the only top-class player of his generation who played gambits regularly and without fear ... Over a period of 30 years he did not lose a single game with the King's Gambit, and among those defeated were numerous strong players of all generations, from Averbakh, Bronstein and Fischer, to Seirawan.

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.

I don't recommend trying to cram a lot of long opening-move variations into your head. The main idea behind any opening is to get a strong pawn center and give your pieces a lot of scope so that you cramp your opponent's position and can attack weaknesses in his game.

Chess is not a game, but a disease.

There are fixed rules in chess, and no one knows how the game will end.

My very first book was a games collection of Anatoly Karpov. On the whole I was attracted by positonal play with some tactics, and already then I was aiming for universality.

I could give any woman in the world a piece and a move; to Gaprindashvili even, a knight.

I don't think I have a favorite chess move, other than checkmate, because each move is part of a combination of other moves. Just like I don't have a favorite piece, because they all work together. I mean, I love myself; I am the king on the board, but other pieces do different things and they all work together, so it's not one particular move unless it's checkmate because usually there's an answer. You know, chess is about questions and answers.

Capture of the adverse King is the ultimate but not the first object of the game

The first great chess players, including the world champion, got by perfectly well without constant coaches.