Wilhelm Steinitz Quotes

The most interesting thing to me in chess are not the gambits. Or the moves. It's the mental toughness.

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.

In chess, as a purely intellectual game, where randomness is excluded, - for someone to play against himself is absurd ... It is as paradoxical, as attempting to jump over his own shadow.

I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things. I didn't even have books at first, and I just played by myself. I learnt a lot from that, and I feel that it is a big reason why I now have a good intuitive understanding of chess.

I love to play chess. The last time I was playing, I started to really see the board. I don't mean just seeing a few moves ahead - something else. My game started getting better. It's the patterns. The patterns are universal.

Kids love games and chess is a game where you have to sit down and concentrate and it just helps in every way.

Chess demands total concentration

Because of the level of my chess game, I was able - even against a weak opponent, such as my younger brothers or the dog - to get myself checkmated in under three minutes. I challenge any computer to do it faster.

Those who think that it is easy to play chess are mistaken. During a game a player lives on his nerves, and at the same time he must be perfectly composed.

If, in our first match for the world champion's title, I had managed to make the score 6-0, there would have been no Kasparov as a good chess player at all.

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

A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused.

I felt that chess... is a science in the form of a game... I consider myself a scientist. I wanted to be treated like a scientist.

Golf at its measured pace permits an electric excess of mental activity.

The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time.

All that matters on the chessboard is good moves.

I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player's personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.

Before a match, I do not follow any chess news except the games.

I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up.

I was world champion. For me, chess is my life. It is everything.

Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one's opponent will never become a good Chess player.

I'm a pretty good chess player.

For example, computer defends well, but for humans its is harder to defend than attack, particularly with the modern time control.

I could think six shots ahead. It's no different to playing chess.

I think for me the main goal that I have, or at least what I really aspire to, is to raise the level of chess.