“I cannot think that a player genuinely loving the game can get pleasure just from the number of points scored no matter how impressive the total. I will not speak of myself, but for the masters of the older generation, from whose games we learned, the aesthetic side was the most important. -” ThinkingImportantMatterGamesSpeakSidesPleasureNumbersBeautyPlayerGenerationsMastersChessAestheticImpressiveOlder Generation Author:Alexander Kotov
“Here is a definition which correctly reflects the course of thought and action of a grandmaster: - The plan in a game of chess is the sum total of successive strategical operations which are each carried out according to separate ideas arising from the demands of the position.” IdeasActionCoursesGamesPlansPositionDemandDefinitionsChessOperationsThoughts And Actions Author:Alexander Kotov
“The main thing that develops positional judgement, that perfects it and makes it many-sided, is detailed analytical work, sensible tournament practice, a self-critical attitude to your games and a rooting out of all the defects in your play.” SelfPlayGamesAttitudePracticeLearningCriticalChessJudgementSensibleDefectsTournaments Author:Alexander Kotov
“If a chess statistician were to try and satisfy his curiousity over which stage of the game proved decisive in the majority of cases, he would certainly come to the conclusion that it is the middlegame that provides the most decisive stage.” IfsTryingGamesCasesStageMajorityChessConclusionStatisticianCuriousity Author:Alexander Kotov
“The placing of the centre pawns determines the "topography" of a game of chess.” GamesDetermineChessPawnsTopography Author:Alexander Kotov
“Go through detailed variations in your own time, think in a general way about the position in the opponent's time and you will soon find that you get into time trouble less often, that your games have more content to them, and that their general standard rises.” ThinkingWayTimeGamesTroublePositionStandardsChessOpponentsVariation Author:Alexander Kotov
“If you can play the first ten or fifteen moves in just as many minutes, you can be in a state of bliss for the rest of the game. If, on the other hand, Bronstein thinks for forty minutes about his first move, then time trouble is inevitable.” IfsThinkingFirstsStatesPlayHandsMovingTimeGamesTroubleMinutesTenChessInevitableBlissFortyFifteen Author:Alexander Kotov
“If your opponent is short (on time), play just as you played earlier in the game. If you are short keep calm, I repeat, don't get flustered. Keep up the same neat writing of the moves, the same methodical examination of variations, but at a quicker rate.” IfsWritingPlayMovingTimeGamesRateCalmChessOpponentsRepeatsExaminationVariationNeatMethodical Author:Alexander Kotov
