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Capablanca Quotes

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Capablanca Quotes

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

Feels Games Study Humble Honestly Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“The greatest compliment one can pay a master is to compare him with Capablanca.”

Pay Masters Compare Compliment Capablanca

Author:Irving Chernev

“As with Steinitz, Fischer's genius has often been concealed by controversies away from the board. Like Lasker, Fischer has raised chess to new financial heights despite frequent retreats from serious play. And, like Capablanca, Fischer is recognized by millions of non-players and has won the game many new enthusiasts.”

Play Games Millions Player Serious Genius Raised Financial Chess Despite Height Boards Retreat Controversy Concealed Fischer Capablanca

Author:Andrew Soltis

“Capablanca did not apply himself to opening theory (in which he never therefore achieved much), but delved deeply into the study of end-games and other simple positions which respond to technique rather than to imagination.”

Ends Games Imagination Simple Study Position Theory Technique Chess Opening Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“Never before and never since have I seen - and I cannot even imagine, such an amazing rapidity of chess thinking that Capablanca possessed in 1913-14. In blitz games he gave all the St. Petersburg players odds of five minutes to one - and he won.”

Thinking Games Five Imagine Player Minutes Chess Possessed Odds Five Minutes Blitz Capablanca

Author:Alexander Alekhine

“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.”

World Lost Genius Chess Capablanca

Author:Alexander Alekhine

“Capablanca used to talk calmly and moderately about everything. However, when our conversation turned to the problems of the battle for the world championship, in front of me was a quite different person: an enraged lion, although with the fervour typical only of a southerner, with his temperamental patter, which made it hard to follow the torrent of his indignant exclamations and words.”

World Persons Made Different Hard Problem Used Fronts Battle Conversation Chess Made It Lions Championship Typical Southerner Exclamation Indignant Capablanca

Author:Alexander Koblencs

“I can remember a case where Capablanca worked out an impressive combination, but then chose to make a simple move in answer to which his opponent resigned at once!”

I Can Remember Moving Simple Answers Cases Chess Combination Opponents Impressive Resigned Capablanca

Author:Alexander Kotov

“The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this.”

Opinion Approach Ideals Chess Collectives Capablanca

Author:Anatoly Karpov

“When I used to go to the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifties, I met a lot of old-timers there who knew Capablanca, because he used to come around to the Manhattan club in the forties - before he died in the early forties. They spoke about Capablanca with awe. I have never seen people speak about any chess player like that, before or since.”

People Used Speak Player Mets Died Clubs Chess Awe Forty Spokes Manhattan Chess Players Timer Capablanca Old Timers

Author:Bobby Fischer

“But the thing that was great about Capablanca was that he really spoke his mind, he said what he believed was true, he said what he felt. He [Capablanca] wanted to change the rules [of chess] already, back in the twenties, because he said chess was getting played out. He was right. Now chess is completely dead. It is all just memorisation and prearrangement. It's a terrible game now. Very uncreative.”

Mind Said Wanted Games Felt Terrible Right Now Twenties Chess Spokes Capablanca

Author:Bobby Fischer

“I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!”

Has Beens Known Player Genius Chess Chess Players Capablanca

Author:Emanuel Lasker

“One interesting indication of Capablanca's greatness is that to non-chess players his name was better known than the names of all other chess masters together! This was due partly to his engaging personality and distinguished appearance: he was one of those exceptional people who at once stand out in a crowd.”

Source: The Immortal Games of Capablanca

“Capablanca possessed an amazing ability to quickly see into a position and intuitively grasp its main features. His style, one of the purest, most crystal-clear in the entire history of chess, astonishes one with his logic.”

Ability Clear Style Position Logic Chess Features Possessed Crystals Capablanca

Author:Garry Kasparov

“Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one.”

Believe Poor Style Capable Philosopher Brilliant Chess Technicians Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“The essence of Capablanca's greatness is his rare talent for avoiding all that can complicate or confuse the conflict.”

Talent Greatness Conflict Essence Chess Avoiding Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“He can be regarded as the great master of simplification. The art of resolving the tension at the critical moment and in the most effacious way so as to clarify the position as desired is Capablanca's own.”

Way Art Moments Position Masters Critical Chess Tension Simplification Critical Moments Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“Capablanca plays very superficially sometimes, in a way that can only be ascribed to lack of concentration. This is an integral weakness of his make-up and can only be partially compensated by his employing his time allowance to the full.”

Way Sometimes Play Weakness Chess Concentration Allowance Employing Capablanca

Author:Max Euwe

“Capablanca's play produced and still produces an irresistable artistic effect. In his games a tendency towards simplicity predominated, and in this simplicity there was a unique beauty of genuine depth.”

Stills Play Games Effects Produce Unique Depth Simplicity Chess Genuine Tendencies Artistic Capablanca Unique Beauty

Author:Mikhail Botvinnik

“Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique.”

Trying Wonderful Impossible Technique Chess Subtle Capablanca

Author:Mikhail Tal

“Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue.”

Mother Tongue Chess Mother Tongue Capablanca

Author:Richard Reti

“When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play.”

Children Play Games Chess Captivated Capablanca Alekhine

Author:Vladimir Kramnik

“Many an expert says that there is a certain affinity between (Capablanca's style) and that of the world master, Lasker. There may be some truth in it. Lasker's style is clear water, but with a drop of poison which is clouding it. Capablanca's style is perhaps still clearer, but it lacks that drop of poison.”

World May Stills Certain Water Clear Style Masters Chess Experts Poison Affinity Clear Water Capablanca

Author:Jacques Mieses

“You will already have noticed how often Capablanca repeated moves, often returning to positions which he had had before. This is not lack of deciciveness or slowness, but the employment of a basic endgame principle which is 'Do not hurry'.”

Moving Principles Position Chess Employment Endgame Slowness Capablanca

Author:Alexander Kotov

“In general there is something puzzling about the fact that the most renowned figures in chess - Morphy, Pillsbury, Capablanca and Fischer - were born in America.”

Facts America Born Figures Chess Puzzling Fischer Renowned Capablanca

Author:Garry Kasparov

“Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his ooponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending.”

Knows Play Games Simple Player Decided Chess Tricks Opening Brilliance Chess Players Endgame Capablanca

Author:Bobby Fischer

“For my victory over Capablanca I am indebted primarily to my superiority in the field of psychology. Capablanca played, relying almost exclusively on his rich intuitive talent. But for the chess struggle nowadays one needs a subtle knowledge of human nature, an understanding of the opponent's psychology.”

Needs Humans Understanding Struggle Rich Psychology Talent Human Nature Fields Victory Chess Opponents Subtle Superiority Intuitive Indebted Capablanca

Author:Alexander Alekhine

“No one has ever played these endgames with such elegant ease as Capablanca.”

Chess Ease Elegant Endgame Capablanca

Author:Richard Reti

“Capablanca's phenomenal move-searching algorithm in those early years, when he possessed a wonderful ability for calculating variations very rapidly, made him invincible.”

Years Made Moving Ability Wonderful Chess Possessed Variation Invincible Phenomenal Algorithms Calculating Capablanca

Author:Mikhail Botvinnik