Alexander Alekhine Quotes

Chess first of all teaches you to be objective.

— Alexander Alekhine

“I have had to work long and hard to eradicate the dangerous delusion that, in a bad position, I could always, or nearly always, conjure up some unexpected combination to extricate me from my difficulties.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“I believe that true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against your will, whose notion of beauty always differs from yours and whose means are often too limited for active assistance to your intentions!”

— Alexander Alekhine

“The purpose of human life and the sense of happiness is to give the maximum what the man is able to give.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“In my opinion, a master is morally obliged to seize every sort of opportunity and to try to solve the problems of the position without fear of some simplifications.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Chess is not only knowledge and logic.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“The fact that a player is very short of time is, to my mind, as little to be considered an excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time he committed the crime.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“I think that for the highest achievements nowadays ... need to have the stable as a rock scientific base. And also need to own modesty.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Psychology is the most important factor in chess.”

— Alexander Alekhine

I consider chess an art, and accept all those responsibilities which art places upon its devotees.

— Alexander Alekhine

“During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey.”

— Alexander Alekhine

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.

— Alexander Alekhine

“A lifetime in not enough to learn everything about chess.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.”

— Alexander Alekhine

You can become a big master in chess only if you see your mistakes and short-comings. Exactly the same as in life itself.

— Alexander Alekhine

“The infallible criterion by which to distinguish the true from the would-be strategist is the degree of originality of his conceptions. It makes little difference whether this originality is carried to excess, as was the case with Steinitz and Nimzowitsch.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Play on both sides of the board is my favourite strategy.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“When asked, -How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?, I responded: I'm very glad you asked me that, because, as it happens, there is a very simple answer. I think up my own moves, and I make my opponent think up his”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Chess, like other arts, must be practiced to be appreciated.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“That which Steinitz gave to the theoretical aspect of the game when he was at his best is very remote to all out home-bred chess philosophers, but with his views on Morphy, whom he tries to discredit completely, it is of course impossible to agree.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“Chess is a matter of vanity.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“For success I consider three factors are necessary: firstly, an awareness of my own strengths and weaknesses; secondly, an accurate understanding of my opponent's strengths and weaknesses; thirdly, a higher aim than momentary satisfaction. I see this aim as being scientific and artistic achievements, which place the game of chess on a par with other arts.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“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.”

— 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.”

— Alexander Alekhine

The retreat of a minor piece to the back rank, where it cuts the lines of communication between the rooks, is permissable only in exceptional cases.

— Alexander Alekhine

“Combination is a soul of chess.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine.”

— Alexander Alekhine

“As a rule, so-called "positional" sacrifices are considered more difficult, and therefore more praise-worthy, than those which are based exclusively on an exact calculation of tactical possibilities.”

— Alexander Alekhine

During a Chess competition a Chessmaster should be a combination of a beast of prey and a monk

— Alexander Alekhine

“Young players expose themselves to grave risks when they blindly imitate the innovations of masters without themselves first checking all the details and consequences of these innovations.”

— Alexander Alekhine

Chess will always be the master of us all.

— Alexander Alekhine