Richard Reti Quotes

“The scheme of a game is played on positional lines; the decision of it, as a rule, is effected by combinations.”

— Richard Reti

It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position

— Richard Reti

We perceive after a careful consideration of the evolution of the chess mind that such evolution has gone on, in general, in a way quite similar to that in which it goes on with the individual chess player, only with the latter more rapidly.

— Richard Reti

“A knowledge of tactics is the foundation of positional play. This is a rule which has stood its test in chess history and one which we cannot impress forcibly enough upon the young chess player. A beginner should avoid Queen's Gambit and French Defence and play open games instead! While he may not win as many games at first, he will in the long run be amply compensated by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the game”

— Richard Reti

“Chess is a fighting game which is purely intellectual and includes chance.”

— Richard Reti

“Those chess lovers who ask me how many moves I usually calculate in advance, when making a combination, are always astonished when I reply, quite truthfully, 'as a rule not a single one'”

— Richard Reti

“A knowledge of combinations is the foundation of positional chess.”

— Richard Reti

“In open positions the safety of the King should be the first consideration.”

— Richard Reti

The essential disadvantage of the isolated pawn ... lies not in the pawn itself, but in the square in front of the pawn.

— Richard Reti

“It is a delight to watch a young and gifted chess player. To him have come no sinister experiences; to him continual carping care is foreign. Therefore he loves the attack and the bold sacrifice; for theirin lies the shortest way to his ultimate objective.”

— Richard Reti

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

— Richard Reti

“The pleasure to be derived from a chess combination lie in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game, dominating the inanimate pieces ... and giving them breath of life.”

— Richard Reti

“It is a profound mistake to imagine mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned. Every player knows that all (or almost all) combinations arise from a recollection of familiar elements.”

— Richard Reti

“Most chess players know, thanks to the study of master games, that two bishops are stronger than two knights or than bishop and knight, though very few know the reason for this advantage and how to turn it to account.”

— Richard Reti

“The majority of people imagine a chess master as being a townsman who passes his life in an atmosphere of smoke and play in cafes and clubs: a neurasthenic individual, whose nerves and brains are continually working at tension: a one-sided person who has given up his whole soul to chess.”

— Richard Reti

“Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue.”

— Richard Reti