Top Alexander Kotov Quotes - Quotesmemo.com

Alexander Kotov Biography

Alexander Kotov

Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; 12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1913 – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific writer on the subject of chess. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation, and wrote most of his books during the Cold War. The importance and breadth of Kotov's work rank him among the all-time greats in this field.

Read about Alexander Kotov in Wikipedia

Random Authors

Alexander Kotov Quotes

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!

Answer, Answers, Case, Move, Moving, Simple

My achievements in the field of chess are the result of immense hard work in studying theory.

Achievement, Chess, Hard Work, Learning, Studying, Theory

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.

Cases, Chess, Games, Majority, Statistician, Trying

Anyone who wishes to learn how to play chess well must make himself or herself thoroughly conversant with the play in positions where the players have castled on opposite sides.

Castled, Learning, Opposites, Play, Player, Sides

Drawing general conclusions about your main weaknesses can provide a great stimulus to further growth.

Conclusions, Drawing, Growth, Learning, Stimulus

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.

Attitude, Defects, Judgement, Learning, Perfects, Self

Experience and the constant analysis of the most varied positions builds up a store of knowledge in a player's mind enabling him often at a glance to assess this or that position.

Analysis, Constant, Experience, Learning, Mind, Player

It has always been recognized that chess is an art, and its best practitioners have been described as artists.

Art, Artist, Artists, Chess, Practitioners

In choosing an opening plan players think most of all of harmonious development for the pieces, but sometimes leave the development of the queen out of their considerations. Yet the Queen is the most valuable and important piece and the whole outcome can depend upon how successfully she plays her role.

Development, Player, Queen, Queens, Think, Thinking

All candidate moves should be identified at once and listed in one's head. This job cannot be done piecemeal, by first examining one move and then look at another.

Jobs, Moving, Looks, Look, Listed, Job

After a great deal of discussion in Soviet literature about the correct definition of a combination, it was decided that from the point of view of a methodical approach it was best to settle on this definition - A combination is a forced variation with a sacrifice.

Approach, Combination, Sacrifice, Variation, View, Views

When you have finished analyzing all the variations and gone along all the branches of the tree of analysis you must first of all write the move down on your score sheet, before you play it.

Branches, Moving, Play, Sheet, Tree, Writing

The placing of the center pawns determines the 'topography' of a game of chess.

Center, Chess, Games, Pawns, Topography

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.

Fifteen, Hand, Moves, Moving, Thinking, Time

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.

Moving, Neat, Quicker, Short, Time, Writing

In analysing complicated variations one must examine each branch of the tree once and once only.

Analysis, Complicated, Examine, Tree, Variation

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'.

Already, Employment, Moving, Principles, Repeated, Returning

Time trouble is blunder time.

Blunder, Chess, Time, Trouble

The masters and grandmasters can be divided into three groups - the inveterate time trouble merchants, those who sometimes get into trouble, and those for whom the phenomenon is a very rare occurence.

Time, Groups, Three, Phenomenon, Masters

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.

Action, Demand, Game, Games, Grandmaster, Ideas

1