I would describe myself as emotional and highly strung. If something upsets me, it really upsets me. If something makes me angry, I get really angry. But it's all very upfront. I can't hide it. I'm also loyal and I hope I'm fun.
I don't pretend to anything more than harmony.
Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.
Pawns not only create the sketch for the whole painting, they are also the soil, the foundation, of any position
The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this.
Blunders rarely travel alone.
I still remember Botvinnik's reaction to each of my games, right from the opening moves. At first he would express amazement, then annoyance, and, finally irritation.
I have one of the great temperaments.
I don't read the press, I don't watch endless music TV.
One cannot play chess if one becomes aware of the pieces as living souls and of the fact that the Whites and the Blacks have more in common with each other than with the players. Suddenly one loses all interest in who will be champion.
I have a sense of humor; but over the years that sense has developed one blind spot. I can no longer laugh at ignorance or stupidity. Those are our chief enemies, and it is dangerous to make fun of them.