Quote

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

Alexander Kotov

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Alexander Kotov
Age: 67 †
Born: 1913
Born: August 12
Died: 1981
Died: January 8
Author
Chess Player
Non-Fiction Writer
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov
Analysis
Chess
Analysing
Complicated
Variations
Tree
Variation
Must
Examine
Branch
Branches

More quotes by Alexander Kotov

Image
The placing of the centre pawns determines the topography of a game of chess.
Alexander Kotov
Image
I cannot think that a player genuinely loving the game can get pleasure just from the number of points scored no matter how impressive the total. I will not speak of myself, but for the masters of the older generation, from whose games we learned, the aesthetic side was the most important. -
Alexander Kotov
Image
Drawing general conclusions about your main weaknesses can provide a great stimulus to further growth.
Alexander Kotov
Image
Sit there for five hours? Certainly not! A player must walk about between moves, it helps his thinking.
Alexander Kotov
Image
It is better to follow out a plan consistently even if it isn't the best one than to play without a plan at all. The worst thing is to wander about aimlessly.
Alexander Kotov
Image
It has always been recognized that chess is an art, and its best practitioners have been described as artists.
Alexander Kotov
Image
Once upon a time supporters of the Steinitz-Tarrasch school had a very high opinion of a queen-side pawn majority. Modern strategy on the other hand categorically denies that such a majority is an independent factor of any importance.
Alexander Kotov
Image
Time trouble is blunder time.
Alexander Kotov
Image
The proponents of Steinitz' theory - Tarrasch and his supporters - tried to express Steinitz' teaching in the form of laconic rules, and as often happens in such cases, they went too far. The laconic tended to become dogmatic, and chess began to lose its freshness, originality and charm.
Alexander Kotov
Image
You must not let your opponent know how you feel.
Alexander Kotov
Image
Go through detailed variations in your own time, think in a general way about the position in the opponent's time and you will soon find that you get into time trouble less often, that your games have more content to them, and that their general standard rises.
Alexander Kotov
Image
My achievements in the field of chess are the result of immense hard work in studying theory.
Alexander Kotov
Image
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!
Alexander Kotov
Image
Bobby Fischer is the greatest Chess genius of all time!
Alexander Kotov
Image
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'.
Alexander Kotov
Image
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.
Alexander Kotov
Image
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.
Alexander Kotov
Image
I soon realized that it is not enough for a master simply to analyse variations scrupulously just like an accountant. He must learn to work out which particular moves he should consider and then examine just as many variations as necessary - no more and no less.
Alexander Kotov
Image
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.
Alexander Kotov
Image
The rise of the Soviet school to the summit of world chess is a logical result of socialist cultural development.
Alexander Kotov