No matter how much theory progresses, how radically styles change, chess play is inconceivable without tactics.

Chess sharpens the mind, stimulates concentration, improves the memory and promotes visualization.

Good players develop a tactical instinct, a sense of what is possible or likely and what is not worth calculating.

By playing slowly during the early phases of a game I am able to grasp the basic requirements of each position. Then, despite being in time pressure, I have no difficulty in finding the best continuation. Incidentally, it is an odd fact that more often than not it is my opponent who gets the jitters when I am compelled to make these hurried moves.

We often hear the terms 'positional' and 'tactical' used as opposites. But this is as wrong as to consider a painting's composition unrelated to its subject. Just as there is no such thing as 'artistic' art, so there is no such thing as 'positional' chess.

It often happens that a player is so fond of his advantageous position that he is reluctant to transpose to a winning endgame.

The knight is renowned for, among other things, its suitability as a blockader ... Because its strength lies in short-range operations it is not uncomfortable standing in a single spot for long periods, as the Bishop is.