Raul Capablanca Quotes

An hour's history of two minds is well told in a game of chess. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

When you sit down to play a game you should think only about the position, but not about the opponent. Whether chess is regarded as a science, or an art, or a sport, all the same psychology bears no relation to it and only stands in the way of real chess. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

The best way to learn endings, as well as openings, is from the games of the masters. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

An exception was made with respect to me, because of my victory over Marshall. Some of the masters objected to my entry ... one of them was Dr. Bernstein. I had the good fortune to play him in the first round., and beat him in such fashion as to obtain the Rothschild prize for the most brilliant game ... a profound feeling of respect for my ability remained throughout the rest of the contest. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Chess is something more than a game. It is an intellectual diversion which has certain artistic qualities and many scientific elements. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Morphy gained most of his wins by playing directly and simply, and it is simple and logical method that constitutes the true brilliance of his play, if it is considered from the viewpoint of the great masters. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

The weaker the player the more terrible the Knight is to him, but as a player increases in strength the value of the Bishop becomes more evident to him, and of course there is, or should be, a corresponding decease in his estimation of the value of the Knight as compared to the bishop. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

The king, which during the opening and middlegame stage is often a burden because it has to be defended, becomes in the endgame a very important and aggressive piece, and the beginner should realize this, and utilize his king as much as possible. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

The great World Champions Morphy, Steinitz, and Lasker were past masters in the art of Pawn play; they had no superiors in their handling of endgames. The present World Champion has not the strength of the other three as an endgame player, and is therefore inferior to them. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

The winning of a pawn among good players of even strength often means the winning of the game. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

No other great master has been so misunderstood by the vast majority of chess amateurs and even by many masters, as has Emanuel Lasker. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Your Soviet players are cheating, losing the games on purpose to my rival, Botvinnik, in order to increase his points on the score. - (to Stalin in Moscow 1936 where he finished in 1st place, 1 point ahead of Botvinnik) ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

One must attempt to increase whatever weakness there may be in the opponent's position; or, if there is none, one or more must be created. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Chess is more than a game or a mental training. It is a distinct attainment. I have always regarded the playing of chess and the accomplishment of a good game as an art, and something to be admired no less than an artist's canvas or the product of a sculptor's chisel. Chess is a mental diversion rather than a game. It is both artistic and scientific. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Excellent! I will still be in time for the ballet! ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

Sultan Khan had become champion of India at Indian chess and he learned the rules of our form of chess at a later date. The fact that even under such conditions he succeeded in becoming champion reveals a genius for chess which is nothing short of extraordinary. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

In chess, as played by a good player, logic and imagination must go hand in hand, compensating each other. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

During the course of many years I have observed that a great number of doctors, lawyers, and important businessmen make a habit of visiting a chess club during the late afternoon or evening to relax and find relief from the preoccupations of their work. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

To my way of thinking, Troitzky has no peer among endgame compsers; no one else has composed so many and such varied endings of the first rank. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

A good player is always lucky. ~ Jose Raul Capablanca

I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud I grew up in Puerto Rico. ~ Raul Labrador

Never before and never since have I seen - and I cannot even imagine, such an amazing rapidity of chess thinking that Capablanca possessed in 1913-14. In blitz games he gave all the St. Petersburg players odds of five minutes to one - and he won. ~ Alexander Alekhine

In Cuba, taking into account the long fight for our independence and sovereignty, we will defend the one-party system in the face of the games, demagogy and the marketing of politics. ~ Raul Castro

I think the personal satisfaction of doing good in the community and increasing value and holding true to the Hippocratic oath and being able to provide services to those that are in need is very strong moral reason to provide services for the underserved. ~ Raul Ruiz

The ideal in chess can only be a collective image, but in my opinion it is Capablanca who most closely approaches this ... ~ Anatoly Karpov

At crucial junctures, every individual makes decisions and ... every decision is individual, ~ Raul Hilberg

[Raul Castro] is one of the most amazing human beings I've ever met. ~ Emanuel Cleaver

Nudity is an art. Besides, art is only nudity... There's no more art, only too much civilization. Art is barbarious... Art is loneliness... Nothingness is perfect nudity. ~ Raul Ruiz

I even smoke in bed. Imagine smoking a cigar in bed, reading a book. Next to your bed, there's a cigar table with a special cigar ashtray, and your wife is reading a book on how to save the environment. ~ Raul Julia

Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one. ~ Max Euwe

Hyperbole is the common currency of political debate. ~ Raul Ramos Y Sanchez

There are 38,000 people dying of hunger each day and most are children. And, being a celebrity, I communicate about it as much as I can. ~ Raul Julia

We know next to nothing about the relationship between Chavez and Raul Castro. One thing, though, is certain. The Cuban military and political elite do not regard Chavez as a logical successor to Fidel Castro in Latin America. ~ Mark Falcoff

The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles. The Mexican government's response to the American bombing was admirably laid back. General Enrique Diaz Gonzales and Consul General Raul Michel met with United States officials, who issued apologies and an invitation to come to "the next rocket shoot" at White Sands. The Mexican citizenry was similarly nonchalant. "Bomb Blast Fails to Halt Spring Fiesta," said the El Paso Times headline, noting that "many thought the explosion was a cannon fired for the opening of the fiesta. ~ Mary Roach

A cigar is as good as memories that you have when you smoked it. ~ Raul Julia

I was not chosen to be president to restore capitalism to Cuba. I was elected to defend, maintain and continue to perfect socialism, not destroy it. ~ Raul Castro

we know Oswald did it because he bought a coke instead of a dr. pepper. ~ Raul Casso

A great percentage of the mistakes I discovered in
my own work, could be attributed to testimonies. ~ Raul Hilberg

[Therapist and friend, with a voice like Raul Julia during his Gomez Adam's days] Rudy studied my face, "I have a two o'clock open on Tuesday."
I sighed, "Yeah, ok. Tuesday at two."
He nodded, pleased. "Bring Starbucks."
"Sure, what do you want?"
"My usual. Iced half-caf ristretto quad grade two-pump raspberry two percent no whip light ice with caramel drizzle three-and-a-half-pump white mocha."
"Is any of that actually coffee?"
"More or less."
"And you think I'm damaged … ~ Jonathan Maberry

I remember I was like five or six years old; I played the devil. That was my first role. ~ Raul Julia

The easiest emotions for an author to evoke from readers are boredom and confusion. ~ Raul Ramos Y Sanchez

Marco lives in a fantasy world, one that's more interesting and more fun than reality. That's the definition of being insane, surely?" said my son, Raul

"I suppose so," I said. "It's like Don Quixote. ~ Javier Cercas

The children never connect me with the man onstage when I come out the stage door. The parents spend all their time trying to convince them that I'm Caractacus. ~ Raul Esparza

I'm an ER doctor, period. I look at a problem with a certain lens: very action-oriented, very results-oriented. ~ Raul Ruiz

We tend to think of meditation in only one way. But life itself is a meditation. ~ Raul Julia

Capablanca plays very superficially sometimes, in a way that can only be ascribed to lack of concentration. This is an integral weakness of his make-up and can only be partially compensated by his employing his time allowance to the full. ~ Max Euwe

Fear-addled minds swarm around conspiracies like flies around something foul. ~ Raul Ramos Y Sanchez

If this Nation really wants to create an effective border security policy, we need to have a debate that includes a discussion about actual solutions to our problems, which means taking all of the political grandstanding and baiting out of the equation. ~ Raul Grijalva

what ever the cause or purpose of the break-up, heartbreak is always difficult to handle. ~ Raul Castell

He will be England captain one day. Jack Wilshere is a real leader. I saw how he spoke with the referee and the other players [against Denmark]. It is difficult to find someone so young with such a big personality. I remember two defenders, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, and one attacker, Raul, but for personality and confidence on the pitch he is the best young midfielder I have seen for his age. ~ Fabio Capello

I am absolutely convinced of the lack of true scientific evidence in favour of Darwinian dogma. Nobody in the biological sciences, medicine included, needs Darwinism at all. Darwinism is certainly needed, however, in order to pose as a philosopher, since it is primarily a worldview. And an awful one, as George Bernard Shaw used to say. ~ Raul O. Leguizamon

When I used to go to the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifties, I met a lot of old-timers there who knew Capablanca, because he used to come around to the Manhattan club in the forties - before he died in the early forties. They spoke about Capablanca with awe. I have never seen people speak about any chess player like that, before or since. ~ Bobby Fischer

I never liked the idea of giving interviews. One says many things, but when they are published, they become shortened, condensed. The ideas lose their meaning. ~ Raul Castro