Sourced

• My nature is that I have to excite myself with a big challenge.
  • Guardian interview, Stephen Moss Monday March 14, 2005

• In conclusion, if you want to unravel the multitude of secrets of chess then don't begrudge the time.
  • Learn Chess with Gary Kasparov

Attributed

• Chess is mental torture.
• Alekhine's attacks came suddenly, like destructive thunderstorms that erupted from a clear sky.
• The depth of Tigran's approach to chess is the direct consequence of his clear mind and his rare insight into general aspects of chess, into subtleties of chess tactics and strategy. Petrosian performed a special kind of art in creating harmonious positions that were full of life, where apparent absence of superficial dynamism was compensated by enormous inner energy. Every subtle change in the position was always taken into consideration in the context of a complex strategy that was not obvious to his opponents.
• What was the secret of Morphy's invincibility? I think it was a combination of a unique natural talent and brilliant erudition. His play was the next, more mature stage in the development of chess. Morphy had a well-developed feel for position, and therefore he can be confidently regarded as the first swallow - the prototype of the strong 20th century grandmaster.

On Boris Spassky

• I believe that judged by his style of play, Spassky is much closer to Alekhine and Tal than to Smyslov, Botvinnik, or Petrosian. This is probably why, when Spassky was in his best form, neither Tal nor Korchnoi could really put up much resistance against him. Spassky could read their play (especially that of Tal) like an open book.

• The universal chess style, characterized by the ability to play quite different types of chess positions, is considered by many to derive from that of Boris Spassky. But I think that the general idea that Spassky has a universal style overlooks the fact that from an early age, Spassky had a bent for sharp, attacking play and a good eye for the initiative.

• It is characteristic that Spassky has never in his life started a game with 1.Nf3. He must have considered it a 'semi-move', real moves being only those that lead to an immediate fight. All of those notorious opening peculiarities (such as avoiding this, that, and the other and preventing the other that and this) seemed repulsive to him.

• Spassky was the first great chess player to use both 1.e4 and 1.d4 with equal success. He managed to employ these moves more harmoniously than any other world champion.

• He was less concerned about the position’s evaluation than about the character of the arising struggle. If he liked the character of the battle, he felt absolutely at home and, as a rule, didn’t fail to outplay his opponents.

About

• "The future of chess lies in the hands of this young man" ~ Mikhail Botvinnik

• "He's a goddamn liar, Kasparov, he's a criminal" ~ Bobby Fischer

• "They're claiming that this criminal Jew Garry Kasparov -- his real name is Garry Weinstein -- is the World Champion. Which he's not, in any way. He's a common crook. He should be in prison. He should be in prison for his crimes. He has pre-arranged, in his life, thousands of games. Thousands of games. Every single tournament or match game he's ever played with Karpov was pre-arranged. Every goddamn game, and it was pre-arranged move by move. He is a crook on a big scale." ~ Bobby Fischer