Reti Quotes & Sayings

The majority of people imagine a chess master as being a townsman who passes his life in an atmosphere of smoke and play in cafes and clubs: a neurasthenic individual, whose nerves and brains are continually working at tension: a one-sided person who has given up his whole soul to chess. — Richard Reti

The essential disadvantage of the isolated pawn ... lies not in the pawn itself, but in the square in front of the pawn. — Richard Reti

On a motif such as was indicated by Reti one cannot build the plan of a whole well contested game; it is too meagre, too thin, too puny for such an end. Reti's explanations, wherever they are concerned with an analysis which covers a few moves, are correct and praiseworthy. But when he abandons the foundations of analysis in order to draw too bold, too general a conclusion, his arguments prove to be mistaken. — Emanuel Lasker

I also know a Were-Pomeranian named Phoebe Fluffenstuff that will gut someone with her samurai sword as casually as you would slice a pie — James R Tuck

Race you, I challenged, leaping up. It was a real nice night for a race. The air was clear and cold and so clean it almost sparkled. The moon wasn't out but the stars lit up everything. It was quiet except for the sound of our feet on the cement and the dry, scraping sound of leaves blowing across the street. It was a real nice night. I guess I was still out of shape, because we all thee tied. No. I guess we all just wanted to stay together. — S.E. Hinton

Being smart isn't good enough. You need to be educated, and you need to be open-minded, and you need to remember that what you don't know can most definitely hurt you. — Seanan McGuire

Where Eckhart Tolle meets Jack Kerouac meets Buddha. A free consciousness expanding book to kill Ego, sexual boredom & lack of excitement in life. — Gregor Reti

It is a profound mistake to imagine mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned. Every player knows that all (or almost all) combinations arise from a recollection of familiar elements. — Richard Reti

Listen to me," he said, "do you really think women are the flower of life? You know, you can get fed up with them after a while ... All they do is stop you achieving anything serious. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue. — Richard Reti

Most chess players know, thanks to the study of master games, that two bishops are stronger than two knights or than bishop and knight, though very few know the reason for this advantage and how to turn it to account. — Richard Reti

It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position — Richard Reti

In open positions the safety of the King should be the first consideration. — Richard Reti

We perceive after a careful consideration of the evolution of the chess mind that such evolution has gone on, in general, in a way quite similar to that in which it goes on with the individual chess player, only with the latter more rapidly. — Richard Reti

The scheme of a game is played on positional lines; the decision of it, as a rule, is effected by combinations. — Richard Reti

The pleasure to be derived from a chess combination lie in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game, dominating the inanimate pieces ... and giving them breath of life. — Richard Reti

A knowledge of tactics is the foundation of positional play. This is a rule which has stood its test in chess history and one which we cannot impress forcibly enough upon the young chess player. A beginner should avoid Queen's Gambit and French Defence and play open games instead! While he may not win as many games at first, he will in the long run be amply compensated by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the game — Richard Reti

Those chess lovers who ask me how many moves I usually calculate in advance, when making a combination, are always astonished when I reply, quite truthfully, 'as a rule not a single one' — Richard Reti

No one has ever played these endgames with such elegant ease as Capablanca. — Richard Reti

Tucker: Why would you tell me now if it's against the rules?
Clara: Because I love you. — Cynthia Hand

Chess is a fighting game which is purely intellectual and includes chance. — Richard Reti

It is a delight to watch a young and gifted chess player. To him have come no sinister experiences; to him continual carping care is foreign. Therefore he loves the attack and the bold sacrifice; for theirin lies the shortest way to his ultimate objective. — Richard Reti

A knowledge of combinations is the foundation of positional chess. — Richard Reti

We Americans write our own history. And the chapters of which we're proudest are the ones where we had the courage to change. Time and again, Americans have seen the need for change, and have taken the initiative to bring that change to life. — Al Gore

Legends exaggerate. — Toba Beta