110+ Garry Kasparov Quotes On Chess, Democracy

Garry Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, widely considered to be the greatest chess player of all time. He was the world chess champion from 1985 to 2000, and is the first world champion to lose a match to a computer in 1997. He is also a writer and political activist, and currently serves as the chairman of the Human Rights Foundation. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Garry Kasparov on chess, democracy, chess.

Top 10 Garry Kasparov Quotes

1. I've met enough KGB colonels in my life.
2. A grandmaster needs to retain thousands of games in his head, for games are to him what the words of their mother tongue are to ordinary people, or notes or scores to musicians.
3. When I was preparing for one term's work in the Botvinnik school I had to spend a lot of time on king and pawn endings. So when I came to a tricky position in my own games I knew the winning method.
4. It was not about losing my mental power; it's about not feeling good about my contribution to the game.
5. I think Russians today have a distorted picture of capitalism, liberal democracy and market economy.
6. At the end of the day, it's all about money.
7. Excelling at chess has long been considered a symbol of more general intelligence. That is an incorrect assumption in my view, as pleasant as it might be.
8. I think we have very steady records of President Putin, who inherited the country with democratic values.
9. Nervous energy is the ammunition we take into any mental battle. If you don't have enough of it, your concentration will fade. If you have a surplus, the results will explode.
10. Ultimately, what separates a Winner from a Loser at the Grandmaster level is the Willingness to do the Unthinkable.

Garry Kasparov Short Quotes

• I see my own style as being a symbiosis of the styles of Alekhine, Tal and Fischer.
• One does not succeed by sticking to convention.
• This obligation to move can be a burden to a player without strategic vision.
• A master looks at every move he would like to make, especially the impossible ones
• It's quite difficult for me to imagine my life without chess.
• The highest Art of the Chess player lies in not allowing your Opponent to show you what he can do.
• The West can't come up with anything to deal with Moscow, except appeasement.
• Russia is a mafia state today, and Putin is its top godfather.
• Throughout my chess career I sought out new challenges, looking for things no one had done before.
• My nature is that I have to excite myself with a big challenge.

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Chess

Enormous self-belief, intuition, the ability to take a risk at a critical moment and go in for a very dangerous play with counter-chances for the opponent - it is precisely these qualities that distinguish great players. — Garry Kasparov

This is the essential element that cannot be measured by any analysis or device, and I believe it's at the heart of success in all things: the power of intuition and the ability to harness and use it like a master. — Garry Kasparov

Any experienced player knows how a change in the character of the play influences your psychological mood. — Garry Kasparov

You can't overestimate the importance of psychology in chess, and as much as some players try to downplay it, I believe that winning requires a constant and strong psychology not just at the board but in every aspect of your life. — Garry Kasparov

Tactics involve calculations that can tax the human brain, but when you boil them down, they are actually the simplest part of chess and are almost trivial compared to strategy. — Garry Kasparov

The worst enemy of the strategist is the clock. Time trouble... Reduces us all to pure reflex and reaction, tactical play. Emotion and instinct cloud our strategic vision when there is no time for proper evaluation. — Garry Kasparov

Chess continues to advance over time, so the players of the future will inevitably surpass me in the quality of their play, assuming the rules and regulations allow them to play serious chess. But it will likely be a long time before anyone spends 20 consecutive years as number, one as I did. — Garry Kasparov

In chess, bigamy is acceptable but monarchy is absolute. — Garry Kasparov

The biggest problem I see among people who want to excel in chess – and in business and in life in general – is not trusting their instincts enough. — Garry Kasparov

The ability to work hard for days on end without losing focus is a talent. The ability to keep absorbing new information after many hours of study is a talent. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Democracy

I think Russian people are learning that democracy is not an alien thing; it's not a western invention. — Garry Kasparov

In my opinion, using different kinds of epithets and adjectives in connection with the word democracy is a sign of mere hypocrisy, to put it mildly. Either there's democracy, or there isn't. — Garry Kasparov

I think that it's a vital moment now for Russian democracy to convince people that it's only our actions, our joined actions and protests that could force Kremlin to reconsider its plans to abolish presidential elections. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Mental

Chess is mental torture. — Garry Kasparov

Intelligent machines will continue that mechanization process, taking over the more menial aspects of cognition and elevating our mental lives towards creativity, curiosity, beauty, and joy. These are what truly makes us human. — Garry Kasparov

The public must come to see that chess is a violent sport. Chess is mental torture. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About People

Ukraine had quite serious impact on the many Russians. They could see that ordinary people in Ukraine which is a bordering state, very close to Russia, the people of this state are, they didn't want to tolerate anymore the power abuse by Ukrainian officials. — Garry Kasparov

Putin can't afford to leave the office because he will be in real danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their stay in power. — Garry Kasparov

A championship contender in the early twentieth century needed charisma and a knack for cultivating sponsorship, and Rubinstein was the epitome of the shy and unsocial chess player. Now matter how great his chess skills, he lacked the people skills to be a self-promoter and fund-raiser. — Garry Kasparov

There are many facts showing that Putin's people enriched themselves by using power mechanisms so that's why for them losing power means losing their fortunes. — Garry Kasparov

I wouldn't overestimate the importance of my popularity in the country and abroad but at the end of the day it's not as important because I believe that my presence here could make some difference and it could encourage people. — Garry Kasparov

Many people think they are too refined, or too rational, to entertain a real sense of wonder in themselves or in others. This is preposterous to me, since the natural world is full of endless wonders, both on Earth and especially in space, no matter how you think it was created. — Garry Kasparov

Somehow, AI is playing an important role of breaking up the ice of complacency. We have a comfortable life, we just don't want to take risks. AI is threatening too many comfortable jobs to make people think about taking risks again. — Garry Kasparov

A grandmaster must memorize thousands of chess duels in his head, as these are for him what words of the mother tongue are to the ordinary people and what notes are to a musician. — Garry Kasparov

Botvinnik tried to take the mystery out of Chess, always relating it to situations in ordinary life. He used to call chess a typical inexact problem similar to those which people are always having to solve in everyday life. — Garry Kasparov

Millions like me in Russia want a free press, the rule of law, social justice, and free and fair elections. My new job is to fight for those people and to fight for these fundamental rights. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Kremlin

Russian Parliament today is a bunch of puppets that just fall in with the instructions from Kremlin. — Garry Kasparov

The Kremlin is constantly changing the rules of the game to suit its purposes. We are not playing chess, we're playing roulette. — Garry Kasparov

There are many ways of showing your protest and discontent without the actions of Kremlin. — Garry Kasparov

We have to stop the propaganda, the shameful propaganda used by Kremlin to rehabilitate these old types. — Garry Kasparov

We are living in a new ice age, and we need to apply the recipes of the Cold War to the Kremlin. That means isolation instead of offers of negotiation. And Ukraine should have been supplied with weapons long ago. — Garry Kasparov

More and more people in my country recognise the dangers of having their governors appointed by Putin and having no influence in parliament because Parliament today is also following instructions from Kremlin and no longer represents its people. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Russian

I now have Croatian citizenship, but I only accepted it because Croatia allowed me to keep my Russian passport. — Garry Kasparov

I reckon that there won't be an intervention in the near future, because Georgia's military adventure revealed the weakness of the Russian army. — Garry Kasparov

There's the blazing Russian Caucasus, with an ongoing war all against all, which is not to be neglected. — Garry Kasparov

The international repercussions were shattering to some extent - there is no intention to repeat operations of such kind in the future.[Viktor] Yanukovych's electoral victory clearly demonstrated that there are no pro-Russian politicians in the Ukraine, just Ukrainian politicians. — Garry Kasparov

I don't really like discussions about a supposed Russian national character. — Garry Kasparov

The regime is in trouble economically and can no longer offer anything to its citizens. That's why [Vladimir] Putin has to pursue an aggressive foreign policy, so he can serve his people the fairy tale of Russian pride and regaining its strength as a major power. — Garry Kasparov

The Russian Dept of Tourism has declared Ukraine its most dangerous destination. Many Russian tourists have disappeared there. — Garry Kasparov

Furthermore, a large portion of the assets of leading Russian figures is mixed, meaning that it is not quite clear how to counter this development. — Garry Kasparov

Revenge for a terror attack is ideal for Putin's model. His propaganda machine will be filled with scenes of crash victims if [Vladimir] Putin sees the need for a larger war to stoke his domestic support again as the Russian economy teeters. — Garry Kasparov

The downfall of democratic institutions in Russia doesn't add to the self-confidence of either [Vladimir] Putin or his friends, as the loss of power could lead to repercussions in Russian society. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Quotes About Actions

Results show that just one year of chess tuition will improve a student's learning abilities, concentration, application, sense of logic, self-discipline, respect, behavior and the ability to take responsibility for his/her own actions. — Garry Kasparov

I have some security that could protect me against provocations but of course there are more terrible actions that could not be stopped by any security. — Garry Kasparov

In Armenia, the power de facto belongs to those who opted to take violent action in Karabakh. We are dealing with a military dictatorship that utilizes some kind of democratic procedures. — Garry Kasparov

Do as little as necessary to appear to be doing something without actually committing to a cause or course of action. — Garry Kasparov

Thanks to the Polgars the adjective 'men's' before events and the 'affirmative action' women's titles such as Woman Grandmaster have become anachronisms. — Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov Famous Quotes And Sayings

Boris Vasilievich was the only top-class player of his generation who played gambits regularly and without fear ... Over a period of 30 years he did not lose a single game with the King's Gambit, and among those defeated were numerous strong players of all generations, from Averbakh, Bronstein and Fischer, to Seirawan. — Garry Kasparov

The loss of my childhood was the price for becoming the youngest world champion in history. When you have to fight every day from a young age, your soul can be contaminated. I lost my childhood. I never really had it. Today I have to be careful not to become cruel, because I became a soldier too early. — Garry Kasparov

I have some strategical vision, I could calculate some few moves ahead and I have an intellect that is badly missed in the country which is run by generals and colonels. — Garry Kasparov

For inspiration I look to those great players who consistently found original ways to shock their opponents. None did this better than the eighth world champion, Mikhail Tal. The "Magician of Riga" rose to become champion in 1960 at age twenty-three and became famous for his aggressive, volatile play. — Garry Kasparov

By strictly observing Botvinnik's rule regarding the thorough analysis of one's own games, with the years I have come to realize that this provides the foundation for the continuous development of chess mastery. — Garry Kasparov

By this measure (on the gap between Fischer & his contemporaries), I consider him the greatest world champion — Garry Kasparov

When your house is on fire, you cant be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in Chess, if your King is under attack you don't worry about losing a Pawn on the Queen's side — Garry Kasparov

Chess is a unique cognitive nexus, a place where art and science come together in the human mind and are then refined and improved by experience. — Garry Kasparov

With each success the ability to change is reduced. My longtime friend and coach Grandmaster Yuri Dokhoian, aptly compared it to being dipped in bronze. Each victory added another coat. — Garry Kasparov

[Vladimir] Putin wants to keep [Bashar] Assad in power and expand his own military base in Syria, whatever the cost. I even believe he has an interest in more and more people fleeing the country. The flow of refugees improves his negotiating position toward the West, including the German chancellor. — Garry Kasparov

I’ve seen - both in myself and my competitors - how satisfaction can lead to a lack of vigilance, then to mistakes and missed opportunities. — Garry Kasparov

It is quite clear, however, that there won't be any real changes with the current clan structure having seized power in the course of the Karabakh conflict. — Garry Kasparov

Tarrasch's 'dogmas' are not eternal truisms, but merely instructional material presented in an accessible and witty form, those necessary rudiments from which one can begin to grasp the secrets of chess. — Garry Kasparov

I started playing chess when I was five years old. I learned the moves from my mother, then worked with my father - and later trainers. My style became very technical. I sacrificed a lot of things. I was always hunting for the king, for the mate. I'd forget about my other pieces. — Garry Kasparov

I may play some exhibition games so I don't want to quit the game of chess completely. I just decided and it's a firm decision not to play competitive chess anymore. — Garry Kasparov

I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country. — Garry Kasparov

It was an impressive achievement, of course, and a human achievement by the members of the IBM team, but Deep Blue was only intelligent the way your programmable alarm clock is intelligent. Not that losing to a $10 million alarm clock made me feel any better. — Garry Kasparov

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in a pressure situation is to allow the tension to persist. The temptation is to make a decision, any decision, even if it is an inferior choice. — Garry Kasparov

This traditionally happens in Russia and in every other undemocratic country as well - the quest for a scapegoat won't be long, either. The easiest way to find a scapegoat is to ascribe that role to former governments. — Garry Kasparov

For me, chess is a language, and if it's not my native tongue, it is one I learned via the immersion method at a young age. — Garry Kasparov

The Far East and Eastern Siberia are already developing according to a Chinese scenario, the full scope of which will be revealed in the near future. In the next 10 to 15 years, a lot of Russian territories will become at least de facto Chinese. This will change the situation in Russia fundamentally. — Garry Kasparov

Though I would have liked my chances in a rematch in 1998 if I were better prepared, it was clear then that computer superiority over humans in chess had always been just a matter of time. — Garry Kasparov

Nowadays games immediately appear on the Internet and thus the life of novelties is measured in hours. Modern professionals do not have the right to be forgetful - it is 'life threatening'. — Garry Kasparov

Chess is far too complex to be definitively solved with any technology we can conceive of today. However, our looked-down-upon cousin, checkers, or draughts, suffered this fate quite recently thanks to the work of Jonathan Schaeffer at the University of Alberta and his unbeatable program Chinook. — Garry Kasparov

One does not succeed by sticking to convention. When your opponent can easily anticipate every move you make, your strategy deteriorates and becomes commoditized. — Garry Kasparov

[Romans] never made any improvements on the cavalry. And amazingly, when you read the sources, they couldn't make it because stirrups were not known in Europe. For hundreds of years, the Romans couldn't make a cavalry which proved to be extremely effective. — Garry Kasparov

From Ukraine to Syria, he [Vladimir Putin] is behaving like the world's new general and celebrating victories, while the American president sits on the sidelines and Europe sleeps. The West's behavior toward Putin is political and moral capitulation. — Garry Kasparov

In general there is something puzzling about the fact that the most renowned figures in chess - Morphy, Pillsbury, Capablanca and Fischer - were born in America. — Garry Kasparov

Vladimir Putin has this animalistic instinct of all dictators: He smells weakness. To quote Winston Churchill's definition of appeasement: "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." — Garry Kasparov

...comparing the capacity of computers to the capacity of the human brain, I've often wondered, where does our success come from? The answer is synthesis, the ability to combine creativity and calculation, art and science, into whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. — Garry Kasparov

It didn't take long to recognise the shortcomings of the Soviet regime and to see the values of the free world. — Garry Kasparov

We must be optimistic about the future because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we are creative and ambitious, intelligent machines will liberate us and be as profound a boon to our prosperity as electricity. If we are fearful, and fail to press ahead, we could be overwhelmed by automation and inequality. — Garry Kasparov

Inevitably the machines must win, but there is still a long way to go before a human on his or her best day is unable to defeat the best computer. — Garry Kasparov

I can't think of a scenario under which [Vladimir Putin] would gradually resign from power. For him and those around him, power became a source of unlimited enrichment. A loss of power would be tantamount to an annihilation of the economic success that has been achieved so far. — Garry Kasparov

Setbacks and losses are both inevitable and essential if you're going to improve and become a good, even great, competitor. The art is in avoiding catastrophic losses in the key battles. — Garry Kasparov

My love of dynamic complications often led me to avoid simplicity when perhaps it was the wisest choice. — Garry Kasparov

Even well-known historians like Edward Gibbon are talking about how the soldiers of the 18th century were not able to do the same type of exercise [like Romans]. — Garry Kasparov

Quite frankly, I have to admit that with regard to the enormous financial assets and funds of Russian leaders in Western banks and on stock markets, the chances for the West to exert influence on Russia are quite low. I doubt that Western leaders are willing to exert pressure. I would not exclude an intervention in case of a crisis. — Garry Kasparov

I'm not trying to give any definite answer. What I'm trying to prove is that we have enough gaps, enough discrepancies, enough simple falsifications to conclude that probably this history was an invention of a later time. — Garry Kasparov

Besides problems of traditional societies, the Caucasus has to cope with quite a few unsettled territorial conflicts that also nurture authoritarian governmental structures. — Garry Kasparov

The stock market and the gridiron and the battlefield aren't as tidy as the chessboard, but in all of them, a single, simple rule holds true: make good decisions and you'll succeed; make bad ones and you'll fail. — Garry Kasparov

We are living in a world where major states and large geopolitical projects have to prove their competitive edge. It is clear, as well, that with regard to the intensifying American-Chinese confrontation and the inert power of a united Europe, Russia has to make up its mind - because it is losing ground as an independent center of power. — Garry Kasparov

Nowadays, a 13-year-old would probably know more than Bobby Fischer knew when he retired. They analyse all the moves and prepare themselves on their computers. But that doesn’t mean they are special. — Garry Kasparov

For us to make sure that we have full lives, meaningful lives, we will have to elevate our unique human qualities. And I think we know now, we can see clearly what makes us different from machines. And that's why the future is enhanced humanity. — Garry Kasparov

We have a saying that a stranger's soul is like a black box. Which is why I would not want to analyze [Vladimir] Putin's psychological motivations. — Garry Kasparov

At a certain point, the atmosphere in the West could change. But I don't see determined political will [for that] at the moment. — Garry Kasparov

There can be no finer example of the inspiring powers of competition to shatter the status quo than Hungary's Judit Polgar. — Garry Kasparov

A brilliant strategy is, certainly, a matter of intelligence, but intelligence without audaciousness is not enough. — Garry Kasparov

Young people, especially young men due to culture and perhaps testosterone, dream about changing the world, making an impact, doing big things. Now our young people are told life was better in the past, that we should be less ambitious and hold on to what we have. The grand narratives of exploration and change that drove the world forward for a century have been tamed. — Garry Kasparov

If you make a decision to fight for future of your own country you have to consider all the consequences. — Garry Kasparov

Unfortunately, in Russia this "Asian mentality,"still comes to the fore. But at the same time, it is obvious that there is a certain orientation toward the West. In the end, this is a fragile balancing act between the Asian manner of governance and high living standards that are guaranteed through Western technology. — Garry Kasparov

I would say, you have a unique chance of learning more about the game of chess with your computer than Bobby Fischer, or even myself, could manage throughout our entire lives. What is very important is that you will use this power productively and you will not be hijacked by the computer screen. Always keep your personality intact. — Garry Kasparov

Ironically, the main task of chess software companies today is to find ways to make the program weaker, not stronger, and to provide enough options that any user can pick from different levels and the machine will try to make enough mistakes to give him a chance. — Garry Kasparov

The best chess masters of every epoch have been closely linked with the values of the society in which they lived and worked. All the changes of a cultural, political, and psychological background are reflected in the style and ideas of their play. — Garry Kasparov

Winning is not a secret that belongs to a very few, winning is something that we can learn by studying ourselves, studying the environment and making ourselves ready for any challenge that is in front of us. — Garry Kasparov

I'm not paranoid, but I am cautious. I don't drink tea with strangers, I don't fly Aeroflot and I avoid certain countries with close ties to Russia. — Garry Kasparov

Chess - it's a nonmainstream game. And the irony is that when you look at Hollywood, it kept using chess as the symbol of intelligence for its heroes, for its top characters, all the time. So it's from "Casablanca" to "Harry Potter." You always have chess as a very important element to demonstrate intelligence, while in normal life people think it's just a weird intelligence - like AI. — Garry Kasparov

Caissa, the goddess of chess, had punished me for my conservative play, for betraying my nature. — Garry Kasparov

Few things are as psychologically brutal as chess. — Garry Kasparov

Dictatorships sometimes fall unexpectedly and quickly. And [Vladimir] Putin knows that for him, the loss of power doesn't mean a comfortable retirement, but something completely different. — Garry Kasparov

I think our chances are not looking great today but the only way to fail for me is just not to try. — Garry Kasparov

Without a goal [maneuvering is] aimless. You might be a master tactician, but you'll have no sense of strategy. — Garry Kasparov

One of my optimistic prophecies is based on the assumption that machines could have the best algorithms in the universe, but it will never have purpose. And the problem for us to explain purpose to a machine is because we don't know what our purpose is. We have the purpose, but we still ... When we look at this global picture, a universal picture, to understand what is our purpose being here on this planet? We don't know. — Garry Kasparov

Life Lessons by Garry Kasparov

1. Garry Kasparov is a great example of how hard work and dedication can lead to success, as he was the youngest ever World Chess Champion at the age of 2
3. He also serves as an example of how to stay humble and open to learning, as he continued to learn and improve his game even after becoming a grandmaster.
4. Finally, Kasparov's story shows that it is possible to achieve success in any field if you are willing to put in the effort and stay focused on your goals.