Correspondence Chess Quotations
"Such people are immoral, unethical, and I hope they do it!" (Stephan Gerzadowicz, on players who use a computer to generate moves in CC games)
"I don't always follow my own system to avoid errors." (John C. Knudsen, explaining a bad move to a strong opponent)
"In correspondence chess, you can smoke during the game." (John C. Knudsen)
"This is the United States Championship, not tiddlywinks."(ICCF-US Secretary Max Zavanelli, in a letter to 13th USCCC entrants)
"Chess is an egotistical game, and all its protagonists hold conceits of some kind or other, else there would be no point in playing."(Charles W. Warburton, in My Chess Adventures.)
"You'll know there is a problem with computers and correspondence chess when everyone is rated 2450."(John C. Knudsen)
"Correspondence chess is the perfect form of the game." (Ward)
"For a correspondence chess player, life is literally an uninterrupted game of chess."(Dr. Eduard Dyckhoff)
"Always check your analysis, which is apt to be superficial when it is for research rather than a concrete game."(Ken Messere)
"The advantage of first move is increased rather than diminished in correspondence chess."(Adrian Hollis)
"Those who can benefit from consultation usually do." (Ken Messere)
"Correspondence Chess has one great advantage on over-the-board play, in that, normally, you can choose the time and place to work on it." (Allen Sheldon)
"In correspondence play the personality of one's opponent counts for little or nothing." (Graham Mitchell)
"The technique of good correspondence chess lies in playing good moves." (Graham Mitchell)
"For some years that tournament was my life. When serious problems arose in the games, lawns would remain unmowed and fences unrepaired, my business would be neglected, and I would work on with Portland sets far into the small hours, so that, for a time, my eyes were badly affected." (Cecil Purdy, on the 1st World CC Championship)
"This is the United States Championship, not a Sunday social." (ICCF-US Secretary Max Zavanelli, in a letter to 10th USCCC entrants) (submitted by Jon Edwards)
"If you resign, then thank you for the game." (unknown - Jon Edwards' favorite if-move)
"Correspondence chess is not only a school for technique or an academy for virtuosity; it is a discipline of deep thought, of research, of tenacity. There is no place for the easy and convenient draw by agreement, but there is always the torment of the search for the best." (Mario Napolitano)