Once Alekhin voyaged by train. His fellow-traveler offered him to play cards. They played twice, and Alekhin lost both. '' It's not chess '', said his new friend, " You must think in this game..." In 1927 the world chess crown match Capablanka vs Alekhin was planned to be held. One of the chess players had to win six parties in order to win the whole match. Before it Alekhin was asked about the result of the match. He answered: "I cannot imagine how I'll win six parties against Capablanka, but I also understand very little how he could win six parties against me..."

Aron

Nimtsovich

 

Nimtsovich always liked to repeat that he is chess crown pretender. A journalist asked him: "You say you're a pretender because you're afraid to forget that fact? " "No", answered Nimtsovich, "I'm afraid the world will forget this..."

Jose Raul

Capablanka

(world champion in 1921-1927).

 

Grand master Znosko-Borovskiy, who never had very great success in tournaments, wrote the book "Errors of Capablanka". Capablanka joked that he works for a long time on the book "Great moves of Znosko-Borovskiy", but he has only the title: there are no examples... Capablanka always had a great belief in his chess genius. In 1926, when he received two challenges to a chess crown match from Alekhin and Nimtsovich, he said: "May be, I'll play two matches simultaneously? Why not?.. " In 1927 (in Buenos Aires) Capablanka played a chess crown match against Alekhin.There was a great amount of tied parties. An Argentinian newspaper published a caricature on which the players were pictured with big beards. There was a note: "1972. They are continuing to make ties! Their health is good and the quality of playing increased since they began this match..."

Akiba

Rubinstein

 

During the tournament in Carlsbad Rubinstein once came to have dinner to a restaurant. After the dinner he walked nearby. He began to think about the postponed game and forgot all. When he became conscious, he looked around and suddenly saw the same restaurant. Then he entered it and had dinner again.

Richard

Reti

In 1925 Reti played against 30 men simultaneously without watching the chess board. He won almost all the games. It was a world record. When he was going home after that, he forgot a suitcase. When somebody reminded him about it, Reti said: "Thank you very much. My memory is so bad..."

Max

Euwe

 

When Max Euwe was the World champion, he was travelling from Amsterdam to Haag when the neighbour offered him to play chess. The neighbour said: "But I think it'll be honest to prevent you that I'm very strong chess player - three years in a row I'm the champion of our club". Nevertheless he lost all the games to Euwe. He wondered: "It's impossible! Lose to a random man in a train! Me, who is called 'Euwe of our club'!"

Savielly

Tartakower

 

Sometimes in the fifties he was injured in a car accident in Paris. Some friends turned up at the hospital to inquire about his health. "Oh, no", Tartakower said, "there's no danger at all. I was lucky enough to get hit in that part of the body which is least important to a chessplayer - the head."