I like to keep myself physically and mentally fit before any important match. I usually take a short nap just before the game and do not practice immediately before the tournament.

Carlsen will be ridiculously difficult to play against. (on the 2013 World Championship match)

Confidence is very important - even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake.

If revenge motivates you, go for it! But the main thing is to set your game in order.

Intuition in chess can be defined as the first move that comes to mind when you see a position.

You need to motivate yourself, no matter what-definitely when things are bad, but also when things are good. Or else, you risk becoming complacent.

In any match, there are few critical moments where there's no second best decision. The rest of the moves are intuitive.

I attend to my fitness. I go the gym every day and try to maintain my physical fitness; without that, it is tough to take challenges on the chess board.

For every door the computers have closed they have opened a new one.

For me, each game is a new challenge, which has to be dealt with rationally and systematically. At that time, every other thought fades into oblivion.

A win is a win, which is about that particular moment.

I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.

Wisdom is a teacher, God is its professor.The wise are His students, life is His rod, and eternal life is our reward.

You learn in this business: It you want a friend, get a dog.

The test of a man is: does he bear apples? Does he bear fruit?

Acquaint thyself with God.

Science is moving closer to weaponry, and Art is moving closer to commercialism. And never the twain shall meet.

Errors look so very ugly in persons of small means -one feels they are taking quite a liberty in going astray; whereas people of fortune may naturally indulge in a few delinquencies.

If man chooses oblivion, he can go right on leaving his fate to his political leaders. If he chooses Utopia, he must initiate an enormous education program - immediately, if not sooner.

Why cross and ocean when you can cross a river? Why should we sail to Washington when we can meet right away 10 miles from here?

In real life, I'm always in tracksuits, and I never wear makeup.