"I have a weakness for any piece in excess of my opponent's numbers - from pawn to queen."

"Some consider that when I play I am excessively cautious, but it seems to me that the question may be a different one…"

"They say my chess games should be more interesting. I could be more interesting - and also lose."

"In those years, it was easier to win the Soviet Championship than a game against 'Iron Tigran'"

"It is to Petrosian's advantage that his opponents never know when he is suddenly going to play like Mikhail Tal"

"Later, I began to succeed in decisive games, perhaps because I realised a very simple truth: not only was I worried, …"

"To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess."

"When one of us first plays chess, he is like a man who has already caught a dose of microbes of, say, Hong Kong flu. …"

"You must take your opponent into a deep, dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."

"There are two kinds of sacrifices: correct ones, and mine."