--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was a professional chess player in…" description: "\"I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a small-time master. When I came to France, I continued playing chess for many years: I played t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/dumitru-tepeneag-22841_alekhine_i-was-a-professional-chess-player-in-rom_269652.jpg" --- # I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a… ![“I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a small-time master. When I came to France, I continued playing chess for many years: I played tournaments in numerous countries with mixed results. I wrote and published a book - La Défense Alekhine and translated two others from Russian. I…” quote by Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/dumitru-tepeneag-22841_alekhine_i-was-a-professional-chess-player-in-rom_269652.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/dumitru-tepeneag-22841_alekhine_i-was-a-professional-chess-player-in-rom_269652.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/dumitru-tepeneag-22841_alekhine_i-was-a-professional-chess-player-in-rom_269652.jpg) > “I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a small-time master. When I came to France, I continued playing chess for many years: I played tournaments in numerous countries with mixed results. I wrote and published a book - La Défense Alekhine and translated two others from Russian. I taught chess in schools; I earned more money through chess than through literature.” [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A seasoned chess master shares his lifelong dedication to the game, his international competition, and his literary contributions, highlighting the blend of sport and culture. **In simple terms:** A chess master balanced playing, writing, and teaching across countries. Key Takeaway Embrace lifelong learning and share expertise. Themes chess career culture teaching Mood reflective determined Type autobiographical inspirational When to use this quote - tournament play - authoring books - teaching in schools - earning through sport Key Concepts mastery translation cross‑cultural exchange Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn a passion into multiple income streams? - What challenges arise when moving between cultures? A Different Perspective Success may be modest despite talent; financial stability can be elusive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alekhine/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) [Chess players](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess-players/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/france/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Playing chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-chess/) [Romania](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romania/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Tournaments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tournaments/) ## Related quotes > [I grew up with a father who taught me chess at the age of 6 or 7. He'd always beat me. Of course. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-corneliussen/i-grew-up-with-a-father-who-taught-me-chess-at-the-age-of-6-or-7-he-d/) [Stephanie Corneliussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-corneliussen/) > [Chess cannot be taught. Chess can only be learned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-botvinnik/chess-cannot-be-taught-chess-can-only-be-learned/) [Mikhail Botvinnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-botvinnik/) > [If the kids get a good grasp of what the main lessons are for chess after two or three years of staying with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-ashley/if-the-kids-get-a-good-grasp-of-what-the-main-lessons-are-for-chess/) [Maurice Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-ashley/) > [I started playing chess when I was five years old. I learned the moves from my mother, then worked with my father - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-started-playing-chess-when-i-was-five-years-old-i-learned-the-moves/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [I was highly attracted to chess for forty or forty-five years; then, little by little, my enthusiasm lessened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/i-was-highly-attracted-to-chess-for-forty-or-forty-five-years-then/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Professional players work almost every day, for hours on end, and the emphasis is on the word 'work.' It can be with a partner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viswanathan-anand/professional-players-work-almost-every-day-for-hours-on-end-and-the/) [Viswanathan Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viswanathan-anand/) > [Being a professional chess player is not very family-friendly and I am away quite often playing tournaments, sometimes for 12 days at a time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judit-polgar/being-a-professional-chess-player-is-not-very-family-friendly-and-i/) [Judit Polgar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judit-polgar/) > [... far more people make a living as professional chess players today than ever before. Thanks partly to the availability of computer programs and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rogoff/far-more-people-make-a-living-as-professional-chess-players-today/) [Kenneth Rogoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rogoff/) > [If you are serious about being a professional chess player, do know what your parents think and what their expectations are from you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anish-giri/if-you-are-serious-about-being-a-professional-chess-player-do-know/) [Anish Giri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anish-giri/) > [In so-called communist Romania, chess was held in high esteem, even if our champions were weaker than the Soviets. This game, this "sport of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/in-so-called-communist-romania-chess-was-held-in-high-esteem-even-if/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [As my editor had no desire to frighten readers with the Romanian pages, he had them translated and published the whole thing in French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/as-my-editor-had-no-desire-to-frighten-readers-with-the-romanian/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Seine et Danube was launched in 2003 with the help of Romanian authorities who had finally realized the necessity of promoting literature and Romanian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/seine-et-danube-was-launched-in-2003-with-the-help-of-romanian/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [My first book published in France was translated and titled Exercices d'Attente in 1972. It was a collection of short works written and published…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/my-first-book-published-in-france-was-translated-and-titled-exercices/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [It's true that in Romanian I feel more relaxed, as if I'm wearing slippers...but I came to this decision primarily for other reasons: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/it-s-true-that-in-romanian-i-feel-more-relaxed-as-if-i-m-wearing/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [I can comprehend Alekhine's combinations well enough; but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such life into the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-spielmann/i-can-comprehend-alekhine-s-combinations-well-enough-but-where-he/) Rudolf Spielmann ## More by Dumitru Tepeneag > [The reader's impression is one of a dream - the only thing that's left upon waking is the memory of a melody at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/the-reader-s-impression-is-one-of-a-dream-the-only-thing-that-s-left/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/i-had-severed-relations-with-the-romanian-exiles-who-had-become/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Since adolescence I've had a passion for Romantic Fantastique literature, which continued with Expressionism and culminated with the genius of Kafka. It's that German…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/since-adolescence-i-ve-had-a-passion-for-romantic-fantastique/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [There is no one 'best set-up', there are many - you can get to mate in endless ways. And - don't forget! - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/there-is-no-one-best-set-up-there-are-many-you-can-get-to-mate-in/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [It's true that in Romanian I feel more relaxed, as if I'm wearing slippers...but I came to this decision primarily for other reasons: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/it-s-true-that-in-romanian-i-feel-more-relaxed-as-if-i-m-wearing/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Vain Art of the Fugue was the only one of my novels to be met with relative public recognition: it was nominated for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/vain-art-of-the-fugue-was-the-only-one-of-my-novels-to-be-met-with/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [My first book published in France was translated and titled Exercices d'Attente in 1972. It was a collection of short works written and published…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/my-first-book-published-in-france-was-translated-and-titled-exercices/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Our Onirisme movement was a synthesis between the Romantic Fantastique and Surrealism. Dimov and I rejected automatic writing. We loved surrealist painters: Chirico, Magritte,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/our-onirisme-movement-was-a-synthesis-between-the-romantic/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [It's not the subject of narration that interests me, but the structure. That's why I stay in touch with my old works, which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/it-s-not-the-subject-of-narration-that-interests-me-but-the-structure/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [On the other hand, Surrealism has been a part of Romanian literature since forever. Even before Tzara, who was originally Romanian, we had Urmuz,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/on-the-other-hand-surrealism-has-been-a-part-of-romanian-literature/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Seine et Danube was launched in 2003 with the help of Romanian authorities who had finally realized the necessity of promoting literature and Romanian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/seine-et-danube-was-launched-in-2003-with-the-help-of-romanian/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [After multiple trips to Paris and being accused of participating in 'heinous' activities in regard to the state, I found my Romanian nationality revoked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/after-multiple-trips-to-paris-and-being-accused-of-participating-in/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [As my editor had no desire to frighten readers with the Romanian pages, he had them translated and published the whole thing in French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/as-my-editor-had-no-desire-to-frighten-readers-with-the-romanian/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [For me, literature is the daughter of music: a bit heavy and more level headed than its mother. Literature submits to the same principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/for-me-literature-is-the-daughter-of-music-a-bit-heavy-and-more-level/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [The East was no longer a threat to the western world, and when there's nothing to fear we turn our backs, we look elsewhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/the-east-was-no-longer-a-threat-to-the-western-world-and-when-there-s/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) [Explore all 27 Dumitru Tepeneag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) ## More Alekhine quotes > [I can comprehend Alekhine's combinations well enough; but where he gets his attacking chances from and how he infuses such life into the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-spielmann/i-can-comprehend-alekhine-s-combinations-well-enough-but-where-he/) Rudolf Spielmann > [Alekhine developed as a player much more slowly than most. In his twenties, he was an atrocious chessplayer, and didn't mature until he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-fischer/alekhine-developed-as-a-player-much-more-slowly-than-most-in-his/) [Bobby Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-fischer/) > [I see my own style as being a symbiosis of the styles of Alekhine, Tal and Fischer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-see-my-own-style-as-being-a-symbiosis-of-the-styles-of-alekhine-tal/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [If you have seen one Alekhine game you've seen them all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-fischer/if-you-have-seen-one-alekhine-game-you-ve-seen-them-all/) [Bobby Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-fischer/) > [Alekhine evidently possesses the most remarkable chess memory that has ever existed. It is said that he remembers by heart all the games played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-raul-capablanca/alekhine-evidently-possesses-the-most-remarkable-chess-memory-that/) [Jose Raul Capablanca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-raul-capablanca/) > [Botvinnik's right! When he says such things, then he's right. Usually, I prefer not to study chess but to play it. For me chess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-tal/botvinnik-s-right-when-he-says-such-things-then-he-s-right-usually-i/) [Mikhail Tal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-tal/) > [Play the move that forces the win in the simplest way. Leave the brilliancies to Alekhine, Keres and Tal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-chernev/play-the-move-that-forces-the-win-in-the-simplest-way-leave-the/) [Irving Chernev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-chernev/) > [When Alekhine recognizes the weakness in his position he has a tendency to become very aggressive. Patient defence is not for him if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/when-alekhine-recognizes-the-weakness-in-his-position-he-has-a/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-kramnik/when-i-was-a-child-i-liked-the-games-of-capablanca-and-later-i-was/) [Vladimir Kramnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-kramnik/) > [Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-euwe/alekhine-is-a-poet-who-creates-a-work-of-art-out-of-something-that/) [Max Euwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-euwe/) > [Alekhine's real genius is in the preparation and construction of a position, long before combinations or mating attacks come into consideration at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-euwe/alekhine-s-real-genius-is-in-the-preparation-and-construction-of-a/) [Max Euwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-euwe/) > [It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-znosko-borovsky/it-would-be-idle-and-presumptuous-to-wish-to-imitate-the-achievements/) [Eugene Znosko-Borovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-znosko-borovsky/) [Browse all 13 Alekhine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alekhine/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was a professional chess player in Romania, but only a small-time master. 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