121 Quotes On Chess ♟

 

1. Life like chess is about knowing to do the right move at the right time.
   
2. The tactician knows what to do when there is something to do; whereas the strategian knows what to do when there is nothing to do.
3. 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.
4. I never lose. I either win or learn.
5. Chess is a matter of vanity.
6. Every chess master was once a beginner.
7. Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter.
8. As one by one I mowed them down, my superiority soon became apparent.
9. “In chess, we get a fighting game which is purely intellectual and excludes chance.” Indeed, this is what draws some of us to chess!
10. “[Wilhelm] Steinitz in his scheme of play endeavored, contrary to [Paul] Morphy, to bring about a close[d] game.”
11. “[Harry] Pillsbury in his play was a true American. His games ... show astonishingly big lines in their undertakings and have a refreshing effect upon the onlooker through the energy in their execution.”
12. “He is the greatest artist amongst chess players.” — on Akiba Rubinstein
13. “There never occurs in practice either quite an open or quite a close position, but that we get a position containing open and close elements.”
14. “After the world war, chess and the revival of chess tournaments have made a bridge for intercourse between erstwhile hostile nations and have thus done their part towards international reconciliation more quickly than science or art could do.”
15.   "It is my style to take my opponent and myself on to unknown grounds. A game of chess is not an examination of the knowledge; it is a battle of nerves."
16. "One doesn’t have to play well, it’s enough to play better than your opponent."
17.  "I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player's personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing."
18.  "Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy."
19. "Chess is rarely a game of ideal moves. Almost always, a player faces a series of difficult consequences whichever move he makes."
20.  "Chess doesn't drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane."
21.  "When you see a good move, look for a better one."
22.  "Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine."
23. "No one ever won a game by resigning."
24.  "After a bad opening, there is hope for the middle game. After a bad middle game, there is hope for the endgame. But once you are in the endgame, the moment of truth has arrived."
25.  "Give me a difficult positional game; I will play it. But totally won positions, I cannot stand them."
26.  "In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate."
27.  "There is no remorse like the remorse of chess."
28. “How dreadful... to be caught up in a game and have no idea of the rules.”
29.  "Half the variations which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half."
30.  "Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all."
31.  "Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do."
32.  "In life, as in chess, forethought wins."
33. "Methodical thinking is of more use in Chess than inspiration."
34.  It can be playful and funny as well. Chess is not just for the genius, it is for anyone who has a bit of tact. See how much you'd enjoy a game of chess, with these chess quotes. Here are some funny quotes about chess for those who think chess is life!
35.  "If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off."
36.  "Pawns are the soul of the game."
37.  ."Chess is like war on a board."
38.  "The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made."
39.  "Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like pawn structure. Forget it, checkmate ends the game."
40.  "Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf."
41.  "Chess is the struggle against the error."
42.  "Every chess master was once a beginner."
43. "In Chess, as it is played by masters, chance is practically eliminated."
44. "Checkers is for tramps."
45. "Dazzling combinations are for the many, shifting wood is for the few."
46. "The beauty of a move lies not in its' appearance but in the thought behind it."
47.  "I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists."
48. "You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player."
49. "Chess is a terrible game. If you have no center, your opponent has a freer position. If you do have a center, then you really have something to worry about!"
50. "Of all my Russian books, the defense contains and diffuses the greatest' warmth' which may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract Chess is supposed to be."
51. "The passed pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient."
52. "Live, lose, and learn, by observing your opponent how to win."
53. "The only thing Chess players have in common is Chess."
54. "Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it."
55.  The game does not give much of a chance to correct your previous incorrect moves, just like life, which is too short to spend time worrying about past mistakes. Here are some famous chess champion quotes that will inspire you.
56. "Chess is thirty to forty percent psychology. You don’t have this when you play a computer. I can’t confuse it."
57. "The combination player thinks forward; he starts from the given position, and tries the forceful moves in his mind."
58. "Chess books should be used as we use glasses: to assist the sight, although some players make use of them as if they thought they conferred sight."
59. "Alekhine is a poet who creates a work of art out of something that would hardly inspire another man to send home a picture postcard."
60. "Life is too short for chess."
61. "Could we look into the head of a Chess player, we should see there a whole world of feelings, images, ideas, emotion, and passion."
62. "One bad move nullifies forty good ones."
63. “Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty.”
64. "Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.
65. "Chess is beautiful enough to waste your life for."
66. "Of chess, it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess."
67. "A chess game in progress is… a cosmos unto itself, fully insulated from an infant’s cry, an erotic invitation, or war."
68. "Up to this point, White has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head."
69. "Chess is the gymnasium of the mind."
70. "Without error there can be no brilliancy."
71. "In life, as in chess, one’s own pawns block one’s way.  A man’s very wealthy, ease, leisure, children, books, which should help him to win, more often checkmate him."
72. "Chess is everything: art, science, and sport."
73. "Nobody ever won a chess game by resigning."
74.   "Life is like a game of chess."
75.  He started his chess career at the age of 13, and by the age of 15, he became a chess grandmaster. Here we have found the best chess quotes from Bobby Fischer to make you an expert with any chess piece.
76. “I know people who have all the will in the world,but still can’t play good Chess.”
77. “I don't keep any close friends. I don't keep any secrets. I don't need friends. I just tell everybody everything, that's all.”
78. “Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind."
79. "All that matters on the Chess board is good moves."
80. “Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can’t separate body from mind.”
81. “I don’t believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.”
82.  “I give 98 percent of my mental energy to chess. Others give only two percent.”
83.  Who know, maybe you will be the next World Champion?
84. "I used to attack because it was the only thing I knew. Now I attack because I know it works best."
85. "A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing."
86. "A good player is always lucky."
87. "Chess makes men wiser and clear-sighted."
88. "Chess is above all, a fight!"
89. "The sign of a great Master is his ability to win a won game quickly and painlessly."
90. "Chess is the art of analysis."
91. "Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece."
92. "In order to improve your game, you must study the Endgame before everything else."
93. “If God wanted humans to play chess, he would have made us black or white.”
94. “When Max Euwe of the Netherlands won the world title in 1935 and kept going in a glorious career, that country became a beehive of chess and it still is.”
95. “The hardest game to win is a won game”
96. "Chess is not for timid souls."
97. “Every Pawn is a potential Queen”
98. “There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine.”
99. "Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer."
100. “Chess is a curse upon a man."
101.  G. Wells.
102. “Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.”
103. "Chess is as much a mystery as women."
104. “He who fears an isolated Queen’s Pawn should give up Chess”
105. “It doesn’t matter how strong a player you are, if you fail to register some development in the opening, then you are asking for trouble.”
106. “When having an edge, [Anatoly] Karpov often marked time and still gained the advantage! I don't know anyone else who could do that, it's incredible.”
107. "Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life."
108. “A king may be the most important piece on the chessboard; however, the queen is the most powerful.”
109.  Ellis.
110. "To venture an opinion is like moving a piece at chess: it may be taken, but it forms the beginning of a game that is won."
111. “It is no easy matter to reply correctly to [Emanuel] Lasker's bad moves.”
112. “For in the idea of chess and the development of the chess mind we have a picture of the intellectual struggle of mankind.”
113. "Chess, like love, is infectious at any age.   
114. “The pin is mightier than the sword.”
115. “I never read a [chess] book until I was already a master.”
116. “Life is more than just chess.
117. "Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands!"  
118. "In Chess, just as in life, today's bliss may be tomorrow's poison."  
119. “I'm a chess piece. A pawn,' she said. 'I can be sacrificed, but I cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of the game.”  
120. “It's an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it; I can dominate it. And it's predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.”  
121. “Life is more than just chess.
     Though king dies, life goes on.”