Chess master Quotes

The passed Pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key.

Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient

Methodical thinking is of more use in Chess than inspiration

If your opponent cannot do anything active, then don't rush the position;

instead you should let him sit there, suffer, and beg you for a draw

The beauty of a move lies not in its appearance but in the thought behind it.

Many men, many styles; what is chess style but the intangible expression of the will to win.

The isolated Pawn casts gloom over the entire chessboard

In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame, he is one of the star actors.

How vain are our fears! I thought to myself.

Sometimes we fear that which our opponent (or fate) had never even considered! After this, then, is it any longer worthwhile to rack one's brain to find new ghosts to fear? No, indeed: All hail optimism! - upon playing Hermanis Mattison after he overlooked an unusual knight manouevre.

Pawn endings are to Chess what putting is to golf

If in a battle, I seize a bit of debatable land with a handful of soldiers, without having done anything to prevent an enemy bombardment of the position, would it ever occur to me to speak of a conquest of the terrain in question? Obviously not. Then why should I do so in chess?

A thorough knowledge of the elements takes us more than half the road to mastership

Giving up the center must not here be regarded as illogical.

Was happiness no happiness because it endured for just a short time? One cannot always be happy.

No pawn exchanges, no file-opening, no attack.

Haste is never more dangerous than when you feel that victory is in your grasp.

The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary

The great mobility of the King forms one of the chief characteristics of all endgame strategy. In the middlegame the King is a mere 'super', in the endgame on the other hand - on of the 'principals'. We must therefore develop him, bring him nearer to the fighting line.

It is not a move, even the best move that you must seek, but a realizable plan

Ridicule can do much, for instance embitter the existence of young talents;

but one thing is not given to it, to put a stop permanently to the incursion of new and powerful ideas.

Has he some psychological antipathy to realism? I am no psychologist, and cannot say. The fact remains that Euwe commits the most inexplicable mistakes in thoroughly favorable positions, and that this weakness has consistently tarnished his record.

Fischer, who may or may not be mad as a hatter, has every right to be horrified

If one would cancel all traffic rules and switch off all traffic lights, watching city traffic on TV would be also awfully interesting!

Ridicule can do much, for instance embitter the existence of young talents.

The King plays a most important part in the endgame, and gains in power and activity as the number of pieces on the board diminishes. Acting in eight different directions, he becomes, instead of the weakest piece, one of the most formidable units.

Chess is a great game. No matter how good one is, there is always somebody better. No matter how bad one is, there is always somebody worse.

The draw by stalemate looks like a spot of discontinuity in the otherwise harmonious universe of values. To save a game by letting yourself be so completely humiliated as not being able to make a move looks rather undeserved.

The main Objective of any operation in an open file is the eventual Occupation of the seventh or eighth Rank.

Avoidance of mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess.

Inexperienced players have a fear of this piece, which seems to them enigmatic, mysterious, and astonishing in its power. We must admit that it has remarkable characteristics which compel respect and occasionally surprise the most wary players.

It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner of expressing themselves are within the reach of all.

One interesting indication of Capablanca's greatness is that to non-chess players his name was better known than the names of all other chess masters together! This was due partly to his engaging personality and distinguished appearance: he was one of those exceptional people who at once stand out in a crowd.

The battle for the ultimate truth will never be won. And that's why chess is so fascinating.

In the laboratory the gambits all test unfavorably, but the old rule wears well, that all gambits are sound over the board.

I detest the endgame. A well-played game should be practically decided in the middlegame.

Short of actual blunders, lack of faith in one's position is the chief cause of defeat. To be sure, it is easy to recommend faith and not so easy to practise it.

You don't have to be really good anymore to get good results.

What's happening with Chess is that it's gradually losing its place as the par excellence of intellectual activity. Smart people in search of a challenging board game might try a game called Go.

Carlsen came with a line that was not very theoretical, trying to challenge the World Champion to play chess. [...] But Anand proved that even this obscure line is something he has studied before, and it was Carlsen that was set back.

The study of combinations should enrich the analytical spirit of studious amateurs. Thereafter the most gifted among them will be able to catch some sparks of the genius of masters, and in addition some rays of the glory that is the masters.

How can I lose to such an idiot?

Capablanca used to talk calmly and moderately about everything.

However, when our conversation turned to the problems of the battle for the world championship, in front of me was a quite different person: an enraged lion, although with the fervour typical only of a southerner, with his temperamental patter, which made it hard to follow the torrent of his indignant exclamations and words.

Of chess it has often been said that life is not long enough for it - but that is the fault of life, not chess.

Even the laziest King flees wildly in the face of a double check!

What would Chess be without silly mistakes?

The huge egos of great chess players are legendary.

Psychologists have been amazed by their vanity, have studied it, and anecdotes concerning it are abundant. But never before has there been such a prima donna as Bobby. Already he has managed to alienate and offend almost everybody in the chess world. That includes officials, patrons, writers, almost everybody and anybody who might be in a position to help him in his career.

The Pawn move is a capital investment.

Every one of the forty-eight should, from the beginning, be spent as if it were one of the last forty-eight apprehensive and responsible dollars between yourself and starvation.

Faulty execution of a winning combination has lost many a game on the very brink of victory. In such cases a player sees the winning idea, plays the winning sacrifice and then inverts the order of his fellow-up moves or misses the really clinching point of his combination.

The middlegame I repeat is chess itself, chess with all its possibilities, its attacks, defences, sacrifices, etc.

The preparation for active rook play entails what is called the opening of lines, which largely depends on pawn play, especially on the proper use of levers.

After giving a student the basic mating patterns and strategies you must begin giving them advanced concepts. At first these ideas will not make sense, many players will have a vague idea of what you are talking about but nothing more. Even a fragmented understanding of these concepts will prove useful though, and eventually they will improve as these lessons are assimilated by repetition and example.

Method rules his training, which blends the physical with the mental.

How many chess masters put in, prior to an important match, an allotted time daily to bicycling and shadow-boxing, followed by a cold douche and a brisk rub down?

The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn.