Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's OK to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.
— Magnus Carlsen
Lavish Playing Chess quotations
These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.
We are a thick skinned people with emtpy souls.
We spend our days playing dice, chess, or sleeping - and we say we are the best people that ever came to mankind?
To play for a draw (at any rate with White) is to some degree a crime against chess.
When you see a good move, look for a better one.
When I asked Fischer why he had not played a certain move in our game, he replied: 'Well, you laughed when I wrote it down!'
The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman.
The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life.
Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his ooponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending.
The turning point in my career came with the realization that Black should play to win instead of just steering for equality.
The great World Champions Morphy, Steinitz, and Lasker were past masters in the art of Pawn play; they had no superiors in their handling of endgames. The present World Champion has not the strength of the other three as an endgame player, and is therefore inferior to them.
Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.
The cherished dream of every chessplayer is to play a match with the World Champion. But here is the paradox: the closer you come to the realization of this goal, the less you think about it.
It is a gross overstatement, but in chess, it can be said I play against my opponent over the board and against myself on the clock.
It is difficult to play against Einstein's theory -on his first loss to Fischer
It cannot be too greatly emphasized that the most important role in pawn endings is played by the king.
When you ride your bike, you're working your legs, but your mind is on a treadmill. When you play chess, your mind is clicking along, but your body is stagnating. Climbing brings it together in a beautiful, magical way. The adrenaline is flowing, and it's flowing all the time.
The choice of opening, whether to aim for quiet or risky play, depends not only on the style of a player, but also on the disposition with which he sits down at the board.
When I was a child I liked the games of Capablanca, and later I was captivated by Alekhine's play.
Every Chess master was once a beginner
Enormous self-belief, intuition, the ability to take a risk at a critical moment and go in for a very dangerous play with counter-chances for the opponent - it is precisely these qualities that distinguish great players.
I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things.
I didn't even have books at first, and I just played by myself. I learnt a lot from that, and I feel that it is a big reason why I now have a good intuitive understanding of chess.
Playing chess has many aspects that can be useful in everyday situations like planning, concentration and combinations. You learn to win but also to lose and to be creative.
Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty
My forte was the middlegame. I had a good feeling for the critical moments of the play. This undoubtedly compensated for my lack of opening preparation and, possibly, not altogether perfect play in the endgame. In my games things often did not reach the endgame!
We all play chess with Fate as partner.
He makes a move, we make a move. He tries to checkmate us in three moves, we try to prevent it. We know we can't win, but we're driven to give him a good fight.
I do not play chess – I fight at chess.
Therefore, I willingly combine the tactical with the strategic, the fantastic with the scientific, the combinative with the positional, and I aim to respond to the demands of each given position.
Boris Vasilievich was the only top-class player of his generation who played gambits regularly and without fear ... Over a period of 30 years he did not lose a single game with the King's Gambit, and among those defeated were numerous strong players of all generations, from Averbakh, Bronstein and Fischer, to Seirawan.
Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.
Chess is thirty to forty percent psychology.
You don't have this when you play a computer. I can't confuse it
In our town there was a Gestapo officer who loved to play chess.
After the occupation began, he found out that my father was the chess master of the region, and so he had him to his house every night.
Above all else, before playing in competitions a player must have regard to his health, for if he is suffering from ill-health he cannot hope for success. In this connection the best of all tonics is 15 to 20 days in the fresh air, in the country.
Any experienced player knows how a change in the character of the play influences your psychological mood.
Those who think that it is easy to play chess are mistaken.
During a game a player lives on his nerves, and at the same time he must be perfectly composed.
Take time to play! Ask for what you want.
Laugh. Live loudly. Be avid. Learn a new thing. Be Yourself!
Play on both sides of the board is my favourite strategy.