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What the masters said!

  • Half the variations which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half. Jan Timman
  • Could we look into the head of a Chess player, we should see there a whole world of feelings, images, ideas, emotion and passion. Alfred Binet
  • Chess is mental torture. Garry Kasparov
  • Winning isn't everything, but losing is nothing. Edmar Mednis
  • The battle for the ultimate truth will never be won. And that's why Chess is so fascinating. Hans Kmoch
  • No chess grandmaster is normal; they only differ in the extent of their madness. Viktor Korchnoi
  • Life is too short for chess. Henry J. Byron
  • The first principle of attack. Don't let the opponent develop! Reuben Fine
  • Discovered check is the dive-bomber of the chessboard. Reuben Fine
  • Chess is war over the board.The objective is to crush the opponent's mind. Bobby Fischer
  • I think it's almost definite that the game is a draw theoretically. Bobby Fischer
  • All that matters on the Chessboard is good moves. Bobby Fischer
  • I am the best player in the world and I am here to prove it. Bobby Fischer
  • A strong memory, concentration, imagination, and a strong will is required to become a great Chess player. Bobby Fischer
  • You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances. Bobby Fischer
  • Morphy was probably the greatest genius of them all. Bobby Fischer
  • In blitz, the knight is stronger than the bishop. Vlastimil Hort
  • Let the perfectionist play postal. Yasser Seirawan
  • The Pin is mightier than the sword. Fred Reinfeld
  • Chess is everything: art, science and sport. Anatoly Karpov
  • You need not play well. Just help your opponent to play badly. Chepukaitis
  • Chess is the art of analysis. Michael Botvinnik
  • Chess mastery essentially consists of analysing chess positions accurately. Michael Botvinnik
  • The boy (a 12 year old boy named Anatoly Karpov) doesn't have a clue about Chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession. Michael Botvinnik
  • Pawns are born free, yet are everywhere in chains. Andrew Soltis
  • A passed Pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes. José Raul Capablanca
  • Methodical thinking is of more use in chess than inspiration. Cecil J. Purdy
  • Chess is as much a mystery as women. Cecil J. Purdy
  • When you see a good move, wait, look for a better one. Emmanuel Lasker
  • The hardest game to win is a won game. Emmanuel Lasker
  • A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused. Rudolf Spielmann
  • We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a Chessplayer's nature. Rudolf Spielmann
  • Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine. Rudolf Spielmann
  • Good positions don't win games, good moves do. Gerald Abrahams
  • An isolated Pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard. Savielly Tartakover
  • Some part of a mistake is always correct. Savielly Tartakover
  • The King is a fighting piece. Use it. Wilhelm Steinitz
  • Fame, I have already. Now I need the money. Wilhelm Steinitz
  • Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack. Wilhelm Steinitz
  • The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move. David Bronstein
  • It is not a move, even the best move, that you must seek, but a realisable plan. Znosko-Borovsky
  • Why must I loose to this idiot. Aaron Nimzowitsch
  • Nothing excites jaded grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty. Dominic Lawson
  • When the going gets tactical, the computers get going. Hyatt-Sean
  • There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine. Michael Tal
  • Of chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess. Irving Chernev
  • No price is too great for the scalp of the enemy King. Koblentz
  • White lost because he failed to remember the right continuation and had to think up the moves himself. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • The beauty of a move lies not in its' appearance but in the thought behind it. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • Chess, like music, like love, has the power to make people happy. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • Many have become Chess Masters; no one has become the Master of Chess.Siegbert Tarrasch
  • I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of Chess. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • White lost because he failed to remember the right continuation and had to think up the moves himself. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • Before the endgame, the gods have placed the middlegame. Siegbert Tarrasch
  • Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue. Richard Reti
  • The scheme of a game is played on positional lines; the decision of it, as a rule, is effected by combinations. Richard Reti
  • I think one move ahead - but it is always the best move. Richard Reti
  • The Pawns are the soul of the game. André D. Philidor
  • Every pawn is a potential Queen. James Mason
  • Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation. Max Euwe
  • One bad move nullifies forty good ones. Israel Albert Horowitz
  •  When in doubt, play chess. Walter Tevis
  • Fischer was a master of clarity and a king of artful positioning. His opponents would see where he was going but were powerless to stop him. Bruce Pandolfini
  • The older I grow, the more I value Pawns. Paul Keres
  • Who is your opponent tonight, tonight I am playing against the Black pieces. Akiba Rubinstein
  • Chess is a beautiful mistress. Bent Larsen

Comments

  • 5 years ago

    Dutchgalego

    Thanks for your friendly comment Littleman.

    May you know some more "masters proverbs" than please feel free to post them in here. 

  • 5 years ago

    littleman

    this is very good educational and yet funny in some parts these masters of chess can have interesting sense of humour very good blog worth reading thanks
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