Good chess quotes are easy to come by. But, we’ve tried to narrow it down even further by just including the best of the best.
People are introduced to chess in a variety of ways. Perhaps a family member is looking for a game. Or, one of your friends plays. Recently, many folks are taking an interest in chess because of a popular Netflix series.
The Queen’s Gambit tells the story of an orphan girl who becomes a chess prodigy. During the cold war era, the seven-part series features plenty of chess competition and seems to have renewed interest in the game.
Since chess is such a strategic game, some of the insights from chess masters provide a great perspective on chess, business, and life. We hope you enjoy these quotation selections.
Great Chess Quotes
Some of the best chess quotes speak to playing the game and moments in life.
1.) “Daring ideas are like chess men moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”
When Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote this, it seems he was speaking to the idea of being aggressive and taking chances. Seldom does one win by staying in place or retreating. You have to be daring to win the game.
2.) “The winner is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake.”
Savielly Tartakower, of Russian descent, was an International Grandmaster and a chess journalist during the 1920s and 1930s. He realized that in chess, mistakes lead to victory. His famous quotes on the topic include, “The mistakes are there, waiting to be made,” and “Chess is a fairy tale of 1,001 blunders.” And, one more, “Chess is a struggle against one’s own errors.”
See “Is Chess a Sport?” article.
3.) “To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.”
This is another Tartakower quote in which he cautions players to look at the big picture. Tartakower had a way with words, as evidenced by this famous chess quote, “An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard.” Here’s another good one, “The move is there, but you must see it.”
4.) “In life, as in chess, forethought wins.”
Buxton’s message: To win at chess and any major endeavor, it helps to plan. Buxton was also quoted as saying, “In life, as in chess, one’s own pawns block one’s way. A man’s very wealth, ease, leisure, children, books, which should help him to win, more often checkmate him.” I wonder if the last quotation resulted in some difficult conversations at the dinner table.
5.) “Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists.”
Chess players see the board in various ways, much like an artist paints a subject. While chess has a competitive sport aspect and a pure science component, it is also artistry. Just like a good book or movie can bring back memories, a well-played chess move can prompt one to recall one’s own experiences or memories playing. So, the originator of this quote, Marcel Duchamp, got it right. Duchamp was a French-American painter, chess player, and writer.
6.) “Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.”
If you’re new to chess, the game is typically broken down into three phases: The opening, e.g., The Queen’s Gambit, the middle game, and the end game. The opening shifts to the middle game when players begin attacking each other’s pieces. The end game commences when most of the pieces are off the board. Rudolf Spielmann, who wrote this line, was a lawyer but never worked as one. He was a chess player who won 33 tournaments of the 120 that he played.
Best Chess Sayings
Here is some food for thought before your next game.
7.) “When you see a good move, look for a better one.”
There are more possible ways for a chess game to play out than atoms in the observable universe. Wow! Think about that. As such, a chess player is faced with many choices. You might have what you think is a powerful move. But still, there may be one or several moves that are even better.
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player who held the World Chess Champion title for 27 years. Lasker played contract bridge, Go, and his own game, “Lasca,” a variation of checkers.
8.) “The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move.”
A big advantage can be gained with one move, and as such, the player with the next move is frequently in a position to advance.
David Bronstein was a Soviet chess player who passed away in 2006. His book on chess, Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953, is one of the best chess books.
9.) “An hour’s history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.”
A chess prodigy, Jose Raul Capablanca, was the world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. Born in Havana, Cuba, he beat the Cuban champion two days before he became a teenager. As you might describe chess as the ultimate thinking game, one’s mind is definitely on display in a game.
10.) “Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.
Many regarded Bobby Fischer as the best chess player of all time (although Magnus Carlsen fans may disagree). Born in Chicago in 1943, he passed away in 2008 in Iceland. Of Fischer, Miguel Najdorf said, “Bobby just drops the pieces, and they fall on the right squares.” Fischer thrived on the competition once, saying, “I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.”
11.) “Every chess master was once a beginner.”
Irving Chernev said this about chess, but it fits in just about any other area of interest. Everyone was a beginner at one time. You have to make mistakes, learn from mistakes, and practice to advance. Chernev was a national master-strength player and wrote 20 books on chess.
The Shortest Game Magnus Carlsen Played Video
Short Chess Quotes
12.) “One bad move nullifies forty good ones.”
Israel Albert Horowitz
13.) “Pawns are born free, yet they are everywhere in chains.”
Rick Kennedy
14.) “Those who say they understand chess understand nothing.”
Robert Hubner
15.) “In chess, as it is played by the masters, chance is practically eliminated.”
Emanuel Lasker
16.) “I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess.”
Siegbert Tarrasch
17.) “When the chess game is over, the pawn and the king go back to the same box.”
Irish Saying
18. I used to attack because it was the only thing I knew. Now I attack because I know it works best.
Garry Kasparov
19.) In life, as in chess, forethought wins.
Charles Buxton
20.) Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.
Rudolph Spielmann
21.) Chess is as much a mystery as women.
Purdy
Inspirational Chess Quotes
22.) 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.
José Raúl Capablanca
23.) The pin is mightier than the sword.
Fred Reinfeld
24.) Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.
Albert Einstein
25.) 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.
Vladimir Kramnik
26.) 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
27.) Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.
Blaise Pascal
28.) Chess is the art of analysis.
Mikhail Botvinik
29.) The only thing chess players have in common is chess.
Lodewijk Prins
30.) It’s always better to sacrifice your opponent’s men.
Savielly Tartakower
31.) Of chess, it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess.
William Napier
32.) A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror.
Wilhelm Steinitz
Motivational Quotes
33.) The pin is mightier than the sword.
Fred Reinfeld
34.) The passed pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient.
Aron Nimzowitsch
35.) There is no remorse like the remorse of chess.
H. G. Wells
36.) Give me a difficult positional game, I will play it. But totally won positions, I cannot stand them.
Hein Donner
37.) 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.
Edmar Mednis
38.) Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like pawn structure. Forget it, checkmate ends the game.
Nigel Short
39.) Chess does not drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane.
Bill Hartston
40.) The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it…Life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with.
Benjamin Franklin
41.) I have come to the. personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.
Marcel Duchamp
42.) The hardest game to win is a won game.
Emanuel Lasker
43.) Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.
Wilhelm Steinitz
Strategic Quotes
43.) Becoming successful at Chess allows you to discover your own personality. That’s what I want for the kids I teach
Saudin Robovic
44.) The combination player thinks forward; he starts from the given position, and tries the forceful moves in his mind
Emanuel Lasker
45.) For in the idea. of chess and the development of the chess mind we have a picture of the intellectual struggle of mankind. Richard Réti
46.) Checkers is for tramps.
Paul Morphy
47.) The beauty of chess is it can be whatever you want it to be. It transcends language, age, race, religion, politics, gender, and socioeconomic background. Whatever your circumstances, anyone can enjoy a good fight to the death over the chess board. Simon Williams
48.)The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
Savielly Tartakover
49.) Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe.
Hindu proverb
50.) Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self image and self esteem.
Saudin Robovic
51.) The essence of Chess is thinking about what Chess is.
David Bronstein
52.) As proved by evidence, [chess is] more lasting in its being and presence than all books and achievements; the only game that belongs to all people and all ages; of which none knows the divinity that bestowed it on the world, to slay boredom, to sharpen the senses, to exhilarate the spirit.
Stefan Zweig
53.) Unlike other games in which lucre is the end and aim, [chess] recommends itself to the wise by the fact that its mimic battles are fought for no prize but honor. It is eminently and emphatically the philosopher’s game.
Paul Morphy
54.) The most important feature of the Chess position is the activity of the pieces. This is absolutely fundamental in all phases of the game: Opening, Middlegame and especially Endgame. The primary constraint on a piece’s activity is the Pawn structure. Michael Stean
We hope you enjoyed these insights on the game of chess. It’s your move.
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is the founder and editor of Sports Feel Good Stories. He learned to play chess at a young age. When a friend of his older sister, a Belgium foreign exchange student, visited his house, he chose to play Mike with his back to the board. Mike lost.
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