Top50ChessQuotesofAllTime

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WrittenbyYuryMarkushin
Wednesday,25March201500:00

Greatquotesstorebigandimportantideasinjustafewwords.Theytransportwisdomthat
greatchessplayershaveaccumulatedthroughoutdecadesofexperience.Thislistof
quotesisforthosewhoisaimingforbigsuccess.Thesequoteswillbothmotivateand
educateyouforbecomingabetterchessplayer.

1."BythetimeaplayerbecomesaGrandmaster,almostallofhistrainingtimeisdedicatedtoworkonthisfirstphase.
Theopeningistheonlyphasethatholdsoutthepotentialfortruecreativityanddoingsomethingentirelynew."Garry
Kasparov
2."Whenyourhouseisonfire,youcantbebotheredwiththeneighbors.Or,aswesayinchess,ifyourKingisunder
attack,don'tworryaboutlosingapawnonthequeenside."GarryKasparov

3."BystrictlyobservingBotvinnik'sruleregardingthethoroughanalysisofone'sowngames,withtheyearsIhavecome
torealizethatthisprovidesthefoundationforthecontinuosdevelopmentofchessmastery."GarryKasparov
4."Chesscontinuestoadvanceovertime,sotheplayersofthefuturewillinevitablysurpassmeinthequalityoftheir
play,assumingtherulesandregulationsallowthemtoplayseriouschess.Butitwilllikelybealongtimebeforeanyone

spends20consecutiveyearsasnumber,oneasIdid."GarryKasparov
5."Youcan'toverestimatetheimportanceofpsychologyinchess,andasmuchassomeplayerstrytodownplayit,I
believethatwinningrequiresaconstantandstrongpsychologynotjustattheboardbutineveryaspectofyourlife."
GarryKasparov
6."I...havetwovocations:chessandengineering.IfIplayedchessonly,Ibelievethatmysuccesswouldnothave
beensignificantlygreater.IcanplaychesswellonlywhenIhavefullyconvalescedfromchessandwhenthe'hungerfor
chess'oncemoreawakenswithinme."MikhailBotvinnik
7."Ifyouaregoingtomakeyourmarkamongmasters,youhavetoworkfarharderandmoreintensively,or,toputit
moreexactly,theworkisfarmorecomplexthanthatneededtogainthetitleofMaster."MikhailBotvinnik
8."Aboveallelse,beforeplayingincompetitionsaplayermusthaveregardtohishealth,forifheissufferingfromill
healthhecannothopeforsuccess.Inthisconnectionthebestofalltonicsis15to20daysinthefreshair,inthe
country."MikhailBotvinnik

Note:IfyouwanttodramaticallyimproveyourchesssimplystudyingGrandmaster'sgamesorsolvingtacticsitnotenough.In
ordertotakeyourchesstothewholenewlevelyouneedtoworkonallaspectsofthegame.That'swhatwecalla"combined
approach".Wewillcombine5mostimportantelementsofchessintoasingletrainingsessiontobuildagoodtraininghabits
and to make sure you can get out maximum results in minimum amount of time. You will get a access to 3 weeks of
trainingwhereyouwilllearn:
Tactics
Positionalplay
Attackontheking
Endgametechnique
Classicalgamesanalysis
Trainingsecrets,selfevaluation,blunderavoidance
andmuchmore

9."Ifyouareweakintheendgame,youmustspendmoretimeanalysingstudiesinyourtraininggamesyoumustaim
attransposingtoendgames,whichwillhelpyoutoacquiretherequisiteexperience."MikhailBotvinnik
10."Myfortewasthemiddlegame.Ihadagoodfeelingforthecriticalmomentsoftheplay.Thisundoubtedly
compensatedformylackofopeningpreparationand,possibly,notaltogetherperfectplayintheendgame.Inmygames

thingsoftendidnotreachtheendgame!"BorisSpassky
11."Theshortcomingofhangingpawnsisthattheypresentaconvenienttargetforattack.Astheexchangeofmen
proceeds,theirpotentialstrengthlessensandduringtheendgametheyturnout,asarule,tobeweak."BorisSpassky
12."Ofcourse,analysiscansometimesgivemoreaccurateresultsthanintuitionbutusuallyitsjustalotofwork.I
normallydowhatmyintuitiontellsmetodo.Mostofthetimespentthinkingisjusttodoublecheck."MagnusCarlsen
13."Istartedbyjustsittingbythechessboardexploringthings.Ididntevenhavebooksatfirst,andIjustplayedby
myself.Ilearntalotfromthat,andIfeelthatitisabigreasonwhyInowhaveagoodintuitiveunderstandingofchess."
MagnusCarlsen
carlsen

14."Selfconfidenceisveryimportant.Ifyoudontthinkyoucanwin,youwilltakecowardlydecisionsinthecrucial
moments,outofsheerrespectforyouropponent.Youseetheopportunitybutalsogreaterlimitationsthanyoushould.I
havealwaysbelievedinwhatIdoonthechessboard,evenwhenIhadnoobjectivereasonto.Itisbetterto
overestimateyourprospectsthanunderestimatethem."MagnusCarlsen
15."Ididn'tpicturemyselfasevenagrandmaster,tosaynothingofaspiringtothechesscrown.ThiswasnotbecauseI
wastimidIwasn'tbutbecauseIsimplylivedinoneworld,andthegrandmastersexistedinacompletelydifferentone.
Peoplelikethatwerenotreallyevenpeople,butlikegodsormythicalheroes."AnatolyKarpov
16."Byallmeansexaminethegamesofthegreatchessplayers,butdon'tswallowthemwhole.Theirgamesare
valuablenotfortheirseparatemoves,butfortheirvisionofchess,theirwayofthinking."AnatolyKarpov

karpov

17."ThegreatmobilityoftheKingformsoneofthechiefcharacteristicsofallendgamestrategy.Inthemiddlegamethe
Kingisamere"super",intheendgameontheotherhandonofthe"principals".Wemustthereforedevelophim,bring
himnearertothefightingline."AronNimzowitsch
18."Ifinabattle,Iseizeabitofdebatablelandwithahandfulofsoldiers,withouthavingdoneanythingtopreventan
enemybombardmentoftheposition,woulditeveroccurtometospeakofaconquestoftheterraininquestion?
Obviouslynot.ThenwhyshouldIdosoinchess?"AronNimzowitsch
19."WhenItodayaskmyselfwhenceIgotthemoralcourage,forittakesmoralcouragetomakeamove(orforma
plan)runningcountertoalltradition,IthinkImaysayinanswer,thatitwasonlymyintensepreoccupationwiththe
problemoftheblockadewhichhelpedmetodoso."AronNimzowitsch
20."Itisawellknownphenomenonthatthesameamateurwhocanconductthemiddlegamequitecreditably,isusually
perfectlyhelplessintheendgame.Oneoftheprincipalrequisitesofgoodchessistheabilitytotreatboththemiddle
andendgameequallywell."AronNimzowitsch
21."Inmathematics,ifIfindanewapproachtoaproblem,anothermathematicianmightclaimthathehasabetter,more
elegantsolution.Inchess,ifanybodyclaimsheisbetterthanI,Icancheckmatehim."EmanuelLasker
22."Bypositionalplayamastertriestoproveandexploittruevalues,whereasbycombinationsheseekstorefutefalse
values...Acombinationproducesanunexpectedreassessmentofvalues."EmanuelLasker
23."Hewhohasaslightdisadvantageplaysmoreattentively,inventivelyandmoreboldlythanhisantagonistwhoeither
takesiteasyoraspiresaftertoomuch.Thusaslightdisadvantageisveryfrequentlyseentoconvertintoagood,solid
advantage."EmanuelLasker
24."Aplayer,astheworldbelievedhewas,hewasnot,hisstudioustemperamentmadethatimpossibleandthushe
wasconqueredbyaplayerandintheendlittlevaluedbytheworld,hedied."EmanuelLasker
25."Itisnosecretthatanytalentedplayermustinhissoulbeanartist,andwhatcouldbedearertohisheartandsoul
thanthevictoryofthesubtleforcesofreasonovercrudematerialstrength!Probablyeveryonehashisownreasonfor
likingtheKing`sGambit,butmyloveforitcanbeseeninpreciselythoseterms."DavidBronstein
26."Itisannoyingthattherulesofchessdonotallowapawntotakeeitherhorizontallyorbackwards,butonlyforwards
...Thispsychologicaltuningisidealforattackingpurposes,butwhataboutfordefence?"DavidBronstein

27."Ifyouhavemadeamistakeorcommittedaninaccuracythereisnoneedtobecomeannoyedandtothinkthat
everythingislost.Youhavetoreorientateyourselfquicklyandfindanewplaninthenewsituation."DavidBronstein
28."Whenyouplayagainstanexperiencedopponentwhoexploitsallthedefensiveresourcesathiscommandyou
sometimeshavetowalktimeandagain,alongthenarrowpathof'theonlymove'."DavidBronstein
29."Chessisnotforthefainthearteditabsorbsapersonentirely.Togettothebottomofthisgame,hehastogive
himselfupintoslavery.Chessisdifficult,itdemandswork,seriousreflectionandzealousresearch."WilhelmSteinitz
30."Thetaskofthepositionalplayerissystematicallytoaccumulateslightadvantagesandtrytoconverttemporary
advantagesintopermanentones,otherwisetheplayerwiththebetterpositionrunstheriskoflosingit."Wilhelm
Steinitz
31."WheneverBlacksucceedsinassumingtheinitiativeandmaintainingittoasuccessfulconclusion,thesporting
spiritofthechessloverfeelsgratified,becauseitshowsthattheresourcesofthegamearefarfrombeingexhausted."
SaviellyTartakower
32."Nooneeverwonagamebyresigning."SaviellyTartakower
33."Itisalwaysbettertosacrificeyouropponents'men."SaviellyTartakower
34."Theblundersareallthereontheboard,waitingtobemade."SaviellyTartakower
35."Athoroughunderstandingofthetypicalmatingcontinuationsmakesthemostcomplicatedsacrificialcombinations
leadinguptothemnotonlydifficult,butalmostamatterofcourse."SaviellyTartakower

36."Allthatmattersonthechessboardisgoodmoves."BobbyFischer
37."Astrongmemory,concentration,imagination,andastrongwillisrequiredtobecomeagreatchessplayer."
BobbyFischer
38."Tacticsflowfromasuperiorposition."BobbyFischer
39."Toplayforadraw,atanyratewithwhite,istosomedegreeacrimeagainstchess."MikhailTal
40."Ihavealwaysthoughtitamatterofhonourforeverychessplayertodeservethesmileoffortune."MikhailTal

41."Naturally,thepsychologicalsusceptibilityofamatchparticipantissignificantlyhigherthanaparticipantina
tournament,sinceeachgamesubstantiallychangestheoverallposition."MikhailTal
42."Igoovermanygamescollectionsandpickupsomethingfromthestyleofeachplayer."MikhailTal
43."Strategyrequiresthought,tacticsrequireobservation."MaxEuwe

44."Ifitistruethataplayer'sstyleishisperson,theneveryoneplaysasheisintendedtobynature.Iamnaturally
cautious,andIaltogetherdislikesituationswhichinvolverisk."TigranPetrosian
45."Inalmostanypositiontheboundlesspossibilitiesofchessenableaneworatleastalittlestudiedcontinuationtobe
found."TigranPetrosian
46."Theyknockmeformydraws,formystyle,theyknockmeforeverythingIdo."TigranPetrosian
47."Eventhemostdistinguishedplayershaveintheircareersexperiencedseveredisappointmentsduetoignoranceof
thebestlinesorsuspensionoftheirowncommonsense."TigranPetrosian
48."Insomeplaceswordshavebeenreplacedbysymbolswhich,likeamuletsfromawitch'sbag,havethepowerto
consumethelivingspiritofchess."TigranPetrosian
49."Itiseasytoplayagainsttheyoungplayers,formetheyarelikeanopenbook."TigranPetrosian
50."Theyknockmeformydraws,formystyle,theyknockmeforeverythingIdo."TigranPetrosian