Chess Quotes and Sayings

Many have become chess masters; no one has become the master of chess.
– Siegbert Tarrasch

Life is like a chess game. Every decision, just like every move, has consequences. Therefore, decide wisely!

Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.
– George Bernard Shaw

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

Chess is ruthless: you’ve got to be prepared to kill people.
– Nigel Short

In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.
– Isaac Asimov

Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.
– Blaise Pascal

All that matters on the chessboard is good moves.
– Bobby Fischer

Chess is a very logical game and it is the man who can reason most logically and profoundly in it that ought to win.
– Jose Capablanca

Life is like a game of chess, changing with each move.

When you see a good move, look for a better one.
– Emanuel Lasker

When your house is on fire, you can’t be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in chess, if your King is under attack, don’t worry about losing a pawn on the queen side.

The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
– Tartakover

The pawns are the soul of chess.
– Philidor

Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.
– Spielmann

Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe
– Indian proverb

One bad move nullifies Forty good ones.
– Israel Albert Horowitz

The King is a fighting Piece. Use it!
– Wilhelm Steinitz

A lifetime in not enough to learn everything about chess.
– Alexander Alekhine

Chess is like a language. The top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically, but you have to find first what you are good at.
– Viswanathan Anand

Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic.
– Mikhail Botvinnik

The essence of chess is thinking about what chess is.
– David Bronstein

Chess is not a game but a disease.
– Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Chess is a beautiful mistress.
– Larsen

Life’s too short for chess.
– Henry James Byron

Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.
– Bobby Fischer

Even the laziest king flees wildly in the face of a double check.
– Aron Nimzowitsch

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.
– Victor Kortchnoi

Attackers may sometimes regret bad moves, but it is much worse to forever regret an opportunity you allowed to pass you by.

Chess strength in general and chess strength in a specific match are by no means one and the same thing.