Chess Quotes - Page 36

• Had I not played the Sicilian with Black I could have saved myself the trouble of studying for more than 20 years all the more popular lines of this opening, which comprise probably more than 25 percent of all published opening theory!

  Bent Larsen

  Years, Black, Lines

  13 Copy quote

• The Ruy Lopez occupied a constant place in my opening repertoire. In it is reflected the classical interpretation of the problem of the centre.

  Vasily Smyslov

  Problem, Interpretation, Constant

  11 Copy quote

• To venture an opinion is like moving a piece at chess: it may be taken, but it forms the beginning of a game that is won.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Taken, Moving, Games

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2015). “Maxims and Reflections”, p.72, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• There's a popular concept of 'intelligence' as book smarts, like calculus or chess, as opposed to, say, social skills. So people say that 'it takes more than intelligence to succeed in human society.' But social skills reside in the brain, not the kidneys.

  Eliezer Yudkowsky

  Smart, Book, Skills

  6 Copy quote

• In high school, my sister went out with the captain of the chess team. My parents loved him... They figured that any guy that took hours to make a move was okay with them.

  Brian Kiley

  Team, Moving, School

  5 Copy quote

• The Olympic Charter says winter sports must be played on snow or ice, so the Chess Federation says they'll play with ice pieces. The Olympic charter also says sports must be sports.

  Peter Sagal

  Sports, Winter, Ice

  "Lightning Fill In The Blank". "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" with Peter Sagal, www.npr.org. May 2, 2015.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• You may have the bishop pair but I have the ultimate advantage; I am the better player!

  John Adams

  Player, Bishops, May

  4 Copy quote

• 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.

  Mikhail Tal

  Dream, Thinking, Play

  Mikhail Tal (2011). “Tal-Botvinnik 1960: Match For the World Chess Championship”, p.9, SCB Distributors

  78 Copy quote

  Show source

• In the current FIDE World Championship, on the knock-out system, weaker players have good chances. Those, who in a long match would practically have no chance, here may creep through.

  Vladimir Kramnik

  Player, Long, World

  12 Copy quote

• I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.

  Magnus Carlsen

  Might, Normal, Freak

  "Magnus Carlsen: The 19-Year-Old King of Chess" by Eben Harrell, content.time.com. December 25, 2009.

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• If we talk about pure abilities and skills, I
  believe there should be no reason why women cannot play as well as men.

  Susan Polgar

  Women, Believe, Skills

  12 Copy quote

• Nowadays games immediately appear on the Internet and thus the life of novelties is measured in hours. Modern professionals do not have the right to be forgetful - it is 'life threatening'.

  Garry Kasparov

  Games, Novelty, Internet

  9 Copy quote

• The proponents of Steinitz' theory - Tarrasch and his supporters - tried to express Steinitz' teaching in the form of laconic rules, and as often happens in such cases, they went too far. The laconic tended to become dogmatic, and chess began to lose its freshness, originality and charm.

  Alexander Kotov

  Teaching, Originality, Charm

  4 Copy quote

• Most of all I like "bad" lines, that is those considered bad, in my opinion unjustly, by theory. The reason for the last quotation marks is that most so-called theory is only a collection of examples from master practice.

  Bent Larsen

  Practice, Example, Quotation Marks

  10 Copy quote

• Show me three variations in the leading handbook on the openings, and I will show you two of those three that are defective.

  Emanuel Lasker

  Two, Three, Variation

  9 Copy quote

• Tarrasch's 'dogmas' are not eternal truisms, but merely instructional material presented in an accessible and witty form, those necessary rudiments from which one can begin to grasp the secrets of chess.

  Garry Kasparov

  Witty, Secret, Dogma

  10 Copy quote

• Not infrequently ... the theoretical is a synonym of the stereotyped. For the 'theoretical' in chess is nothing more than that which can be found in the textbooks and to which players try to conform because they cannot think up anything better or equal, anything original.

  Mikhail Chigorin

  Player, Thinking, Trying

  9 Copy quote

• It is said that an ounce of common sense can outweigh a ton of 'variations'.

  Savielly Tartakower

  Common Sense, Variation, Theory

  25 Copy quote

• Lasker thought that his rationalism rendered him immune from the surprises of chess theory.

  Savielly Tartakower

  Surprise, Theory, Rationalism

  8 Copy quote

• The best reason to abolish it, in my opinion, is that everyone should deal with his time in the best way; there is no good reason why you should get half a minute extra with each move, except that it's a bit easier for the arbiter.

  Jan Timman

  Time, Moving, Half

  7 Copy quote

• If you can play the first ten or fifteen moves in just as many minutes, you can be in a state of bliss for the rest of the game. If, on the other hand, Bronstein thinks for forty minutes about his first move, then time trouble is inevitable.

  Alexander Kotov

  Time, Moving, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

• Time trouble is blunder time.

  Alexander Kotov

  Time, Trouble, Blunders

  8 Copy quote

• If your opponent is short (on time), play just as you played earlier in the game. If you are short keep calm, I repeat, don't get flustered. Keep up the same neat writing of the moves, the same methodical examination of variations, but at a quicker rate.

  Alexander Kotov

  Time, Moving, Writing

  4 Copy quote

• Even when the time control has been reached, there is one situation where you want to act as if it has not: when your position is absolutely lost.

  Edmar Mednis

  Time, Want, Lost

  6 Copy quote

• Rating systems work perfectly for players who play only in round robin closed events. I think most of them are overrated. Organizers invite same people over and over because they have the same rating and their rating stays high.

  Alexander Khalifman

  Player, Thinking, People

  7 Copy quote