Chess Quotes - Page 30

• When everything on the board is clear it can be so difficult to conceal your thoughts from your opponent.

  David Bronstein

  Boards, Opponents, Strategy

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• It is dangerous to maintain equality at the cost of placing the pieces passively.

  Anatoly Karpov

  Pieces, Cost, Strategy

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• One charming characteristic of many flank attacks I could mention is that they do not very often lead to simplification: if the attack is parried, there usually are still opportunities left for initiating action in another sector.

  Bent Larsen

  Opportunity, Action, Strategy

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• Strategically important points should be overprotected. If the pieces are so engaged, they get their regard in the fact that they will then find themselves well posted in every respect.

  Aron Nimzowitsch

  Important, Pieces, Facts

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• The infallible criterion by which to distinguish the true from the would-be strategist is the degree of originality of his conceptions. It makes little difference whether this originality is carried to excess, as was the case with Steinitz and Nimzowitsch.

  Alexander Alekhine

  Differences, Would Be, Excess

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• During a chess tournament a master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey.

  Alexander Alekhine

  Beast, Strategy, Monk

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• It is better to follow out a plan consistently even if it isn't the best one than to play without a plan at all. The worst thing is to wander about aimlessly.

  Alexander Kotov

  Play, Strategy, Wander

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• I maintain that in every position that arises, we should deliberately search, among other things, for pieces which have no retreat. If we see one, we automatically look to see if it can be netted.

  Cecil Purdy

  Looks, Pieces, Retreat

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• You must be able to handle a variety of move orders during the first 5-6 moves - otherwise you'll find yourself 'tricked' time and time again.

  Edmar Mednis

  Moving, Order, Finding Yourself

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• Only play into a variation in which your opponent is strong if you have your own personal novelty ready!

  Edmar Mednis

  Strong, Play, Opponents

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• To find the right plan is just as hard as looking for its sound justification.

  Emanuel Lasker

  Sound, Strategy, Justification

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• Play the move that forces the win in the simplest way. Leave the brilliancies to Alekhine, Keres and Tal.

  Irving Chernev

  Moving, Winning, Play

  Irving Chernev (1965). “The most instructive games of chess ever played”

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• The proper timing of an attacking plan is a difficult matter which places great strain on a player's nerves. Mastery of this art is required for success in the international arena, but perfect mastery eludes even the very best chessplayers!

  Leonid Shamkovich

  Art, Player, Perfect

  Leonid Shamkovich, Eric Schiller (1987). “Saving lost positions”, B. T. Batsford Limited

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• As long as my opponent has not yet castled, on each move I seek a pretext for an offensive. Even when I realize that the king is not in danger.

  Mikhail Tal

  Kings, Moving, Long

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• When you defend, try not to worry or become upset. Keep your cool and trust your position - it's all you've got.

  Pal Benko

  Worry, Upset, Trying

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• The first essential for an attack is the will to attack.

  Savielly Tartakower

  Essentials, Firsts, Strategy

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• Just as it is wrong to work on chess by studying only the first 10-15 moves, so it is wrong to play one and the same opening system, even though it be rich in variations and nuances.

  Efim Geller

  Moving, Play, Variation

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• The choice of opening, whether to aim for quiet or risky play, depends not only on the style of a player, but also on the disposition with which he sits down at the board.

  Efim Geller

  Player, Choices, Style

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• Chess strategy as such today is still in its diapers, despite Tarrasch's statement 'We live today in a beautiful time of progress in all fields'. Not even the slightest attempt has been made to explore and formulate the laws of chess strategy.

  Aron Nimzowitsch

  Beautiful, Law, Progress

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• However hopeless the situation appears to be there yet always exists the possibility of putting up a stubborn resistance.

  Paul Keres

  Stubborn, Resistance, Hopeless

  Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov (2012). “The Art of the Middle Game”, p.81, Courier Corporation

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• American democracy is a chess-game in which pawns imagine themselves to be free individuals with wills of their own: that delusion is one of the rules of the game, without which the game could not continue. I doubt anyone, no matter how sharp and sharp-tongued, could succeed in getting across to high school students how vital an acute mind is for just keeping a grip on one's life and earnings in our mendacious politics and economics. No wonder our school system is devoutly dedicated to demoralizing and blunting such minds.

  Kenny Smith

  Education, School, Games

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• We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat!

  Rumi

  Victory And Defeat, Pieces, Engaged

  Rumi (2014). “'Another city'. a selectionf of poems from the Persian”, p.39, Lulu.com

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• I do not know to whom the aphorism 'There are no sound studies, only ones that haven't been busted yet' belongs, but it has measure of truth in it.

  Mark Dvoretsky

  Sound, Study, Aphorism

  Mark Dvoretsky (1991). “Secrets of Chess Training”, Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

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• A considerable role in the forming of my style was played by an early attraction to study composition.

  Vasily Smyslov

  Style, Roles, Study

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• My fascination for studies proved highly beneficial, it assisted the development of my aesthetic understanding of chess, and improved my endgame play.

  Vasily Smyslov

  Play, Understanding, Fascination

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