Endgame Quotes

• The end is in the beginning and yet you go on.

  Samuel Beckett

  Goes On, Ends

  Samuel Beckett (2012). “Endgame”, p.55, Faber & Faber

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• Patience is the most valuable trait of the endgame player.

  Pal Benko

  Player, Chess, Valuable

  13 Copy quote

• When I am trying to understand the method of winning in the endgame with two bishops against the knight, chess is a science, when I admire a beautiful combination or study, then chess is art, and when I am complicating position in the approaching time trouble of my opponent, then chess is sport.

  Ashot Nadanian

  Beautiful, Sports, Art

  S'pore Chess News, September 07, 2010.

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• In the endgame, an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance.

  Paul Keres

  Second Chance, Errors, Chance

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• To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame.

  Jose Raul Capablanca

  Chess, Firsts, Study

  43 Copy quote

• Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.

  Samuel Beckett

  Unhappiness, Beckett

  Samuel Beckett (2009). “Endgame and Act Without Words”, p.26, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• HAMM: We're not beginning to... to... mean something? CLOV: Mean something! You and I, mean something! (Brief laugh.) Ah that's a good one!

  Samuel Beckett

  Mean, Laughing

  Samuel Beckett (2012). “The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett”, p.104, Faber & Faber

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• Patience is the most valuable trait of the endgame player. In the endgame, the most common errors, besides those resulting from ignorance of theory, are caused by either impatience, complacency, exhaustion, or all of the above.

  Pal Benko

  Ignorance, Player, Errors

  9 Copy quote

• Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game.

  Siegbert Tarrasch

  Games, Chess Game, Middle

  "Cunning Exiles : Studies of Modern Prose Writers". Book by Don Anderson, Stephen Thomas Knight (p. 41), 1974.

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• In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else.

  Jose Raul Capablanca

  Order, Games, Chess Game

  "Last Lectures". Book by Jose Raul Capablanca, 1966.

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• If you study the classic examples of endgame play you will see how the king was brought up as soon as possible even though there seemed no particular hurry at the time.

  Alexander Kotov

  Kings, Play, Example

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• You're on earth. There's no cure for that.

  Samuel Beckett

  Earth, Cures, Space Travel

  Samuel Beckett (2012). “Endgame”, p.48, Faber & Faber

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• In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else; for, whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middlegame and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.

  Jose Raul Capablanca

  Order, Games, Chess Game

  "Last Lectures". Book by Jose Raul Capablanca, 1966.

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• The great mobility of the King forms one of the chief characteristics of all endgame strategy. In the middlegame the King is a mere 'super', in the endgame on the other hand - on of the 'principals'. We must therefore develop him, bring him nearer to the fighting line.

  Aron Nimzowitsch

  Kings, Fighting, Hands

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• The king, which during the opening and middlegame stage is often a burden because it has to be defended, becomes in the endgame a very important and aggressive piece, and the beginner should realize this, and utilize his king as much as possible.

  Jose Raul Capablanca

  Kings, Important, Beginners

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• In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame, he is one of the star actors.

  Aron Nimzowitsch

  Kings, Stars, Actors

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• Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame.

  Benedict Cumberbatch

  Journey, Enjoy, Life Journey

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• Lack of proper endgame technique allows many players to escape from lost positions, even without any spectacular play on their part.

  Leonid Shamkovich

  Player, Technique, Chess

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

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• When we analyze this war in a materialistic way and ask when is it going to end and who will be the winner and the loser, it means that we do not see the endgame.

  Bashar al-Assad

  War, Mean, Way

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• You will already have noticed how often Capablanca repeated moves, often returning to positions which he had had before. This is not lack of deciciveness or slowness, but the employment of a basic endgame principle which is 'Do not hurry'.

  Alexander Kotov

  Moving, Principles, Employment

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• The business of the endgame is maneuvring to control critical squares, advancing or blockading passed pawns, preparing a breakthrough by the king, or exploiting the subtle superiority of one piece over another.

  Pal Benko

  Kings, Squares, Pieces

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• A player can sometimes afford the luxury of an inaccurate move, or even a definite error, in the opening or middlegame without necessarily obtaining a lost position. In the endgame ... an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance.

  Paul Keres

  Moving, Player, Second Chance

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• If you are weak in the endgame, you must spend more time analysing studies; in your training games you must aim at transposing to endgames, which will help you to acquire the requisite experience.

  Mikhail Botvinnik

  Games, Training, Chess

  Mikhail Botvinnik (2012). “Botvinnik: 100 Selected Games”, p.11, Courier Corporation

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• The endgame is peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.

  Lee Myung-bak

  Peaceful, Korean, Peninsulas

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• All life long, the same questions, the same answers.

  Samuel Beckett

  Long, Answers, Long Life

  Samuel Beckett (2012). “The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett”, p.91, Faber & Faber

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