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Scholastic Chess Scholarship Tour The 2024-25 school schedule features our new Grand Prix Chess Tour program that offers scholarships for some lucky players to attend the USCF K-8 Championships in Bloomington or the Nationals in Orlando, Florida at the end of the chess season. Learn how you can paticipate and perhaps win a trip to the Nationals at Orlando, Click ==> here <== and get all the details.
Peoria Public Schools awarded the 2017-18 Community Contribution Award to the Greater Peoria Chess Foundation at their June 11, 2018 Board meeting. GPCF provided chess sets and training software to PPS schools and supported a chess tournament at Von Steuben Middle School since 2017. Planned for this school year are more tournaments and a program to provide low cost US Chess memberships to students.
Play what you Know, Know what you Play.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Every move should have a purpose.
- Bruce Pandolfini
When you see a good move, look again, there may be a better one.
- Emanuel Lasker
A Knight on the Rim is Dim.
- Chess Proverb
Chess is everything: art, science and sport.
- Anatoly Karpov
Every move should have a Touch of Poison.
- Murrel's Mottoes
3 ways out of check: move, capture & block.
- Chess Fact
[Chess] Computers are useless unless they can give you the answer.
- Pablo Picasso
First, Study the Endgame.
- Jose Capablanca
To Succeed, you must brave the Risk of Failure.
- Garry Kasparov
Every Chess Master was once a Beginner.
- Irving Chernev
Without Error there can be no Brilliancy
- Emanuel Lasker
Strategy requires Thought, Tactics requires Observation.
- Max Euwe
The Way to Refute a Sacrifice is to Accept It.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
The Two Questions: 1 - Is it Safe? 2 - What can My Opponent Do?
Questions that scale from Beginner to Master.
- Murrel's Mottoes
When Behind, Exchange Pawns. When Ahead, Exchange Pieces.
- Chess Proverb
In the Opening, Don't move the Same Piece Twice.
- Chess Proverb
In the Opening, you must Control the Center, Develop your Small pieces & Castle for King Safety
- Chess Proverb
Rooks belong Behind Passed Pawns.
- Chess Proverb
The Pin is Mightier than the Sword.
- Fred Reinfeld
people place too much stock in Ratings.
- Boris Gelfand
Once the Game is Over, the King and the pawn go back in the Same Box.
- Chess Proverb
I don’t believe in Psychology. I believe in Good Moves.
- Bobby Fischer
Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.
- Blaise Pascal
The Game of Chess is not merely an Idle Amusement.
- Benjamin Franklin
Chess, like Love, like Music, has the Power to Make Men Happy.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
Play the Opening like a Book, the Middlegame like a Magician, and the Endgame like a Machine.
- Rudolph Spielmann
Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all.
- Mikhail Chigorin (also often credited to Frank Marshall)
Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do;
Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.
- Savielly Tartakower
You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win.
- Jose Raul Capablanca
You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player.
- Jose Raul Capablanca
The Passed Pawn is a Criminal, who should be kept under Lock and Key.
- Aron Nimzowitsch
Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like Pawn Structure.
Forget it, Checkmate ends the Game.
- Nigel Short
Nobody ever won a Chess game by Resigning.
- Savielly Tartakower
To play for a draw is a crime against chess.
- Mikhail Tal
It’s always better to sacrifice your opponent’s men.
- Savielly Tartakower
If your opponent offers you a draw,
try to work out why he thinks he’s worse off.
- Nigel Short
A Pawn may be Weak, but he Never Backs Down.
- Murrel's Mottoes
All I want to do, ever, is just play Chess.
- Bobby Fischer
Even the laziest King flees wildly in the face of a double check!
- Aron Nimzowitsch
Loose Pieces Drop Off.
- John Nunn
Every Check, Every Capture, Every Time.
- Murrel's Mottoes
You must beat me three times: in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame.
- Alexander Alekhine
Chess of the Mad Queen began in the 15th century between 1475 & 1500
The Queen previously, called the Counselor, moved 1 square like our King.
- Chess History
I believe there should be no reason why women cannot play as well as men.
- Grandmaster Susan Polgar
The Pawn's Weakness is its Strength.
- Murrel's Mottoes
To Take is a Mistake.
- Igor Smirnov
You can't Play what You don't See.
- Murrel's Mottoes
It is not a move, even the best move that you must seek, but a realizable plan.
- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Number of possible ways of playing the first four moves for both sides is 318,979,564,000
- Chess Fact
Good players know all the rules. Great players know when to break them.
- Chess Proverb
There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine
- Mikhail Tal
There are exceptions to every chess axiom, including this one.
- Murrel's Mottoes
The New Pawn Move, advancing two squares on its first move, was introduced in Spain in 1280.
- Chess History
The Triangle of Learning includes Study, Play, Feedback.
- Dan Heisman
The Queen's Strength is her Weakness.
(She must flee exchanges with smaller pieces)
- Murrel's Mottoes
One bad move nullifies forty good ones.
- Bernhard Horwitz
Always play with Confidence, Aggression, and Respect for Your Opponent's Moves and Ideas.
- Dan Heisman
Respect Your Opponent, remember they qualified to play on the Same Board as You.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Capture with the Least Valuable Piece
(but there ARE exceptions!)
- Chess Proverb
Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity!
- Susan Polgar
Don't worry about your rating, work on your playing strength and your rating will follow.
- Dan Heisman
"Learn from Your Mistakes & Keep on Improving"
- Susan Polgar
"You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5 and the path leading out is only wide enough for one."
- Mikhail Tal
Castle early, castle often.
- Chess Proverb
The Blunders are all there on the Board, Waiting to be Made.
- Savielly Tartakower
On the Chessboard, Lies and Hypocrisy do not Survive Long.
- Emanuel Lasker
Chess is like Life.
- Boris Spassky
I don't think there is a thing like Overconfidence in Chess.
It's always better to be too Confident than too Reluctant.
- Magnus Carlsen
Believe in Yourself Regardless of what Everyone else Says.
- Hikaru Nakamura
How Come the Little Things bother you when you are in a Bad Position
They don't bother you in Good Positions.
- Yasser Seirawan
It is not enough to be a good player... you must also play well.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for losing a game, or drawing games that should have been won.
- Bent Larsen
The pawns are the soul of chess
- François André Philidor
In Chess, as it is played by masters, chance is practically eliminated.
- Emanuel Lasker
Life is a kind of Chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.
- Benjamin Franklin
One pawn is never enough if the other King is standing in front of the pawn.
- Ainis Giri
It is dangerous to maintain equality at the cost of placing the pieces passively.
- Anatoly Karpov
Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic.
- Mikhail Botvinnik
He who plays to win a drawn game loses it.
- Chess Player’s Magazine, August 1867
The sign of a great Master is his ability to win a won game quickly and painlessly.
- Irving Chernev
Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.
- Adolf Anderssen
Strategy is the tiebreak of equally safe moves.
- Dan Heisman
Hope Chess is when you don't analyze your opponent's checks, captures or threats
and when he makes one, you hope you can meet it.
- Dan Heisman
When it comes to rules, never listen to your opponent.
- Dan Heisman
"Knights before Bishops" generally means "NBNB", not "NNBB", so you can castle more quickly.
- Dan Heisman
Never make a good move too soon.
- James Mason
Never interrupt your opponent when he is making a mistake.
- Napoleon Bonaparte
Every move creates a weakness.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
You need not play well - just help your opponent to play badly.
- Genrikh Chepukaitis
Avoidance of mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess.
- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Picking a coach because they were a good player is like picking a chef because he's a good eater
- Paul Reddick
The highest art of the chessplayer lies in not allowing your opponent to show you what he can do. - Garry Kasparov
- Garry Kasparov
Some part of a mistake is always correct.
- Savielly Tartakower
Try to maintain at least one pawn in the center.
- Chess Proverb
The placing of the center pawns determines the 'topography' of a game of chess.
- Alexander Kotov
If a ruler does not understand Chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?
- Persian King Khusrow II (AD 580-628)
Fischer almost never has any bad pieces. He exchanges them, and the bad pieces remain with his opponents.
– Yuri Balashov
It is not possible to become a great player without having learned how to analyze deeply and accurately.
– Mark Dvoretsky
Combinations with a queen sacrifice are among the most striking and memorable.
- Anatoly Karpov
Not all artists are Chess players, but all Chess players are artists.
- Marcel Duchamp
Openings teach you openings. Endgames teach you chess!
- Stephan Gerzadowicz
They call it blitz. Each guy gets five minutes so you’re always under the clock and it’s kind of an adrenaline rush.
- Woody Harrelson (Actor)
To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess.
- Mikhail Tal
Even in the heat of a middlegame battle the master still has to bear in mind the outlines of a possible future ending.
- David Bronstein
To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.
- Savielly Tartakover
Chess is life and every game is like a new life.
- Eduard Gufeld
Chess is a matter of delicate judgement, knowing when to punch and how to duck.
- Bobby Fischer
A man that will take back a move at Chess will pick a pocket.
- Richard Fenton
If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off.
- Nigel Short
All Combinations are Based on a Double Attack.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Pinned Pieces don't Capture (mostly true)
- Murrel's Mottoes
I have found that after 1.d4 there are more opportunities for richer play.
- Garry Kasparov
Get the Knights into Action before Both Bishops are Developed.
- Emanuel Lasker
Chess is the touchstone of intellect.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
- Emo Philips
Chess is a cure for headaches.
- John Maynard Keynes
A good player is always lucky.
- Jose Raul Capablanca
Chess is 99% tactics.
- Rudolph Teichmann
The essential disadvantage of the isolated pawn ...
lies not in the pawn itself,
but in the square in front of the pawn.
- Richard Reti
Think First. Move Second.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Try to play after your opponent has eaten or drunk freely.
- Luis Ramírez de Lucena (c. 1465 – c.1530)
A Gambit never becomes sheer routine as long as you fear you may lose the King and P ending!
- Bent Larsen
Good positions don’t win games, good moves do.
- Gerald Abrahams
Only sissies Castle.
- Rob Sillars
The first principle of attack - don't let the enemy develop!
- Rueben Fine
The first principle of attack - don't let the enemy develop!
- Rueben Fine
Play the move that forces the win in the simplest way.
Leave the brilliancies to Alekhine, Keres and Tal.
- Irving Chernev
Weak points or holes in the opponent's position must be occupied by pieces, not pawns- Siegbert Tarrasch
It is said that an ounce of common sense can outweigh a ton of 'variations'.
- Savielly Tartakower
Good players develop a tactical instinct, a sense of what is possible or likely and what is not worth calculating.
- Samuel Reshevsky
The path from a1 to a8 is the same length as the path from a1 to h8.
- Chess Facts
In the Ruy Lopez, one must be patient, wait and carry on a lengthy and wearisome struggle.
- Boris Spassky
The scheme of a game is played on positional lines; the decision of it, as a rule, is effected by combinations.
- Richard Reti
A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom or never make a fortune.
- Francois-Andre Danican Philidor
I have always disliked the fierce competitive spirit embodied in that highly intellectual game.
- Albert Einstein
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
A player surprised is half beaten.
- Chess Proverb
"Chess beauty" is in the geometry of the game, and the struggle of plans.
- Levon Aronian
A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
A Queen's sacrifice, even when fairly obvious, always rejoices the heart of the chess-lover.
- Savielly Tartakower
Excellence at Chess is one mark of a scheming mind.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
There's not the mystery in ten murders that there is in one game of chess.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
He who analyses blitz is stupid.
- Rashid Nezhmetdinov
Don't be afraid of losing, be afraid of playing a game and not learning something.
- Dan Heisman
Every Exchange has a Winner and Loser.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Chess is eminently and emphatically the philospher's game.
- Paul Morphy
Life's too short for Chess.
- Henry James Byron
Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf.
- Cecil Purdy
Daring ideas are like Chess men moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A strong memory, concentration, imagination, and a strong will is required to become a great chess player.
- Bobby Fischer
If you're too busy to play chess... you're too busy!
- Chess Fact
Discovered check is the dive bomber of the chess board.
- Rueben Fine
Drawn games are sometimes more scintillating than any conclusive contest.
- Savielly Tartakower
A draw can be obtained not only by repeating moves, but also by one weak move.
- Savielly Tartakower
Chess is a test of wills.
- Paul Keres
Youth has triumphed! (upon defeating 86-year-old Dirk van Foreest)
- 84-year-old Jacques Mieses
My style is somewhere between that of Tal and Petrosian.
- Samuel Reshevsky
Haste is never more dangerous than when you feel that victory is in your grasp.
- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Fischer is an American Chess tragedy on par with Morphy and Pillsbury.
- Mig Greengard
Pay particular attention to the f2-and f7-squares.
- Novice Warning
Attack! Attack! Always Attack!
- Adolf Anderssen
Blitz Chess rots the brain just as surely as alcohol.
- Nigel Short
Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
I often play a move I know how to refute.
- Bent Larsen
Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponents mind.
- Bobby Fischer
I like the moment when I break a man's ego.
- Bobby Fischer
Many have become chess masters, but no one has become the master of chess.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
As a rule, pawn endings have a forced character, and they can be worked out conclusively.
- Mark Dvoretsky
Tactics flow from a superior position.
- Bobby Fischer
Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of haviong an evil thought during the game.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one.
- Bobby Fischer
To win without pawns, you must be a rook or two minor pieces ahead.
- Chess Proverb
The best defense is a counterattack.
- Chess Proverb
If you don't win, it's not a great tragedy - the worst that happens is that you lose a game.
- Bobby Fischer
Let the perfectionist play postal.
- Yasser Seirawan
The hardest part of chess is winning a won game.
- Frank Marshall
A bad day of Chess is better than any good day at work.
- Chess Proverb
During a game I cease to think about the result as I become so enthralled by what’s happening on the board.
- Magnus Carlsen
Sit your opponent with the sun in his eyes.
- Ruy Lopez (1561)
The most important role in pawn endings is played by the king.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a Chessplayer’s nature.
- Rudolf Spielmann
You can permit yourself any liberty in the opening except the luxury of a passive position.
- Grigory Sanakoev
Chess is intellectual gymnastics.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
When chess masters err, ordinary wood pushers tend to derive a measure of satisfaction, if not actual glee.
- I.A. Horowitz
Can you imagine the relief it gives a mother when her child amuses herself quietly for hours on end?
- Klara Polgar
Every pawn is a potential queen.
- James Mason
GM Naiditsch reckoned that me playing the King's Indian against Anand
was something akin to a samurai running at a machine gun with a sword.
- Hikaru Nakamura
One of the objectives of opening play is to try to surprise your opponent.
- Edmar Mednis
If you Sacrifice, Know exactly What you Expect to Get in Return.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Centralize your pieces to make them powerful.
- Chess Proverb
Chess is a struggle against error.
- Johannes Zukertort
A rook on the seventh rank is sufficient compensation for a pawn.
- Chess Proverb
I prefer to lose a really good game than to win a bad one.
- David Levy
Help your Pieces so they can Help You.
- Paul Morphy
Never Waste a Check!
- Murrel's Mottoes
In the endgame, activate your King.
- Chess Proverb
Imagine 20 extra minutes 3 days/week for 16 weeks = 16 hours! No chance you don't get better doing that.
- David Klein
A strong memory, concentration, imagination, and a strong will is required to become a great chess player.
- Bobby Fischer
A strength over extended becomes a weakness.
- Paul Reddick
Chess is thirty to forty percent psychology. You don't have this when you play a computer. I can't confuse it.
- Judit Polgar
In the ending the King is a powerful piece for assisting his own pawns, or stopping the adverse pawns.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
A player who has a strong center has nothing to fear from any attack elsewhere on the board.
- Wilhelm Steinitz
One doesn't have to play well, it's enough to play better than your opponent.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
The essence of chess is thinking about what chess is.
- David Bronstein
The endgame is an arena in which miraculous escapes are not uncommon.
- Leonid Shamkovich
Never a mate with a knight on f8.
- Chess Proverb
Try to play after your opponent has eaten or drunk freely.
- Luis Ramírez de Lucena (c. 1465 – c.1530)
I know that with perfect play, God versus God, Fritz versus Fritz, chess is a draw ...
- Nigel Short
No matter how much theory progresses, how radically styles change, chess play is inconceivable without tactics.
- Samuel Reshevsky
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
- Aristotle
Amateurs practice until they can get it right,
Masters practice until they can't get it wrong.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Neither knowing nothing about openings nor trying to memorize entire books/databases can be the right approach.
Learn your main tabiyas;
After each game, try to find the one opening move you would improve next time.
- Dan Heisman
Take pride in your ugly wins - you didn't give up!
- Murrel's Mottoes
Good offense and good defense both begin with good development.
- Bruce A. Moon
Leave the pawns alone,except for center pawns and passed pawns.
- Chess Proverb
When ahead in Material, Exchange Pieces, specially Queens.
- Chess Proverb
Masters learn Structures, Club Players learn Moves.
- Damian Lemos
The goal of doing easy problems is not to solve them, but to recognize them quickly & accurately.
- Dan Heisman
In blitz, the knight is stronger than the bishop.
- GM Vlastmil Hort
Chess is a game which reflects most honor on human wit.
- Voltaire
No Pawn Exchanges, No File-opening, No Attack.
- Aaron Nimzowitsch
An ounce of common sense can outweigh a ton of 'variations'.
- Savielly Tartakower
Apart from direct mistakes, there is nothing more ruinous than routine play, the aim of which is mechanical development.
- GM Alexei Suetin
Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of the chess player.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.
- Kobe Bryant
Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shaking the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.
- Albert Einstein
The king is a strong piece - use it !
- Rueben Fine
Concentrate on material gains. Whatever your opponent gives you take, unless you see a good reason not to.
- Bobby Fischer
The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary.
- Aaron Nimzovich
… a lively imagination can exercise itself most fully and creatively in conjuring up magnificent combinations.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
If you play the Caro-Kann when you’re young, what are you going to play when you’re older?
– Bent Larsen
The Future belongs to he who has the Bishops.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
If you are too busy to play chess... you are too busy.
- Chess Proverb
In order to truly improve you must analyze & evaluate better
- Dan Heisman
Every move is an opportunity to interfere with your opponent's plans
- Chess Proverb
Avoid piece exchanges when you control more squares.
- Chess Proverb
A draw can be obtained not only by repeating moves, but also by one weak move.
- Savielly Tartakower
Doubled, Isolated, and Backward Pawns are Ugly Pawns. You don't want Ugly Pawns.
- Murrel's Mottoes
The quickest way to increase your rating is by improving your weakest skill.
- Damian Lemos
Improving your chess requires daily practice.
- IM John Bartholomew
Think First, Move Second.
- Murrel's Mottoes
A target is any unprotected piece or a piece that is inadequately protected.
- Murrel's Mottoes
The Queen must use her Bishop powers to attack a Rook and her Rook powers to attack a Bishop.
- Murrel's Mottoes
If not a composer, I would have wanted to be a chess player
- Ennio Morricone
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
- Seneca
Good development places every piece on it's optimum square without impeding other pieces.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Bishop and Knight - three pawns, Rook - 5 pawns, Queen - 9 pawns, King Safety, Priceless!
- Master Card
Apart from direct mistakes, there is nothing more ruinous than routine play, the aim of which is mechanical development.
- GM Alexei Suetin
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
- Martin Luther King Jr
Cultivation to the mind is as necessary as food to the body.
- Cicero
There must have been a time when men were demi-gods - or they could not have invented chess.
- Gustav Schenk
King Safety is Job #1
- Murrel's Mottoes (Thanks Ford)
The criterion of real strength is a deep penetration into the secrets of a position.
- Tigran Petrosian
Remember, my darling, the most dangerous thing for the family life is – chess!
- 1925 Russian silent film 'Chess Fever'
The older I grow, the more I value pawns.
- Paul Keres
Chess is imagination.
- David Bronstein
Fischer is Fischer, but a Knight is a Knight!
- Mikhail Tal
A chess player never has a heart attack in a good position.
- Bent Larsen
Checkers is for tramps.
- Paul Morphy
Hardest move to find is moving the Knight backwards
- Vassily Ivanchuk
Every exchange has a Winner and a Loser, even if only measureable in micropawns.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Any material change in a position must come about by mate, a capture, or a Pawn - promotion.
- Cecil Purdy
The harder you work, the luckier you get.
- Gary Player
I feel as if I were a pinned piece in a game of chess, when my opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved.
- Soren Kierkegaard
In Chess, just as in life, today’s bliss may be tomorrow’s poison.
- Assaic
The hallmark of the artist is simplicity.
- Larry Evans
For a game chess is too serious, for seriousness too much of a game.
- Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86)
However hopeless the situation appears there always exists the possibility of putting up a stubborn resistance.
- Paul Keres
Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it's okay to lose. I don't. You have to be merciless.
- Magness Carlson
Mountains don't make me want to climb them, rain doesn't make me want to dance and birds don't make me want to fly. I just want to spend my life in total oblivion, chasing a meaningless lichess rating, feeling a tinge of happiness everytime I win, and great frustration when I lose.
- Anurag Malik
Bishops never change their square color; Knights change their color every move.
- Chess Fact
Knights can never fork two pieces which are on opposite colored squares.
- Chess Fact
you might resign too early, but never too late!
- GM Avetik Grigoryan
Winning isn't everything … but losing is nothing.
- Edmar Mednis
Castling is a King move.
- Chess Fact
The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose.
- John McEnroe
Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It's also a powerful motivator.
- Yogi Berra
Life is like a game of chess, changing with each move.
- Chess Proverb
Every pawn move creates a weakness.
- Chess Proverb
Every rule of chess play is position dependent.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A frequently changed strategy is the same as no strategy.
- Garry Kasparov
The turning point in my career came with the realization that Black should play to win instead of just steering for equality.
- Bobby Fischer
He who takes the Queen’s Knight’s Pawn will sleep in the streets.
- Chess Proverb
Of all the drugs in the world, Chess must be the most permanently pleasurable.
- Assiac
Straightforward actions generally lead to engagement, surprising actions generally lead to victory.
- Sun Tzu
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
- Sun Tzu
The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy so that he cannot fathom our real intent..
- Sun Tzu
Ask yourself at every move, is this necessary?
- Marcus Aurelius
what is chess style but the intangible expression of the will to win.
- Aaron Nimzowitsch
In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else.
- Jose Raul Capablanca
A Chess game is divided into three stages: the first, when you hope you have the advantage, the second when you believe you have an advantage, and the third… when you know you’re going to lose!
- Savielly Tartakower
Chess demands total concentration
- Bobby Fischer
Respect your opponent. He was assigned to the same board as you.
- Murrel's Mottoes
Do not regard your Opponent as a Sheep, but rather as a Wolf.
- Chess Proverb
Take care of the King, everything else follows.
No fool can play chess, and only fools do.
- Chess Proverb
It is never safe to take the queen knight pawn with the queen – even when it is safe.
- Chess Proverb
Capture first and philosophize later.
- Savielly Tartakover
Champions play to win while others play not to lose!
- Susan Polgar
I like when the game turns into a contest of ideas and not a battle between home analysis.
- Magnus Carlson
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'
– Muhammad Ali
The power of coaching is that you are expected to give people the path to find answers, not the answers.
– Tom Mahalo
A double Check is so terrifying that all the pieces are frozen in place and only a true King can move.
– Murrel's Mottoes
After a bad Opening, there is hope for the middle game.
After a bad middle game, there is hope for the endgame.
Butonce you are in the endgame,
the moment of truth has arrived!
– Edmar Mednis
Chess is not something that drives people sane mad; it is something that keeps mad people sane.
– William Hartston
In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent.
– Vasily Smyslov
A knight on e6 e6 is like a rusty nail in the knee.
– Adolf Anderssen
Chess is a test of wills.
– Paul Keres
Chess is a meritocracy.
– Lawrence Day
Chess is a cure for headaches.
– John Maynard Keynes
The only good Rook is an active Rook!
– Samuel Reshevsky
In the ending, the King is a powerful piece for assisting his own pawns, or stopping the adverse pawns
– Wilhelm Steinitz
Every game is immortal if you have the pgn!
– Murrel's Mottoes
If you can play checmate. Play Checkmate!
– Murrel's Mottoes
If you have only one legal move, play it quickly and think on your opponent's time!
– Murrel's Mottoes
It is usually better to recapture than it is to capture first.
– Murrel's Mottoes
To take is a mistake.
– Murrel's Mottoes
Don't exchange pieces or pawns unless you get the better of the trade.
– Murrel's Mottoes
Time is a precious thing. Never waste it.
– Willy Wonka
Mistakes are part of the game. It's how well you recover from them, that's the mark of a great player.
- Alice Cooper
I just try to learn and get the best from the great masters, contemparary and from the past.
- Magnus Carlsen
A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom or never make a fortune.
- Francois-Andre Danican Philidor
We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.
- George Bernard Shaw
Try to play after your opponent has eaten or drunk freely.
- Luis Ramírez de Lucena (c. 1465 – c.1530)
The beauty of a move lies not in its appearance but in the thought behind it.
- Aaron Nimzowitsch
The combination player thinks forward; he starts from the given position, and tries the forceful moves in his mind.
- Emanuel Lasker
If every time you lose, you learn the cause of your loss and make a positive correction, you will soon be a good player.
- Dan Heisman
Pace yourself so that, no matter the time limit, you always use almost all your time each game without getting into unnecessary time pressure
- Dan Heisman
If Winning, Clarify; if Losing, Complicate
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Chess first of all teaches you to be objective.
- Alexander Alekhine
It cannot be too greatly emphasized that the most important role in pawn endings is played by the king.
- Siegbert Tarrasch
You must surprise your opponent and play a move he did not expect, if you are to win a game.
- Murrel's Mottoes
No move can be a brilliancy if it is not played.
- Murrel's Mottoes (with a Hat Tip to Neals Bohr)
Never capture a piece that helps your opponent develop.
- Danny Rensch
Patience is the most valuable trait of the endgame player.
- Pal Benko
Before the endgame, the gods have placed the middlegame!
- Siegbert Tarrasch
The middlegame is chess itself; with all its possibilities, its attacks, defenses, sacrifices, etc
- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
The path to improvement lies in facing our problems head-on.
- GM Avetik Grigoryan
The middlegame is chess itself; with all its possibilities, its attacks, defenses, sacrifices, etc
- Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.
- Zig Zigler
Chess is the touchstone of intellect.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Chess is a cure for headaches.
- John Maynard Keynes
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
- Sun Tzu
As a chess player one has to be able to control one’s feelings, one has to be as cold as a machine.
- Levon Aronianu
Never laugh at the Dragon.- Bilbo Bagins
A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.
- Jose Capablanca
(on Bullet chess) Why do you use a chessboard? There is no point, just push the clock and push the clock, and the 1st one who wins on time wins. There's no point to have a chessboard as it's not chess anyway!
- Vladimir Kramnik
Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.
A Knight ending is really a Pawn ending.
– Mikhail Botvinnik
You can't win a game without surprizing your opponent.
– Murrel's Mottoes
If a ruler does not understand Chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?– King Khusros II AD 580 - 628
First restrain, next blockade, lastly destroy.
– Aron Nimzowitsch
Puzzles are the best way to improve pattern recognition.
– Hikaru Nakamura
In the opening, don't move a pawn unless it contributes to the development of a piece.
– Richard Reti
Your Chess rating is the shadow of your level in chess. Become better and your rating will follow you.
– Dr N Grigoryan
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
- Abraham Lincoln (speaking about Opening prep
"Attack with as many pieces as possible, defend with as few as necessary”
- Yasser Seirawan
"It is better to sacrifice and regret it than to not sacrifice and regret it."
- Chess Proverb
"It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people’s mistakes"
- Charlie Munger
"Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant"
- Charlie Munger
"Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant."
- Charlie Munger
"If you’re not learning, you’re falling behind. Somebody’s always getting better."
- Charlie Munger
"It is remarkable how a long-term advantage is more useful by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be brilliant."
- Charlie Munger
"Motivation is what gets you started, Consistency is what keeps you going"
- Jim Ryun
"It's really a journey of evolution, everyday is just improvement, constantly getting better. The results don't really matter, it's the figuring out that matters.
- Kobe Bryant
"Your Chess rating is the shadow of your level in chess. Become better and your rating will follow.
- Dr N Grigoryan
"Learn more and you will play better. Play better and your results will follow. Get better results and your rating will go up.
- Murrel's Mottoes
"I'm Competing with what I'm capable of.
- Michael Jordan
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
- Voltaire
"Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists.
- Marcel Duchamp
"How can such a talented man (Lasker) devote his life to something like chess?"- Albert Einstein
"Practice doesn't make perfect ... only perfect practice makes perfect. Always give your best."
- Murrel's Mottoes
"Never waste a Check."
- Murrel's Mottoes
"In ten murders there are fewer mysteries than in a game of chess."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle