Top50ChessQuotesofAllTime EmailWrittenbyYuryMarkushinWednesday,25March201500:00

Greatquotesstorebigandimportantideasinjustafewwords.Theytransportwisdomthatgreatchessplayershaveaccumulatedthroughoutdecadesofexperience.Thislistofquotesisforthosewhoisaimingforbigsuccess.Thesequoteswillbothmotivateandeducateyouforbecomingabetterchessplayer.

1."BythetimeaplayerbecomesaGrandmaster,almostallofhistrainingtimeisdedicatedtoworkonthisfirstphase.Theopeningistheonlyphasethatholdsoutthepotentialfortruecreativityanddoingsomethingentirelynew."GarryKasparov

2."Whenyourhouseisonfire,youcantbebotheredwiththeneighbors.Or,aswesayinchess,ifyourKingisunderattack,don'tworryaboutlosingapawnonthequeenside."GarryKasparov

3."BystrictlyobservingBotvinnik'sruleregardingthethoroughanalysisofone'sowngames,withtheyearsIhavecometorealizethatthisprovidesthefoundationforthecontinuosdevelopmentofchessmastery."GarryKasparov

4."Chesscontinuestoadvanceovertime,sotheplayersofthefuturewillinevitablysurpassmeinthequalityoftheirplay,assumingtherulesandregulationsallowthemtoplayseriouschess.Butitwilllikelybealongtimebeforeanyone

spends20consecutiveyearsasnumber,oneasIdid."GarryKasparov

5."Youcan'toverestimatetheimportanceofpsychologyinchess,andasmuchassomeplayerstrytodownplayit,Ibelievethatwinningrequiresaconstantandstrongpsychologynotjustattheboardbutineveryaspectofyourlife."GarryKasparov

6."I...havetwovocations:chessandengineering.IfIplayedchessonly,Ibelievethatmysuccesswouldnothavebeensignificantlygreater.IcanplaychesswellonlywhenIhavefullyconvalescedfromchessandwhenthe'hungerforchess'oncemoreawakenswithinme."MikhailBotvinnik

7."Ifyouaregoingtomakeyourmarkamongmasters,youhavetoworkfarharderandmoreintensively,or,toputitmoreexactly,theworkisfarmorecomplexthanthatneededtogainthetitleofMaster."MikhailBotvinnik

8."Aboveallelse,beforeplayingincompetitionsaplayermusthaveregardtohishealth,forifheissufferingfromillhealthhecannothopeforsuccess.Inthisconnectionthebestofalltonicsis15to20daysinthefreshair,inthecountry."MikhailBotvinnik

Note:IfyouwanttodramaticallyimproveyourchesssimplystudyingGrandmaster'sgamesorsolvingtacticsitnotenough.Inordertotakeyourchesstothewholenewlevelyouneedtoworkonallaspectsofthegame.That'swhatwecalla"combinedapproach".Wewillcombine5mostimportantelementsofchessintoasingletrainingsessiontobuildagoodtraininghabitsand to make sure you can get outmaximum results in minimum amount of time. You will get a access to 3 weeks oftrainingwhereyouwilllearn:

TacticsPositionalplayAttackonthekingEndgametechniqueClassicalgamesanalysisTrainingsecrets,selfevaluation,blunderavoidanceandmuchmore

9."Ifyouareweakintheendgame,youmustspendmoretimeanalysingstudiesinyourtraininggamesyoumustaimattransposingtoendgames,whichwillhelpyoutoacquiretherequisiteexperience."MikhailBotvinnik

10."Myfortewasthemiddlegame.Ihadagoodfeelingforthecriticalmomentsoftheplay.Thisundoubtedlycompensatedformylackofopeningpreparationand,possibly,notaltogetherperfectplayintheendgame.Inmygames

thingsoftendidnotreachtheendgame!"BorisSpassky

11."Theshortcomingofhangingpawnsisthattheypresentaconvenienttargetforattack.Astheexchangeofmenproceeds,theirpotentialstrengthlessensandduringtheendgametheyturnout,asarule,tobeweak."BorisSpassky

12."Ofcourse,analysiscansometimesgivemoreaccurateresultsthanintuitionbutusuallyitsjustalotofwork.Inormallydowhatmyintuitiontellsmetodo.Mostofthetimespentthinkingisjusttodoublecheck."MagnusCarlsen

13."Istartedbyjustsittingbythechessboardexploringthings.Ididntevenhavebooksatfirst,andIjustplayedbymyself.Ilearntalotfromthat,andIfeelthatitisabigreasonwhyInowhaveagoodintuitiveunderstandingofchess."MagnusCarlsen

carlsen

14."Selfconfidenceisveryimportant.Ifyoudontthinkyoucanwin,youwilltakecowardlydecisionsinthecrucialmoments,outofsheerrespectforyouropponent.Youseetheopportunitybutalsogreaterlimitationsthanyoushould.IhavealwaysbelievedinwhatIdoonthechessboard,evenwhenIhadnoobjectivereasonto.Itisbettertooverestimateyourprospectsthanunderestimatethem."MagnusCarlsen

15."Ididn'tpicturemyselfasevenagrandmaster,tosaynothingofaspiringtothechesscrown.ThiswasnotbecauseIwastimidIwasn'tbutbecauseIsimplylivedinoneworld,andthegrandmastersexistedinacompletelydifferentone.Peoplelikethatwerenotreallyevenpeople,butlikegodsormythicalheroes."AnatolyKarpov

16."Byallmeansexaminethegamesofthegreatchessplayers,butdon'tswallowthemwhole.Theirgamesarevaluablenotfortheirseparatemoves,butfortheirvisionofchess,theirwayofthinking."AnatolyKarpov

karpov

17."ThegreatmobilityoftheKingformsoneofthechiefcharacteristicsofallendgamestrategy.InthemiddlegametheKingisamere"super",intheendgameontheotherhandonofthe"principals".Wemustthereforedevelophim,bringhimnearertothefightingline."AronNimzowitsch

18."Ifinabattle,Iseizeabitofdebatablelandwithahandfulofsoldiers,withouthavingdoneanythingtopreventanenemybombardmentoftheposition,woulditeveroccurtometospeakofaconquestoftheterraininquestion?Obviouslynot.ThenwhyshouldIdosoinchess?"AronNimzowitsch

19."WhenItodayaskmyselfwhenceIgotthemoralcourage,forittakesmoralcouragetomakeamove(orformaplan)runningcountertoalltradition,IthinkImaysayinanswer,thatitwasonlymyintensepreoccupationwiththeproblemoftheblockadewhichhelpedmetodoso."AronNimzowitsch

20."Itisawellknownphenomenonthatthesameamateurwhocanconductthemiddlegamequitecreditably,isusuallyperfectlyhelplessintheendgame.Oneoftheprincipalrequisitesofgoodchessistheabilitytotreatboththemiddleandendgameequallywell."AronNimzowitsch

21."Inmathematics,ifIfindanewapproachtoaproblem,anothermathematicianmightclaimthathehasabetter,moreelegantsolution.Inchess,ifanybodyclaimsheisbetterthanI,Icancheckmatehim."EmanuelLasker

22."Bypositionalplayamastertriestoproveandexploittruevalues,whereasbycombinationsheseekstorefutefalsevalues...Acombinationproducesanunexpectedreassessmentofvalues."EmanuelLasker

23."Hewhohasaslightdisadvantageplaysmoreattentively,inventivelyandmoreboldlythanhisantagonistwhoeithertakesiteasyoraspiresaftertoomuch.Thusaslightdisadvantageisveryfrequentlyseentoconvertintoagood,solidadvantage."EmanuelLasker

24."Aplayer,astheworldbelievedhewas,hewasnot,hisstudioustemperamentmadethatimpossibleandthushewasconqueredbyaplayerandintheendlittlevaluedbytheworld,hedied."EmanuelLasker

25."Itisnosecretthatanytalentedplayermustinhissoulbeanartist,andwhatcouldbedearertohisheartandsoulthanthevictoryofthesubtleforcesofreasonovercrudematerialstrength!ProbablyeveryonehashisownreasonforlikingtheKing`sGambit,butmyloveforitcanbeseeninpreciselythoseterms."DavidBronstein

26."Itisannoyingthattherulesofchessdonotallowapawntotakeeitherhorizontallyorbackwards,butonlyforwards...Thispsychologicaltuningisidealforattackingpurposes,butwhataboutfordefence?"DavidBronstein

27."Ifyouhavemadeamistakeorcommittedaninaccuracythereisnoneedtobecomeannoyedandtothinkthateverythingislost.Youhavetoreorientateyourselfquicklyandfindanewplaninthenewsituation."DavidBronstein

28."Whenyouplayagainstanexperiencedopponentwhoexploitsallthedefensiveresourcesathiscommandyousometimeshavetowalktimeandagain,alongthenarrowpathof'theonlymove'."DavidBronstein

29."Chessisnotforthefainthearteditabsorbsapersonentirely.Togettothebottomofthisgame,hehastogivehimselfupintoslavery.Chessisdifficult,itdemandswork,seriousreflectionandzealousresearch."WilhelmSteinitz

30."Thetaskofthepositionalplayerissystematicallytoaccumulateslightadvantagesandtrytoconverttemporaryadvantagesintopermanentones,otherwisetheplayerwiththebetterpositionrunstheriskoflosingit."WilhelmSteinitz

31."WheneverBlacksucceedsinassumingtheinitiativeandmaintainingittoasuccessfulconclusion,thesportingspiritofthechessloverfeelsgratified,becauseitshowsthattheresourcesofthegamearefarfrombeingexhausted."SaviellyTartakower

32."Nooneeverwonagamebyresigning."SaviellyTartakower

33."Itisalwaysbettertosacrificeyouropponents'men."SaviellyTartakower

34."Theblundersareallthereontheboard,waitingtobemade."SaviellyTartakower

35."Athoroughunderstandingofthetypicalmatingcontinuationsmakesthemostcomplicatedsacrificialcombinationsleadinguptothemnotonlydifficult,butalmostamatterofcourse."SaviellyTartakower

36."Allthatmattersonthechessboardisgoodmoves."BobbyFischer

37."Astrongmemory,concentration,imagination,andastrongwillisrequiredtobecomeagreatchessplayer."BobbyFischer

38."Tacticsflowfromasuperiorposition."BobbyFischer

39."Toplayforadraw,atanyratewithwhite,istosomedegreeacrimeagainstchess."MikhailTal

40."Ihavealwaysthoughtitamatterofhonourforeverychessplayertodeservethesmileoffortune."MikhailTal

41."Naturally,thepsychologicalsusceptibilityofamatchparticipantissignificantlyhigherthanaparticipantinatournament,sinceeachgamesubstantiallychangestheoverallposition."MikhailTal

42."Igoovermanygamescollectionsandpickupsomethingfromthestyleofeachplayer."MikhailTal

43."Strategyrequiresthought,tacticsrequireobservation."MaxEuwe

44."Ifitistruethataplayer'sstyleishisperson,theneveryoneplaysasheisintendedtobynature.Iamnaturallycautious,andIaltogetherdislikesituationswhichinvolverisk."TigranPetrosian

45."Inalmostanypositiontheboundlesspossibilitiesofchessenableaneworatleastalittlestudiedcontinuationtobefound."TigranPetrosian

46."Theyknockmeformydraws,formystyle,theyknockmeforeverythingIdo."TigranPetrosian

47."Eventhemostdistinguishedplayershaveintheircareersexperiencedseveredisappointmentsduetoignoranceofthebestlinesorsuspensionoftheirowncommonsense."TigranPetrosian

48."Insomeplaceswordshavebeenreplacedbysymbolswhich,likeamuletsfromawitch'sbag,havethepowertoconsumethelivingspiritofchess."TigranPetrosian

49."Itiseasytoplayagainsttheyoungplayers,formetheyarelikeanopenbook."TigranPetrosian

50."Theyknockmeformydraws,formystyle,theyknockmeforeverythingIdo."TigranPetrosian