Some quotes about chess

The fascinating magic of the 64 squares.
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It's an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it, I can dominate it. And it's predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.
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Author Allan Rufus said “Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with insight and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are accumulated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life.”
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“Daring ideas are like chess men moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”

When Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote this, it seems he was speaking to the idea of being aggressive and taking chances. Seldom, does one win by staying in place or retreating. You have to be daring to win the game.
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“The winner is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake.”

Savielly Tartakower, of Russian descent, was an International Grandmaster and also a chess journalist during the 1920s and 1930s. He realized that in chess, mistakes lead to victory. His famous quotes on the topic include, “The mistakes are there, waiting to be made,” and, “Chess is a fairy tale of 1,001 blunders.” And, one more, “Chess is a struggle against one’s own errors.”
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“To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.”

This is another Tartakower quote in which he cautions players to look at the big picture. Tartakower had a way with words as evidenced by this famous chess quote, “An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard.” Here’s another good one, “The move is there, but you must see it.”
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“Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists.”

Chess players see the board in a variety of different ways much like an artist paints a subject. While chess has a competitive sport aspect to it and a pure science component, it is also artistry. Just like a good book or movie can bring back memories, a well-played chess move can prompt one to recall one’s own experiences or memories playing. So, the originator of this quote, Marcel Duchamp, got it right. Duchamp was a French-American painter, chess player, and writer.
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“Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.”
-- Rudolf Spielmann
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There are more possible ways for a chess game to play out than there are atoms in the observable universe.
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“When you see a good move, look for a better one.”

Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player who held the World Chess Champion title for 27 years. Lasker played contract bridge, Go, and his own game “Lasca,” a variation of checkers.
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“The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move.”

A big advantage can be gained with one move, and as such, the player with the next move is frequently in a position to advance.

David Bronstein was a Soviet chess player who passed away in 2006. His book on chess, Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953, is one of the best chess books.
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“An hour’s history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.”

A chess prodigy, Jose Raul Capablanca, was the world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. Born in Havana, Cuba, he beat the Cuban champion two days before he became a teenager. As you might describe chess as the ultimate thinking game, one’s mind is definitely on display in a game.
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“Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.

Bobby Fischer is regarded by many to be the best chess player of all time (although Magnus Carlsen fans may disagree). Born in Chicago in 1943, he passed away in 2008 in Iceland. Of Fischer, Miguel Najdorf said, “Bobby just drops the pieces and they fall on the right squares.” Fischer thrived on the competition once saying, “I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.”
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“Every chess master was once a beginner.”

Irving Chernev said this about chess but it fits in just about any other area of interest. Everyone was a beginner at one time. You have to make mistakes, learn from mistakes, and practice to advance. Chernev was a national master-strength player and wrote 20 books on chess.
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“One bad move nullifies forty good ones.”
-- Israel Albert Horowitz
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“Pawns are born free, yet they are everywhere in chains.”
-- Rick Kennedy
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“Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.”
-- Robert Hubner
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“In chess, as it is played by the masters, chance is practically eliminated.”
-- Emanuel Lasker
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“I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess.”
-- Siegbert Tarrasch
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“When the chess game is over, the pawn and the king go back to the same box.”
-- Irish Saying