Chess Quotes

“If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off.”

“In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent.”

“I have never beaten a healthy opponent.”

Attributed - Karpov on his losses

“Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.”

“Let us play for something: the head of a sheep or 100 rubles.”

Challenging Kasparov before their 1984 match

“Excellence at chess is a mark of a squandered life.”

Widely misattributed to various people

“I would rather lose an interesting game than win a boring one.”

“One bad move nullifies forty good ones.”

“Chess is life.”

“I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.”

“Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent's mind.”

“The turning point in my career came with the realization that I should play to win, not to avoid losing.”

“I like the moment when I break a man's ego.”

On winning chess games

“All I want to do, ever, is just play chess.”

“I give 98 percent of my mental energy to chess. Others give only two percent.”

“The hardest game to win is a won game.”

“On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long.”

“When you see a good move, look for a better one.”

“Pawns are the soul of chess.”

From his 1749 book L'Analyse du jeu des Echecs

“The pin is mightier than the sword.”

“I don't believe in fortresses.”

On attacking chess

“Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what a reputation is. You can't control that. The only thing you can control is your character.”

“Different people have different ideas about what's beautiful.”

“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”

“The tactician knows what to do when there is something to do; whereas the strategist knows what to do when there is nothing to do.”

“A bad plan is better than no plan at all.”

“Every chess master was once a beginner.”

“Chess is an almost perfect combination of art, investigative science, knowledge, and war.”

From 'The Eight'

“To be the best, you have to beat the best.”

“I'm trying to crush the other guy. That's what chess is about.”

“The ability to work hard and be resilient is probably the most important thing.”

“Chess is the art of analysis.”

“Chess is a combination of ten games.”

On the depth of chess

“My opponents make good moves too. Sometimes I don't take these things into consideration.”

“There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine.”

“If you wait until you can calculate every variation to the end, you will never make a move.”

“I drink, I smoke, I play chess. That is my life.”

On his lifestyle despite severe health problems

“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.”

“The brilliance of a chess idea has nothing to do with its soundness.”

“Chess is 99% tactics.”

“I can see combinations as well as Alekhine, but I cannot get into the positions where they occur as well as he can.”

“The mistakes are all there, waiting to be made.”

“Victory causes many a defeat.”

“A chess game is divided into three phases: 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.”

“Some part of a mistake is always correct.”

“The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.”

“Chess is a terrible game. If you have no center, your opponent has a freedom you don't have. If you have a center, that can be attacked. Whatever you do, it's wrong.”

“I'm not a materialist, I'm a positional player.”

On his defensive style

“You cannot play chess if you are kind.”

On the competitive nature of chess

“I became World Champion by studying eight hours a day. Then I was World Champion and I still studied eight hours a day. Why should I change?”

“I beat myself. It was nothing to do with the opponent.”

After losing his World Championship title