Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
But alas! Like many another consummation devoutly to be wished, the actual performance was a disappointing one.
Of chess it has often been said that life is not long enough for it - but that is the fault of life, not chess.
The middlegame I repeat is chess itself, chess with all its possibilities, its attacks, defences, sacrifices, etc.
When you trade, the key concern is not always the value of the pieces being exchanged, but what's left on the board.
The game of chess is the most fascinating and intellectual pastime which the wisdom of antiquity has bequeathed to us.
In the laboratory the gambits all test unfavorably, but the old rule wears well, that all gambits are sound over the board.
The passed Pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient
The knight of QB3 is under obligation, the moment the enemy gives him the chance, of undertaking an invasion of the center by Kn-Q5.
If one would cancel all traffic rules and switch off all traffic lights, watching city traffic on TV would be also awfully interesting!
And his six pawns were scattered like the ships of the Armada that should have conquered England; the Lord blew, and they were all isolated.
Books on the openings abound; nor are works on the end game wanting; but those on the middle game can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
To play with correctness and skill the ends of games, is an important but a very rare accomplishment, expect among the magnates of the game.
Chess is a great game. No matter how good one is, there is always somebody better. No matter how bad one is, there is always somebody worse.
If your opponent cannot do anything active, then don't rush the position; instead you should let him sit there, suffer, and beg you for a draw
If you are interested in improving, think of a draw offer as an offer to remain ignorant of what you would have learned in the remainder of the game.
The Queen is usually reckoned equal, in average situations, to two Rooks and a Pawn, but towards the end of a game she is hardly so valuable as two Rooks.
Giving up the center must not here be regarded as illogical. Was happiness no happiness because it endured for just a short time? One cannot always be happy.
Chess is not Mathematics, where ten is always more than one; in chess the King with a pawn can beat opponent's King with all pieces if they are placed badly.
The preparation for active rook play entails what is called the opening of lines, which largely depends on pawn play, especially on the proper use of levers.
A Rook is of the value of five Pawns and a fraction, and may be exchanged for a minor Piece and two Pawns. Two Rooks may be exchanged for three minor Pieces.
When a Piece or Pawn is in a situation to be taken by the enemy, it is said to be en prise. To put a piece en prise, is to play it so that it may be captured.
For playing a man to a square to which it cannot be legally moved, the adversary, at his option, may require him to move the man legally, or to move the King.
Short of actual blunders, lack of faith in one's position is the chief cause of defeat. To be sure, it is easy to recommend faith and not so easy to practise it.
Once I asked Teichman what he thought of Bird's chess: "Same as his health," he replied, "always alternating between being dangerously ill and dangerously well."
The correct way to play chess is to develop each and every piece (chess is a team game!), get your King safely castled, and only then begin more aggressive maneuvers.
Repeating moves in an ending can be very useful. Apart from the obvious gain of time on the clock one notices that the side with the advantage gains psychological benefit.
It is the duty of the Umpire to determine all questions submitted to him according to these laws, when they apply, and according to his best judgment when they do not apply.
We should praise, rather, the courage of the player who, relying only on his intuition, plunges into a brilliant combination of which the issue does not appear to him too clear.
All chess players know what a combination is. Whether one makes it oneself, or is its victim, or reads of it, it stands out from the rest of the game and stirs one's admiration.
When the King is checked, or any valuable Piece in danger from the attack of an enemy, you are said to interpose a man when you play it between the attacked and attacking Piece.
Ridicule can do much, for instance embitter the existence of young talents; but one thing is not given to it, to put a stop permanently to the incursion of new and powerful ideas.
Barcza is the most versatile player in the opening. He sometimes plays P-KKt3 on the first, sometimes on the second, sometimes on the third, and sometimes only on the fourth move.
It has been stated that a characteristic mark of a combination is surprise; surprise for the defender, not for the assailant, since otherwise the combination will probably be unsound.
Strategically important points should be overprotected. If the pieces are so engaged, they get their regard in the fact that they will then find themselves well posted in every respect.
It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner of expressing themselves are within the reach of all.
A win gives one a feeling of self-affirmation, and success - a feeling of self-expression, but only a sensible harmonization between these urges can bring really great achievements in chess.
It is ... impossible to keep one's excellence in a little glass casket, like a jewel, to take it out whenever wanted. On the contrary, it can only be conserved by continuous and good practice.
A player is said to have the opposition when he can place his King directly in front of the adverse King, with only one square between them. This is often an important advantage in ending games.
I maintain that in every position that arises, we should deliberately search, among other things, for pieces which have no retreat. If we see one, we automatically look to see if it can be netted.
If, during the course of the game, it be discovered that any error or illegality has been committed in the moves of the pieces, the moves must be retraced, and the necessary correction made, without penalty.
Having marshalled the men in battle order, as shown in the first diagram, you will observe that each party has two ranks of men, on the first of which stand the superior Pieces, and on the next the eight Pawns.
It is unjust, and sometimes very untrue, though it is a common theory, to hold that it is sacrifices which make the beauty of a combination, and that the combination is prettier by the magnitude of the sacrifices.
The Pawn move is a capital investment. Every one of the forty-eight should, from the beginning, be spent as if it were one of the last forty-eight apprehensive and responsible dollars between yourself and starvation.
The draw by stalemate looks like a spot of discontinuity in the otherwise harmonious universe of values. To save a game by letting yourself be so completely humiliated as not being able to make a move looks rather undeserved.
If either player abandon the game by quitting the table in anger, or in an otherwise offensive manner; or by momentarily resigning the game; or refuses to abide by the decision of the Umpire, the game must be scored against him.
Be cautious of playing your Queen in front of your King and in subjecting yourself to a discovered check. It is better when check is given to your King to interpose a man that attacks the checking Piece than with one that does not.
In Castling, the King must be moved first, or before the Rook is quitted. If the Rook be quitted before the King is touched, the opposing player may demand that the move of the Rook shall stand without the Castling being completed.
Method rules his training, which blends the physical with the mental. How many chess masters put in, prior to an important match, an allotted time daily to bicycling and shadow-boxing, followed by a cold douche and a brisk rub down?
Many persons have been confused and discouraged at the very outset of the study by the great variety and the delicate distinctions of the openings: and this has constituted a fault in many otherwise excellent manuals for the learner.
Carlsen came with a line that was not very theoretical, trying to challenge the World Champion to play chess. [...] But Anand proved that even this obscure line is something he has studied before, and it was Carlsen that was set back.