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Inspirational Chess Quotes for Life

Chess Quotes encapsulate the wisdom and strategy that makes chess one of the most timeless games.

This collection of quotes is for anyone from the grandmaster to the more infrequent player, but all are overburdened with much profundity and inspiration that haunts the very well-springs of chess.

Read through our Chess Quotes to learn more about and better understand the game.

 

Catchy Chess Quotes

  • “Chess is the art of analysis.” – Mikhail Botvinnik
  • “Age brings wisdom to some men, and to others chess.”– Evan Esar
  • Every game we play, whether chess or something else, should make us happy. Having fun is the prime essence of any game.
  • “The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.” – Savielly Tartakower
  • In light of that, let’s look at some light-hearted chess quotes that will give you a new outlook on the game.
  • “Every chess master was once a beginner.”– Irving Chernev
  • “There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world.” – Pierre Mac Orlan
  • “Nobody ever won a chess game by resigning.” – Savielly Tartakower
  • “Modern chess is too much concerned with things like pawn structure. Forget it, checkmate ends the game.” – Nigel Short
  • “Many has become chess masters, no one has become the master of chess.” – Siegbert Tarrasch
  • Whether you win or lose, chess is a fun game.
  • “Chess is beautiful enough to waste your life for.” – Hans Ree

 

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Best Chess Quotes

  • “When you see a good move, look for a better one.” – Emanuel Lasker
  • “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
  • The quotes listed below highlight how crucial it is to use the right tactics and techniques to win a chess match.
  • “I don’t believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.” – Bobby Fischer
  • “It is my style to take my opponent and myself on to unknown grounds. A game of chess is not an examination of the knowledge; it is a battle of nerves.”- David Bronstein
  • “You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player.” – Jose Raul Capablanca
  • “Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.”– Bobby Fischer
  • Chess is an opportunity and action-based game. The game progresses through action and opportunity.
  • “If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he’s worse off.” – Nigel Short
  • Fans of Game of Thrones are familiar with the dialogue- “In the Game of Thrones, you either win or die.” How is the game of Thrones any different from the game of chess?
  • “Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.” – Robert Hübner
  • “Chess isn’t for the timid.” – Irving Chernev
  • “Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.” – Rudolf Spielmann

 

Explore the Best Chess Slogans for your squad.

 

 

Motivational Chess Quotes

  • “I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player’s personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.” –Vladimir Kramnik
  • “Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.” – Ralph Charell
  • “In life, as in chess, forethought wins.”– Charles Buxton
  • “I’ve come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.” – Marcel Duchamp
  • “Some people see life as a game of chess, while others prefer to see it as a game of cricket; but the longer I live, the more I think of it as a game of Consequences.” — Craig Brown
  • “Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.” – Blaise Pascal
  • “I always loved complexity. With chess, one creates beautiful problems.” — Marcel Duchamp
  • “If you see a good move, look for a better one.”– Emanuel Lasker
  • “Chess and me, it’s hard to take them apart. It’s like my alter ego.” ― Bobby Fischer
  • “Chess is a game by its form, an art by its content and a science by the difficulty of gaining mastery in it.” — Tigran Petrosian

 

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Chess Quotes From Players

  • “Chess, it’s the struggle against the error.” – Johannes Zukertort
  • “There is no remorse like the remorse of chess.”– H. G. Wells
  • “Chess doesn’t drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane.” – Bill Hartston
  • “In life, as in chess, one’s own pawns block one’s way. A man’s very wealthy, ease, leisure, children, books, which should help him to win, more often checkmate him.” – Charles Buxton
  • “In life, unlike chess the game continues after checkmate.”- Isaac Asimov
  • “Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all.” – Mikhail Chigorin
  • “To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.”- Savielly Tartakower
  • “I prefer to lose a really good game than to win a bad one.” – David Levy
  • “The hardest game to win is a won game.” – Emanuel Lasker
  • “There are no heroes in chess.” – Cory Evans

 

Choose the Chess Team Names for the coming tournament

 

 

Chess Quotes About Team

  • “Every chess master was once a beginner.” – Irving Chernev
  • “Chess is rarely a game of ideal moves. Almost always, a player faces a series of difficult consequences whichever move he makes.” – David Shenk
  •  “Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack” – Wilhelm Steinitz
  • “We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a Chess player’s nature.” – Rudolf Spielman
  • “A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror” – Wilhelm Steinitz
  • “Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty.” -Dominic Lawson
  • “Even the laziest King flees wildly in the face of a double check!” – Aaron Nimzowitsch
  •  “Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.” – Albert Einstein
  • “Chess is the struggle against the error.” – Johannes Zukertort
  •  “Chess makes men wiser and clear-sighted.” – Vladimir Putin
  •  “Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.” – Bobby Fischer

 

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Short Chess Quotes

  • “The only thing chess players have in common is chess.” – Lodewijk Prins
  •  “One bad move nullifies forty good ones.” – Bernhard Horwitz
  •  “Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can’t separate body and mind. ” – Bobby Fisher
  • “A good player is always lucky.” – Jose Raul Capablanca.
  • “The hardest game to win is a won game” – Emanuel Lasker
  • “Chess is not for timid souls.”- Wilhelm Steinitz
  • “Help your pieces so they can help you.” – Paul Morphy
  • “Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders”. -Savielly Tartakower
  • “In Chess, just as in life, today’s bliss may be tomorrow’s poison.” -Assaic.
  • “It is no easy matter to reply correctly to [Emanuel] Lasker’s bad moves.”- W.H.K. Pollock

 

Choose the Unique Chess Captions for Instagram posts.

 

 

Chess Quotes About Life

  • “You can’t win the chess match if you don’t have enough pieces.” – Stephon Marbury
  • “With chess, it was almost this palpable electricity that I felt. You’re totally in control of your own fate. There’s no luck factor. It’s you and the pieces.” – Daniel Naroditsky
  • “My mother and father met while playing chess, so I’ve always had a fondness for the game. If it weren’t for chess, I might not be here.” – Dorothy Dunnett
  • “I barely know what my plans are for tomorrow, but I hope chess will remain a major part of my life.” – Anish Giri
  • “Life is not always like chess. Just because you have the king surrounded, don’t think he is not capable of hurting you.”- Ron Livingston
  • “I learned that fighting on the chessboard could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.” – Garry Kasparov
  • “Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.” – Alexander Alekhine
  • “Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.” – Wilhelm Steinitz

 

 

Inspirational Chess Quotes

  • “The pin is mightier than the sword.” – Fred Reinfeld
  • “It will be cheering to know that many people are skillful chess players, though in many instances their brains, in a general way, compare unfavorably with the cognitive faculties of a rabbit.” – James Mortimer
  •  “It’s always better to sacrifice your opponent’s men.” – Savielly Tartakower
  • “Up to this point, White has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head.” – Siegbert Tarrasch
  • “One doesn’t have to play well, it’s enough to play better than your opponent.” – Siegbert Tarrasch
  • “A chess game in progress is… a cosmos unto itself, fully insulated from an infant’s cry, an erotic invitation, or war.” – David Shenk
  • “Of chess, it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess.” – William Napier
  • “Once you’re a chess player, you spend a lot of time thinking about the game and you can’t get it completely out of your head.” – Magnus Carlsen
  • “Life is very much about making the best decisions you can. So I think chess is very valuable.” – Hikaru Nakamura
  • “Spying is like a game of chess: Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win – preferably a knight rather than a king or queen.” – John Rhys-Davies
  • “Chess demolishes differences. It’s a language of different generations.” – Judit Polgar

 

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Good Chess Quotes

  • “Chess is mental torture.” – Garry Kasparov
  • “I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly.” – Magnus Carlsen
  • “Fencing is a game of living chess, a match where reflexes only work in combination with intent, and mind and body must work together at every moment.” – V. E. Schwab
  • “I think chess players are not always what you think them to be. Or maybe it’s our job to appear serious.” – Anish Giri
  • “In chess, you should be as cool as a cucumber.” – Yuliya Snigir
  • “Chess first of all teaches you to be objective.” – Alexander Alekhine
  • “The great thing about chess is it’s a game for oneself. You don’t work on what you can’t control, you just work on yourself. And I think if more people did that, we’d all be a lot better off.” – Daniel Naroditsky
  • “Chess is not for timid souls.” – Wilhelm Steinitz
  • “Chess is ruthless: you’ve got to be prepared to kill people.” – Nigel Short
  • “Each outing is its own game. You roll on your game plan. It is a different chess match each time you go out there. I just try to be prepared.” – Jason Hammel
  • “Chess: It’s like alcohol. It’s a drug. I have to control it, or it could overwhelm me. I have a regular Monday night game at my home, and I do play a little online.” – Charles Krauthammer
  • “All I want to do, ever, is play chess.” – Bobby Fischer
  • “Chess is changing. I hope chess is getting more popular, more spectacular.” – Alexandra Kosteniuk
  • “The truth of the matter is that chess is not the game of life because life does not ever happen the way you strategize and plan.” – Jason Reynolds
  • “I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art – and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.” – Marcel Duchamp

 

 

Famous Chess Quotes

  • “For in the idea of chess and the development of the chess mind we have a picture of the intellectual struggle of mankind.”- Richard Réti
  • “Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands!” -Renaud and Kahn.
  • “When asked, -How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?, I responded: I’m very glad you asked me that, because, as it happens, there is a very simple answer. I think up my own moves, and I make my opponent think up his.” – Alexander Alekhine
  • “Chess, like love, is infectious at any age”. -Salo Flohr
  • “The shortcoming of hanging pawns is that they present a convenient target for attack. As the exchange of men proceeds, their potential strength lessens and during the endgame they turn out, as a rule, to be weak.” – Boris Spassky
  • “A king may be the most important piece on the chessboard; however, the queen is the most powerful.” -Karim R. Ellis
  • “I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things. I didn’t even have books at first, and I just played by myself. I learnt a lot from that, and I feel that it is a big reason why I now have a good intuitive understanding of chess”. – Magnus Carlsen
  • “I don’t know whether computers are improving the style of play, I know they are changing it. Chess has become a different game, one could say that computers have changed the world of chess. That is pretty clear.” – Vladimir Kramnik
  • “Chess is the art of analysis.” – Mikhail Botvinnik
  • “To venture an opinion is like moving a piece at chess: it may be taken, but it forms the beginning of a game that is won.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • “Chess is a very logical game and it is the man who can reason most logically and profoundly in it that ought to win.” – Jose Raul Capablanca
  • “After a bad opening, there is hope for the middle game. After a bad middle game, there is hope for the endgame. But once you are in the endgame, the moment of truth has arrived.” – Edmar Mednis

 

 

Never Give Up Chess Quotes

  • “Chess is a curse upon a man.” – H. G. Wells
  • “It doesn’t matter how strong a player you are, if you fail to register some development in the opening, then you are asking for trouble.”- John Emms
  • “Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.”- Wilhelm Steinitz
  • “Chess is as much a mystery as women.” – Purdy
  • “He who fears an isolated Queen’s Pawn should give up Chess” -Siegbert Tarrasch
  • “When having an edge, [Anatoly] Karpov often marked time and still gained the advantage! I don’t know anyone else who could do that, it’s incredible.”- Vladimir Kramnik
  • “Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.” -Albert Einstein
  • “Chess is a forcing house where the fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life.” -Edward Morgan Forster

 

 

Chess Quotes For Instagram

  • “In poker, you want to play the weaker guys. In chess, it’s the opposite.” – Hikaru Nakamura
  • “Chess is a game of stimulation.” – Gza
  • “Chess taught me patience.” – Yuzvendra Chahal
  • “I believe that the true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands.” – Alexander Alekhine
  • “I consider myself to be a genius who happens to play chess.” – Bobby Fischer
  • “My problem with chess was that all my pieces wanted to end the game as soon as possible.” – Dave Barry
  • “Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin.” – Hikaru Nakamura
  • “I want to show how rich chess is and what kind of history it has, through culture, literature, and education.” – Judit Polgar
  • “I was world champion. For me, chess is my life. It is everything.” – Anatoly Karpov
  • “Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous and varied ways.” – Vladimir Kramnik
  • “People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess.” – Nicolas Chamfort
  • “Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one’s opponent will never become a good Chess player.” – Max Euwe
  • “In chess, everyone’s accepted. That’s what’s great about it. You can be a little bit different. You can be an oddball.” – Hikaru Nakamura
  • “When you watch chess, you don’t see the four hours that the player spends preparing for a match ahead of time.” – Hikaru Nakamura
  • “Chess can be described as the movement of pieces eating one another.” – Marcel Duchamp
  • “Political analysis is full of chess metaphors, reflecting an old tradition of seeing games as models of physical and social reality.” – Dominic Cummings
  • “For me art and chess are closely related, both are forms in which the self finds beauty and expression.” – Vladimir Kramnik

 

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