Chess Quotes: Wisdom from the Board

"I feel as if I were a piece in a game of chess, when my opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved"

"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along"

Terry Pratchett, Author

"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing"

Emo Philips, Comedian

"Chess is not for timid souls"

Wilhelm Steinitz, Celebrity

"Chess is my life, but my life is not chess"

Anatoly Karpov, Celebrity

"I failed to make the chess team because of my height"

Woody Allen, Director

"These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess"

Kobe Bryant, Athlete

"Women, by their nature, are not exceptional chess players: they are not great fighters"

Garry Kasparov, Celebrity

"Seem to be telling this, but really telling that. Three-dimensional writing, like three-dimensional chess. Nabokov was the other master of that. You could learn something from Nabokov on every page he ever wrote"

Donald E. Westlake, Writer

"The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time"

Marilyn vos Savant, Author

"There is nothing that disgusts a man like getting beaten at chess by a woman"

Charles Dudley Warner, Journalist

"Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency"

Raymond Chandler, Writer

"You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas"

Stanley Kubrick, Director

"The development of beauty in chess never depends on you alone. No matter how much imagination and creativity you invest, you still do not create beauty. Your opponent must react at the same highest level"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"When I speak of the beauty of a game of chess, then naturally this is subjective. Beauty can be found in a very technical, mathematical game for example. That is the beauty of clarity"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"In chess one cannot control everything. Sometimes a game takes an unexpected turn, in which beauty begins to emerge. Both players are always instrumental in this"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous and varied ways"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess"

Nicolas Chamfort, Writer

"I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country"

Garry Kasparov, Celebrity

"Chess is mental torture"

Garry Kasparov, Celebrity

"No, no, it is obvious that the ECU should act as a close alliance for the benefit of chess"

Anatoly Karpov, Celebrity

"In Kansas I have a chess school"

Anatoly Karpov, Celebrity

"It's less about the physical training, in the end, than it is about the mental preparation: boxing is a chess game. You have to be skilled enough and have trained hard enough to know how many different ways you can counterattack in any situation, at any moment"

Jimmy Smits, Actor

"Chess is not only knowledge and logic"

Alexander Alekhine, Celebrity

"Life's to short for chess"

Henry James Byron, Dramatist

"Chess is the most elaborate waste of human intelligence outside of an advertising agency"

Raymond Chandler, Writer

"I believe every chess player senses beauty, when he succeeds in creating situations, which contradict the expectations and the rules, and he succeeds in mastering this situation"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"For us chess players the language of artist is something natural"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"For me art and chess are closely related, both are forms in which the self finds beauty and expression"

Vladimir Kramnik, Celebrity

"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, Celebrity

"Litigation is the pursuit of practical ends, not a game of chess"

Felix Frankfurter, Judge

"Kids love games and chess is a game where you have to sit down and concentrate and it just helps in every way"

Magnus Carlsen

"All I expect are wins and to get pleasure from the game. And if someone thinks something about me, if someone's dissatisfied with something... that's not my headache. I hope someday I'll become World Champion - and I'll make all these people happy. But even if for some reason that doesn't happen it won't stop me getting pleasure from chess. I'm sure of that"

Magnus Carlsen

"I don't think there is a thing like overconfidence in chess. It's always better to be too confident than too reluctant"

Magnus Carlsen

"Right now I'm really happy with how things are going with my chess career, so I'm not thinking of doing anything else"

Magnus Carlsen

"I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good"

Magnus Carlsen

"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

"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

"I've never been much of a computer guy at least in terms of playing with computers. Actually until I was about 11 I didn't use a computer for preparing for games at all. I was playing a bit online, was using the chess club mainly. Now, obviously, the computer is an important tool for me preparing for my games"

Magnus Carlsen

"My father, a fine chess player himself, has been a massive influence throughout my life"

Magnus Carlsen

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