1
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Abrahams
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Good positions don't win games, good moves do!
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2
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Aljechin
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The fact that a player is very short of time is to my mind, as little to be considered as an excuse as, for instance, the statement of the law-breaker that he was drunk at the time he committed the crime.
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3
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Anand
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Intuition is the first move I look at in a game.
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4
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Arrabal
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For the real player, a nice game counts more than the victory.
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5
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Benko
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Kibitzer's don't play, they kibitz; they always know what you should have played, and they will tell you without being asked... it's almost impossible to shut them up.
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6
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Bronstein
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In chess everybody is a winner. If one is glad to play - and that's the main thing - then even losing the game doesn't matter.
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7
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Capablanca
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A good player is always fortunate.
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8
|
Capablanca
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Passed pawns increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.
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9
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Einstein
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Chess holds its master in its own bounds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.
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10
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Einstein
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Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
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11
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Einstein
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Chess is the fastest game in the world, because in chess you have to think through every second thousands of thoughts.
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12
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Einstein
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Chess is the game that tames the crazy!
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13
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Einstein
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Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
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14
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Euwe
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Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation.
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15
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Fenton
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He who takes back a move also pickpockets wallets.
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16
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Gerzadowicz
|
From openings, one learns openings, from endgames one learns chess.
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17
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Horowitz
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One bad move ruins fourty good ones.
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18
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Horowitz
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Chess is an excellent game. It isn't important how good you play, there is always somebody better as you; it isn't important if you're a woodpusher there is always somebody worse than you!
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19
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Hort
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I believe that Chess possesses a magic that is also a help in advanced age. A rheumatic knee is forgotten during a game of chess and other events can seem quite unimportant in comparison with a catastrophe on the chessboard.
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20
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Hort
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In blitz is the knight mightier than the bishop.
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21
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Huebner
|
He who says he knows chess doesn't understand nothing.
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22
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Karpov
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It is dangerous to achieve compensation at the cost of a passive position.
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23
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Karpov
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Just because a knight is temporarily on the edge, it doesn't mean nothing.
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24
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Karpov
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Chess is everything: art, science and sport.
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25
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Keres
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The older I get, the more I appreciate pawns.
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26
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Korchnoi
|
All obvious moves look doubtful in the analysis.
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27
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Korchnoi
|
An endgame with different colored bishops is like spending your whole life with one wife.
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28
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Korchnoi
|
No Chess Grandmaster is normal... they only differ in the extent of their madness.
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29
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Krabbe
|
A sacrificed piece will no longer be hanging!
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30
|
Larsen
|
On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite.
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31
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Larsen
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The loss of an excellent played game caused by a stupid blunder, maybe under time pressure, seems unjust, when all those the good ideas during the party only a zero in the result table is credited.
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32
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Larsen
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Too little patience is probably the most common reason for a lost game.
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33
|
Lasker
|
The hardest game to win is a won one.
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34
|
Lasker
|
Also in chess it takes the right mixture of courage and prudence.
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35
|
Lasker
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I have added these principles to the law: Get the Knights into action before both bishops are developed, especially the queen's bishop.
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36
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Lasker
|
I fight so long my opponent can make a mistake.
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37
|
Lasker
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In mathematics, if I find a new approach to a problem, another mathematician might claim that he has a better, more elegant solution. In chess, if anybody claims he is better than me, I can checkmate him!
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38
|
Lasker
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Without error than can be no brillancy.
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39
|
Lasker
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If you see a good move look for a better one.
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40
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Lenko
|
For me the best victory is when it's not even clear where my opponent failed.
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41
|
Leupold
|
Each move is a small game.
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42
|
Mason
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Never make a good move too soon!
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43
|
N.N.
|
A gambit is an opening in which white gives a pawn and black gains the inititive!
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44
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N.N.
|
Creating an undesired stalemate is the height of stupidity.
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45
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N.N.
|
First win the queen, One can always checkmate afterwards! (as noticed that an immediate checkmate would have been even better!)
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46
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N.N.
|
It's time to worry when you notice that your opponent has three bishops!
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47
|
N.N.
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Better a bad day at chess then a good day at work.
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48
|
N.N.
|
Never move a knight to the edge unless it's good!
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49
|
Nietzsche
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In every real man a child is hidden and he wants to play.
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50
|
Nimzowitsch
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The passed pawn has a soul, just like man, wishes that slumber undetected in it, and fears of unexpected existance.
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51
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Nimzowitsch
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A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key!
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52
|
Nimzowitsch
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One is falsely led to believe, that each and every move has to immediately achieve something; also calm, waiting moves can be justified.
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53
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Nimzowitsch
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Even the laziest king flees from a double check.
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54
|
Pano
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Upon a rook move that could be obtained by either of both rooks equally, I try and figure out which rook move is superior and then move the other one!
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55
|
Panov
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I hold every oponent for a grandmaster until he proves the opposite.
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56
|
Philidor
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The pawns are the soul of the game.
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57
|
Purdy
|
Pawn endings are like putting in golf.
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58
|
Reinfeld
|
The pin is mightier than the sword.
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59
|
Rogers
|
Two united, passed pawns are better than a royal flush!
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60
|
Saemisch
|
How can I accept a draw, I don't even know how I stand!
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61
|
Schleich
|
Chess requires three things: Understanding of opportunities, idea of probabilities, resignation for certainties.
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62
|
Schopenhauer
|
In the world of reality is one never so happy as in the world of thoughts.
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63
|
Schopenhauer
|
Chess stands tall than all other games like the Mount Chimborasso does to a heap of manure.
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64
|
Shaw
|
Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time!
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65
|
Shirov
|
The game itself is more important than the result.
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66
|
Short
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Modern chess is too busy with things like pawn structure. Forget it - mate ends the game.
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67
|
Short
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Always looking for the best move is pretty unpractical.
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68
|
Short
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If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off.
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69
|
Sillars
|
Castle early and often.
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70
|
Silman
|
If your opponent cannot play active, don't overwind the postion, instead you should let him cook, suffer, until he plees for a draw.
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71
|
Soltis
|
A kibitzer is someone who gives good advice to your opponent.
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72
|
Spielmann
|
A good sacrifice is one that is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent dazed and confused.
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73
|
Spielmann
|
Play the opening by the book, the middlegame like a magician and the endgame like a machine.
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74
|
Spielmann
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We cannot resist the fascination of sacrifice, since a passion for sacrifices is part of a chessplayer's nature.
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75
|
Steinitz
|
The task of the positional player is systematically to accumulate slight advantages and try to convert temporary advantages into permanent ones, otherwise the player with the better position runs the risk of losing it.
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76
|
Steinitz
|
A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.
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77
|
Steinitz
|
A chess game can only be won when the equilibrium is disturbed. In a position without disturbed equilibrium is the greatest genius helpless, the position just does not hold any potential for brilliance.
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78
|
Steinitz
|
My first intention wasn't to win the game, I just wanted to sacrifice a piece.
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79
|
Steinitz
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Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.
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80
|
Suetin
|
How often does a player gives himself up when in trouble, although the situation is not entirely hopeless.
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81
|
Tal
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Playing for a draw with white is in a way a real crime against chess!
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82
|
Tal
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Of course, errors are not good for a chess game, but errors are unavoidable and in any case, a game without any errors, or as they say, a flawless game, would be colorless.
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83
|
Tal
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As long as the my opponent hasn't castled, is reason for me to play offensive, although I well know the opponent's king is not endangered.
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84
|
Tarrasch
|
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.
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85
|
Tarrasch
|
Intellectual activity is perhaps the greatest pleasure of life; chess is one of the forms of intellectual activity.
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86
|
Tarrasch
|
Opponents set their own mate, all you have to do is wait.
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87
|
Tarrasch
|
Always put rooks behind passed pawns, either yours or your opponent's... Except when it is incorrect to do so!
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88
|
Tarrasch
|
A thorough understanding of the typical mating continuations makes the most complicated sacrificial combinations leading up to them not only not difficult, but almost a matter of course.
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89
|
Tarrasch
|
A threat is stronger than its execution.
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90
|
Tarrasch
|
It's not enough to be a good player... you must also play well.
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91
|
Tarrasch
|
Question of Reporter: -Which situation is considered right for stopping the chess clock during a tournament game? Answer: -While strangling a photographer.
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92
|
Tarrasch
|
Nothing is more difficult in chess as to choose between two apparently equal good moves, in which only one is actually the right one.
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93
|
Tarrasch
|
Chess is a terrible game. If you have no center, your opponent has a freer position. If you do have a center, then you really have something to worry about!
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94
|
Tarrasch
|
He who fears an isolated Queen’s Pawn should give up Chess.
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95
|
Tartakower
|
The only mistake in chess is overestimating the opponent, everything else is either bad luck or weakness.
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96
|
Tartakower
|
The best chess move, like in real life, is always the one made.
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97
|
Tartakower
|
The grand master places a Knight on e5; checkmate follows by itself.
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98
|
Tartakower
|
The second best move is often the only right one.
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99
|
Tartakower
|
The threat is mightier then the execution.
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100
|
Tartakower
|
The existance of chess can only be justified by the existance of mistakes.
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101
|
Tartakower
|
All types of mistakes are present, all they have to be is made.
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102
|
Tartakower
|
Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders.
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103
|
Tartakower
|
Relentless rules of chess are the exception.
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104
|
Tartakower
|
An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard.
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105
|
Tartakower
|
A draw can be obtained not only by repeating moves, but also by one weak move.
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106
|
Tartakower
|
A Chess game is divided into three stages: the first, when you hope you have the advantage, the second when you believe that you have an advantage, and the third when you know you're going to lose!
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107
|
Tartakower
|
Part of a mistake is always correct!
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108
|
Tartakower
|
The whole game can be distinguished from one certain mistake.
|
109
|
Tartakower
|
It is always better to sacrifice the opponent's pieces.
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110
|
Tartakower
|
Only strong players can afford to error.
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111
|
Tartakower
|
I had a toothache during the first game. In the second game, I had a headache. In the third game, it was an attack of rheumatism. In the fourth game, I wasn't feeling well. And in the fifth game? Well, must one have to win every game!?
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112
|
Tartakower
|
In chess you only learn by mistake.
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113
|
Tartakower
|
The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
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114
|
Tartakower
|
Checkmate doesn't always show the facts.
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115
|
Tartakower
|
Only a really good player knows how weak he plays.
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116
|
Tartakower
|
It's often missed resigning a game at the right time.
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117
|
Tartakower
|
Sacrifices only prove that somebody made a mistake.
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118
|
Tartakower
|
Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.
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119
|
Tartakower
|
Trying not to lose sometimes costs the game.
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120
|
Tartakower
|
He who takes risks can lose, he who doesn't however will lose for sure.
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121
|
Tassilo
|
Chess is in its essence a game, in its form an art, and in its execution a science.
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122
|
Timman
|
Half the variations which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half.
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123
|
Timman
|
I wasn't sure what square to take the rook to. Because there were three alternatives: e8, d8 + c8, I decided to go for the middle one.
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124
|
van der Wiel
|
When you absolutely don't know what to do anymore, it is time to panic.
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125
|
Walsch
|
Rook endgames a pawn up are drawn - rook endgames a pawn down are lost.
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